Communications Law Is Outdated, Panelists Agree
April 21, 2010
| 8:30 AM
Congress needs to update telecommunications law to better address broadband issues. That's a single idea that united speakers with starkly different ideas on FCC authority at the Politics Online conference on Monday.
Panelists disagreed on the merits of net neutrality regulation, arguing over whether the FCC should regulate traffic management practices by Internet access providers. But they all thought that Congress should clarify who regulates broadband issues.
"Frankly, the law -- the Communications Act -- just doesn't fit the communications technologies we have today," said Link Hoewing, Verizon's vice president of Internet and technology policy, echoing comments by former Rep. Tom Tauke, R-Iowa., now the company's top lobbyist.
"We don't disagree that there may be a need for new legislation," said Staci Pies, director of government and regulatory affairs for Skype. But, she said, "Just knowing the way Congress works, it's not around the corner."
That's something else the panelists agreed on: Congressional action is unlikely this year.
The panel, which included Rick Chessen, senior vice president for law and regulatory policy at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, and Chris Riley, a policy counsel at Free Press, also discussed how the net neutrality debate will proceed in the aftermath of FCC v. Comcast.
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