| Most of the papers in this book were originally presented at a June 2003 Progress & Freedom Foundation conference entitled, "Net Neutrality or Net Neutering: Should Broadband Internet Services Be Regulated." As we now publish the suitably updated collection of papers, along with two others, the title remains entirely appropriate. For while calls to mandate rights of access to the broadband networks of cable operators, telephone companies, and other facilities-based broadband providers might ebb and flow, as we write this, the tide is running high. So persistent are calls for mandatory network access rights in the communications world that a book that explores the various facets of Net Neutrality is not likely to be soon outdated.
The Policy Statement released by the Federal Communications Commission in September 2005 in its long-running proceedings to establish an appropriate regulatory framework for cable operator and telephone companyprovided broadband services describes the bundle of "rights" commonly understood to be encompassed under the rubric of Net Neutrality: (1) consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content of their choice; (2) consumers are entitled to run applications and services of their choice; (3) consumers are entitled to connect their choice of legal devices that do not harm the network; and (4) consumers are entitled to competition among network providers, application and services providers, and content providers. |
