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Open Internet

Additional Comments to the FCC on The Open Internet

The Center for Democracy & Technology has provided additional comments to the FCC as they  consider the appropriate regulatory structure to maintain Internet openness in the wake of the D.C. Circuit decision vacating the agency’s 2010 rules. We filed earlier comments in July. A free and open Internet is essential to the exercise of individual liberty in the digital age.

In our new comments, we state our belief that all available regulatory options should be considered, including Title II reclassification, Section 706 authority, and a range of hybrid proposals. In our prior comments, we examined the pros and cons of both Title II and Section 706. While both of these remain real options, both have significant shortcomings inherent in the structure and in the likelihood of speedy implementation. As the support for Title II have been well documented in the majority of comments submitted, we would like to augment the record with a discussion of severalproposals that draw upon, or are hybrids of, Title II and Section 706, and several implementation issues applicable to any approach.