FCC Working on Net Neutrality Regulations
Earlier this month President Obama’s head of the FCC, Julius Genachowski, delivered a speech on the FCC’s stance on internet policy.
The speech got a lot of hype because Genachowski used Bruce Springsteen titles to explain what was going on. But lost in the flood -see, I can do it too- of Boss references were a couple of very interesting points.
- Genachowski name dropped Merge Records, an indie label that hosts acts like Spoon and Arcade Fire, and their ability to use the internet to gain recognition, as opposed to, traditional means like the old FM dial.
- He also praised acts like R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Wilco, and OK Go for their public support of Net Neutrality.
I immediately thought that someone at the FCC finally connected the dots between the internet and music promotion. Suddenly, the FCC seems like the cool parent that buys you alcohol and not the overbearing parent that locked you in a room to shelter you from the naughty outside world.
Well it looks like that FCC wasn’t all talk when it comes to Net Neutrality.
The Feds are eying up procedures that would pave the way for regulations which will protect costumers from cable and phone companies from favoring/discriminating against certain sites. Providers have been known to intentionally block or slow down sites because they use large amounts of bandwidth.
Google, Facebook and Amazon are all supporters, while providers like AT&T are against it.
It makes sense that Google, YouTube, etc, would want Net Neutrality. It would allow them unrestricted access to networks, despite the amount of data coming through.
AT&T, on the other hand, would obviously lose some of it’s power over the net. They will obviously be lobbying against Net Neutrality, and because of that, the regulations sought by the FCC could be shot down by the money grubbing politicians.
The idea of having the Feds oversee Net Neutrality is really just common sense.
Without regulations AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, can do what they want. They sure aren’t going to regulate themselves. So, there’s only one person to handle the task. The feds.
One concern that will be addressed, which I think is erroneous, will be that the regulations should be applied to everyone, like Google, and not just providers, like AT&T. The thing is that they are completely different entities. Despite it’s size, Google isn’t controlling bandwidths, AT&T is.
Musicians and music fans should keep an eye out for what develops.
Net Neutrality is a big deal for the music biz, since it will allow unblocked streaming of songs and videos for fans to reach at full capabilities. I’m rather impressed that the FCC is one board and hope that this works out.
