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Here's something you don't see every day: Verizon just put out a press
release titled "Congress Needs to Update the Nation's Antiquated and
Anti-Competitive Telecom Rules." Yeah, no tip-toeing around here --
Verizon public policy VP Tom Tauke straight-up says that the
government should completely rewrite the Telecommunications Act, and
give a single federal agency "clear jurisdiction" to enforce the law
on a case-by-case basis. That's a direct shot at the FCC, which lost
the Comcast BitTorrent case when the court ruled it didn't have the
power to enforce net neutrality, and then provoked the ire of both
industry and Congress alike when it tried to reclassify internet
communications in a way that gave it the power it needed. That's also
way beyond the joint Google / Verizon net neutrality proposal from
August -- Verizon's gone from suggesting that the FCC make some policy
tweaks to demanding that Congress start over with the law that governs
the FCC itself, which is something like the difference between a
screwdriver and a sledgehammer.
Now, Congress actually started to consider a revamp of telecom law in
May after the FCC's net neutrality plan backfired, and while we
haven't heard much about it, we're certain Verizon's emphatic support
(and lobbying dollars) are sure to inject some momentum into the
process. Truth be told, we'd actually welcome a wholesale rewrite of
the current Telecom Act, which was last seriously revised in 1996 and
in large part dates back to 1934. But why listen to us when we've got
a pithy quote from Verizon? "The grinding you hear are the gears
churning as policymakers try to fit fast-changing technologies and
competitive markets into regulatory boxes built for analog
technologies and monopoly markets." Yeah, this one's going to get
good. Full PR after the break.
P.S.- Still unclear on what net neutrality is and why it's important?
Check out our Engadget Show interview with Columbia professor Tim Wu
and get up to speed.
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