Open Access

In March the FCC classified cable modem Internet service as an "interstate information service," thereby exempting cable broadband from the common carrier obligations of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, as well as from local regulation. The FCC's decision -- together with a pending rule that would likewise exempt high-speed telephone modems (DSL) -- has the potential to undermine the Internet as an open and unfettered medium of communication and innovation. By allowing cable and regional Bell companies to close access to competing Internet Service Providers (ISPs), consumers will no longer have nondiscriminatory access to all content and software providers.

Both the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) are challenging the Commission's radical shift away from policies favoring competition, interoperable networks, consumer choice and free expression. Barry Steinhardt (ACLU) and Jeffrey Chester (CDD) addressed the ruling's implications for Internet policy, and joined Dr. Andrew Afflerbach of the Columbia Telecommunications Corporation to present the conclusions of a recently-released ACLU report on cable broadband. The discussion focused on the report's conclusion that nondiscriminatory open access is technically possible on most U.S. cable systems, and its proposal of a "public interest architecture" for high-speed Internet access.

Participants

• Barry Steinhardt
  Director
  ACLU Program on Technology and Liberty


• Dr. Andrew Afflerbach
  Principal Engineer
  Columbia Telecommunications Corporation


• Jeffrey Chester
  Executive Director,
  Center for Digital Democracy