Thursday, February 08, 2007
A non-remedy for Net Neutrality Violations
One of the motives behind the pro-Network Neutrality movement is the fear of anti-competitive behavior. "Suppose," they say, "Bellco-X has its own VOIP offering, wouldn't it want to block Skype?" And in fact, the most blatant NN violation was of just that flavor, to wit, Madison River blocked Vonage.
Some say that anti-competitive behavior is the mission of the FTC, so why not let the FTC enforce Network Neutrality? In fact, there will be an FTC workshop on this very issue, February 13 and 14 in Washington DC. I'll be there.
But can you name one FTC decision in the last 25 years that has been more than a too-little, too-late wrist-slap? Can you point to any recent FTC action with any deterrence value whatsoever?
Andy Oram looks at the case of Rambus, an egregious violator of fair trade practices, caught red-handed in anti-competitive subterfuge. Oram exclaims,
Remember the FTC's Microsoft "remedy"? [Neither do I.]
The coming FTC workshop could be a hoot . . . or a snooze. We shall see!
Some say that anti-competitive behavior is the mission of the FTC, so why not let the FTC enforce Network Neutrality? In fact, there will be an FTC workshop on this very issue, February 13 and 14 in Washington DC. I'll be there.
But can you name one FTC decision in the last 25 years that has been more than a too-little, too-late wrist-slap? Can you point to any recent FTC action with any deterrence value whatsoever?
Andy Oram looks at the case of Rambus, an egregious violator of fair trade practices, caught red-handed in anti-competitive subterfuge. Oram exclaims,
But what's happening to Rambus? Nothing. Nobody has brought any kind of action, save for a tame FTC injunction (based on a recommendation submitted by Rambus itself) to act more ethically in the future.As one FTC Commissioner noted, after seven years of litigation, "the market may have moved on." May have? And Oram concludes that where Net Neutrality is concerned, it is likely that the FTC, "will work too slowly to provide a remedy for dynamic industries, and that the punishment for corporate misbehavior will barely exceed a reasonable cost of doing business."
Remember the FTC's Microsoft "remedy"? [Neither do I.]
The coming FTC workshop could be a hoot . . . or a snooze. We shall see!
Technorati Tags: FTC, NetworkNeutrality, AndyOram
Comments:
one of the topics of discussion at the FTC conference really ought to be what net neutrality might mean for peering arrangements between ISPs and Internet companies like Google, considering the company’s recent comments about planning to peer with cable and phone companies on IPTV and the datacenters the company keeps building in secret. Wouldn’t net neutrality tie the hands of ISPs to deal with the coming video revolution, leaving Google the king peer and shifting the Internet’s balance of power to one company?
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