War of Words: FCC Vs. Voogle

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is conducting further investigation into Voogle’s (Google and Verizon) proposed net neutrality framework seeking  public comment on two controversial provisions included in a proposed policy framework crafted by Google and Verizon and opposed by many supporters of network neutrality rules.

The agency’s seven-page public notice, specifically, is seeking comments on how wireless providers should address transparency, devices and applications. Comments are due 30 days from being published in the Federal Register and reply comments 55 days after that.

FCC is also seeking comments on how applications are tied to the network. “To what extent should mobile wireless providers be permitted to prevent or restrict the distribution or use of types of applications that may intensively use network capacity, or that cause other network management challenges? Is the use of reasonable network management sufficient, by itself or in combination with usage-based pricing, to address such concerns? Should mobile wireless providers have less discretion with respect to applications that compete with services the provider offers? How should the ability of developers to load software applications onto devices for development or prototyping purposes be protected?”

The agency has already insisted numerously  that it doesn’t agree with all of the points of the Google-Verizon proposal, and this public notice carries that tone. The FCC’s concern with specialized services seems to be that open Internet protections could be weakened if broadband providers use specialized services to circumvent the rules that apply to broadband Internet access.

I will do another blog post in 30 days once Voogle  Wireless comes up with their comments.

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