Rep. Ed Markey on net neutrality, and ‘Making sure we get policy questions right’

Paul Kapustka | August 7, 2008 at 10:13 am

As we finish up the editing chores on our coming (now live!) Sidecut Report on net neutrality, we wanted to share with you now an email Q-and-A with Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, while last week’s FCC Comcast ruling was still fresh in everyone’s mind.

Sidecut Reports: You have been a passionate advocate for network neutrality for quite some time now. Can you describe what motivated your interest in the topic, and why it became a priority for your office?

Rep. Edward J. Markey: When I was chairman of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet back in the late 1980s, I successfully beat back an FCC proposal that aimed to levy per-minute access charges on enhanced services, such as Prodigy, Compuserve and others. My argument was that rather than subjecting the emerging “information industry” to such fees, policymakers should instead seek ways of nurturing access to such information. Winning that fight is the reason we have flat-rate Internet pricing today and this has helped to make the Internet wildly successful with consumers across the country.

Making sure we get policy questions right helps to allow the geniuses at the edges of the network innovate. Network neutrality is in many ways simply a battle against the certain incumbents’ latest attempts to levy new fees or otherwise constrain innovative new competitors. I’ve spent years actively exploring the future of new media technologies. I’ve been an outspoken advocate of promoting choice and innovation, including minority ownership, diversity and localism, in all areas of telecommunication policy.

I believe that an open, non-discriminatory experience on the Internet continues to be vital for consumers and innovators to reap the benefits of this wildly successful medium. The Internet’s role as an economic and cultural phenomenon must be protected by ensuring that the American people are free from unreasonable discrimination by broadband network providers.

Rep. Ed Markey on net neutrality, and ‘Making sure we get policy questions right’ | MuniWireless

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