NetworkWorld: FCC Chief Says Broadband Key to Economic Success, Defends Net Neutrality

[klook]

By Kenneth Corbin, CIO.com - September 26, 2012 08:31 AM ET
The country's top communications regulator Tuesday made the case that high-speed, ubiquitous broadband is an essential ingredient for robust economic growth, arguing forcefully that the government has a role to play in facilitating infrastructure expansion and fostering competition.

The country's top communications regulator Tuesday made the case that high-speed, ubiquitous broadband is an essential ingredient for robust economic growth, arguing forcefully that the government has a role to play in facilitating infrastructure expansion and fostering competition.

That includes the controversial net neutrality order that a divided Federal Communications Commission passed two years ago, which Chairman Julius Genachowski praised as a "commonsense" policy that has demonstrated the merits of a "light-touch" regulatory approach, preserving fairness in the market without stifling investment and innovation.

"We need to preserve open platforms. It's the Internet's openness and freedom, the ability to speak, innovate and engage in commerce and free enterprise without having to ask for anyone's permission that's enabled its unparalleled success. It's why we adopted commonsense rules of the road to preserve a free and open Internet, and to foster the virtuous cycle of massive investment in both edge and the core of broadband networks," Genachowski said.

"These rules," he continued said, "have increased certainty and predictability for innovators and investors throughout the space."

Of course, critics of the 2010 order -- and there are many -- contend that the FCC overstepped its authority...
More: http://tinyurl.com/8q5cp2n

Another reason this year's election is crucial: Romney's FCC chairman would be a foe of net neutrality, guaranteed.

[bemildred]

1. Only a neutral net is The Internet.

Anybody who wants to corral you wants to control you.