Monday, February 6, 2012

Groups Seek Clarity On Net Neutrality

November 10, 2009

A coalition of public interest groups are calling on FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to clarify the agency's position on network neutrality. In a letter sent Monday to Genachowski, the Media Access Project, Free Press, Consumers Union and the New America Foundation voiced concern with recent comments from an FCC official that seemed to indicate that network management may include priority treatment of high-bandwidth applications, the groups said in a news release. The groups said they want to be assured that some FCC officials are not pre-judging the outcome of the FCC's rulemaking on the issue of network neutrality, which is aimed at preserving the Internet's openness.

The letter noted that a recent news report indicated that "the official had concluded that voice and video 'have special requirements' and that prioritization of such traffic is reasonable network management. The same report also cites the official as saying that the commission will be focusing on 'different treatment of comparable applications,' a policy that would not seem to prohibit either deliberate prioritization or degradation of any broad class or category of applications," the groups wrote. An FCC spokesman declined to comment on the letter.

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Juliana Gruenwald

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Juliana Gruenwald has been covering tech and telecom issues for more than a decade for National Journal, Interactive Week, BNA and Congressional Quarterly. This is her second stint with National Journal. She was recruited by NJ in 1998 to help launch its first tech policy publication, Technology Daily. She left in 2000 to cover international tech and telecom issues for Ziff Davis Media's Interactive Week magazine. She started her career at United Press International as the wire service's first Helen Thomas Intern. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota. A Minneapolis native, she misses the lakes but not the cold.


Josh Smith

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Josh Smith covers technology policy as a staff reporter for National Journal. He previously interned at National Journal Daily, a Senate press office, and the Deseret News in Salt Lake City where he covered the state legislature, courts, and crime. In 2009 he graduated with honors from Southern Utah University after managing an award-winning student newspaper as editor-in-chief. Josh has received state, regional and national awards for his political and policy reporting, including first place in CapitolBeat’s 2009 Best of Statehouse Reporting college competition. A native of drop-dead-gorgeous Utah, Josh lives in Virginia with his wife, Amber.