FCC Should Create Net Neutrality Rules Under Title II, Section 706, AOL Says
The FCC should create net neutrality rules under Title II and Section 706 of the Communications Act and focus the debate on what sections to forbear from Title II, AOL Chief Counsel-Global Public Policy Leigh Freund and Steptoe & Johnson’s…
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Pantelis Michalopoulos told Gigi Sohn, Chairman Tom Wheeler’s special counsel-external affairs, Nov. 19, said an ex parte filing posted in docket 14-28 Monday. They said banning paid prioritization under Section 706 and Title II “provides the appropriate analytical framework that can accommodate different views on the scope of regulation and forbearance. Reasonable minds can disagree over that scope -- some favor total forbearance, while others prefer more limited forbearance,” wrote Michalopoulos. “But that conversation should occur with a firm ban on pay-to-play arrangements” as the essential backdrop, the company said. Complete or limited forbearance “allow[s] for exceptional arrangements that might be permissible subject to prior Commission approval (for example, a request by an independent Internet Service Provider who does not have market power and does not charge end users for authority to deploy a different price model),” AOL said. The commission should not forbear from all or part of sections 201, 202, 208, 222, 251, 255 and 256, Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood and Policy Counsel Lauren Wilson told commission General Counsel Jonathan Sallet and Associate General Counsel Stephanie Weiner Nov. 19, according to an ex parte filing posted Monday. “Sections 201, 202 and 208 form the core of the Title II, and the heart of the entire Act in many respects, with that trio of statutes providing sufficient authority for strong Open Internet rules.” Free Press “discussed the possibility of deferring decisions on forbearance … until a later date while staying their application" until then, said the group. Further research is needed “of that procedural question,” and the group will provide further analysis on the issue, it said. “The record in this docket is complete” on “which statutes the Commission must retain in order to adopt Open Internet rules -- namely, Sections 201, 202, and 208,” said the nonprofit. The record is also complete on “which statutes may be necessary (as a basis of authority in other proceedings) to promote important policy goals such as broadband competition, universal service, and consumer protection, even if some few questions remain as to how and when to make those determinations in other proceedings,” Free Press said.