Net Neutrality and the FCC

It appears that the FCC may be entering a state of chaos. Internet Neutrality is a simple concept. The local carrier, CATV or Telco, provides an interconnection service. It enters into an agreement with a customer to provide them access to what is termed a "meet point" with some other entity afar. The local customer then pays for the use of the facility between their location and the meet point. Simple. Like a bus taking you to the airport. The bus company does not want to charge you based on what city you are flying to but only the fact that you got from your home to the airport.

We have written extensively on Internet Neutrality over the years. We conclude that the local carrier for the purposes of interconnecting a customer to a meet point is a common carrier. There should be no doubt.

Now the FCC is trying to square the circle. As the Hill states:

An avalanche of net neutrality comments have been dumped on the Federal Communications Commission, highlighting the passions stirred over whether Internet service providers like Comcast should be allowed to charge companies more money for quicker delivery of their movies and television shows....FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said the agency is “mining through” the submissions from lawmakers, content providers, public interest groups and citizens who have seen fit to tell the FCC what is on their mind......In a blog post Monday, prefacing comments to be filed with the FCC on Tuesday, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association representing cable companies such as Comcast, Time Warner and Cox Communications doubted the need for new rules at all. 
“We remain skeptical that new rules are necessary to achieve that result, but if new rules are considered, we feel strongly that they should be built within a framework that encourages continued investment and innovation in broadband networks,” the group said. The group also pushed back on calls for reclassification, which would “be misguided from a policy perspective” and “likely fail to survive judicial scrutiny.” Tech companies — through their trade group, the Internet Association — are asking for broader new rules. The group includes Google, Netflix, Amazon and Facebook.
They want new net neutrality protections preserving access to the Internet to be extended to cellphone networks. The rules also should protect websites when they fight with Internet providers over traffic, the group said.

Now in my experience of dealing with the FCC it is clear that they already have decided and some lobbyist has already written the rules. The whole ruse of asking for public comment is a front. One further suspects that the CATV folks will prevail since they control the news channels. Further in my experience Comcast is not the nicest entity to compete with.

The result will be a loss of a voice for the American people  and a step closer to a rather ugly end.