pff

Just say no to Ma Bell-era Net neutrality regulation

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See the bios of Berin Szoka and Adam Thierer below.

The announcement this week of Google and Verizon's proposed compromise framework for Net neutrality regulation seems to spell an end for the old "hands off the Net" consensus. But is such Internet regulation really needed?

Hard-core Net neutralists like the group Free Press insist that this deal isn't sweeping enough to protect the "free and open Internet." But in fact, the Net continues to do just fine without heavy-handed regulation. As Paul Misener, Amazon's vice president for global public policy, explains, … Read more

Verizon exec: Some Net neutrality fans suffer from 'paranoia'

ASPEN, Colo.--Verizon's chief technologist took a swipe at Net neutrality advocates on Tuesday, saying the concept has become overly politicized and important engineering details have been overlooked in Washington debates.

"We need to guard against turning technical and business decisions into political decisions," Verizon's Richard Lynch said at the Progress and Freedom Foundation's technology policy conference here.

Lynch gave the example of a customer placing a call using a voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, service that relies on time-sensitive packets. Unless a continuous stream of VoIP packets arrives, the call quality can suffer … Read more

Music, movie lobbyists push to spy on your Net traffic

ASPEN, Colo.--Recording industry and motion picture lobbyists are renewing their push to convince broadband providers to monitor customers and detect copyright infringements, claiming the concept is working abroad and should be adopted in the United States.

A representative of the recording industry said on Monday that her companies would prefer to enter into voluntary "partnerships" with Internet service providers, but pointedly noted that some governments are mandating such surveillance "if you don't work something out."

"Despite our best efforts, we can't do this alone," said Shira Perlmutter, a vice president for … Read more