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Statement: OTI Senior Policy Counsel on FCC Interconnection Announcement
[June 14, 2014]

Statement: OTI Senior Policy Counsel on FCC Interconnection Announcement


(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) WASHINGTON, June 13 -- The New America Foundation issued the following statement: On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it would investigate agreements between Internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon and content sites such as Netflix, including any fees related to those agreements.



The following statement can be attributed to Sarah Morris, Senior Policy Counsel for the Open Technology Institute at New America: "Today's announcement underscores that the Commission is attentive to the concerns that many commenters have already noted. We hope that this action indicates a willingness by the Chairman to broaden the scope of the proposed Open Internet Rules to include protections against the full breadth of consumer harms identified in the proceeding.

"Transparency is a cornerstone of sound public policy. However, when transparency reveals harmful behavior, the Commission should step in to fix the underlying problem. Today's announcement is therefore a step in the right direction but more work is needed as to address problems that negatively affect the end-user experience.


"The types of harms that implicate network neutrality concerns continue to evolve, and it's important that the Commission's policies reflect that evolution. Internet service providers have a direct line into their subscribers' homes. This direct line gives ISPs a terminating access monopoly, allowing them to leverage their gatekeeper and make it more difficult for their subscribers to reliably access the content of their choosing. It is therefore necessary to fully understand the effects of the types of agreements like the one between Comcast and Netflix to develop strong, comprehensive network neutrality protections." TNS 24HariRad-140614-30FurigayJane-4767542 30FurigayJane (c) 2014 Targeted News Service

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