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Filtering and the FCC - January 15, 2008

While the debate over the efficacy and utility of content filtering technology rages on, the Federal Communications Commission is preparing to offer its two cents. Late Monday, the agency issued a trio of public notices asking for comment on petitions for rulemakings filed last year concerning practices by some Internet service providers to manage traffic on their networks. The notices don't guarantee that the agency will ultimately issue regulations but they initiate a formal process that will create a public record of actual network management practices.

The notices issued Monday concern:

• The petition by Public Knowledge, Free Press and other public-interest groups asking that text messaging and short codes are subject to the Commission's non-discrimination rules. The petition was spurred by Verizon's initial failure to supply NARAL Pro Choice America with short codes to allow the organization to send text messages to its members. The notice is available here;
• The petition filed by Free Press, Public Knowledge and others asking that the practice of
  degrading peer-to-peer traffic violates the Commission's Internet policy statement and are not
  reasonable network management. The petition was based on the practices of Comcast and other cable
  companies to throttle peer-to-peer traffic. The is available here;
• The petition filed by Vuze for a rulemaking to clarify what constitutes "reasonable network management." This petition was filed by a company that wants to offer high-speed video services over broadband. The notice is available here.

Comments are due in mid-February.

The Motion Picture Assn. of America is already on record asking the agency not to take any action regarding network management issues that could prevent ISPs from implementing filtering technology--essentially a bid to try to keep filtering from become part of a broader policy and political battle over so-called Net neutrality. Given the particulars of the petitions the FCC is now considering, however, that hope now seems forlorn.
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