The FCC don't need no stinkin' badges

The Federal Communications Commission further flushed out its vision for the future of Net governance today, formally releasing and adding two more principles to its informal 2005 list of four, reports GigaOm’s Stacey Higginbotham:

Back in 2005, the FCC created a set of four principles that governed net neutrality on wired networks, but such principles weren’t codified through a formal rulemaking process (which has led to a lawsuit challenging the FCC’s right to enforce net neutrality at all). Today [FCC Chairman Julius] Genachowski set forth a framework by which those principles will become a formal rule and added two new ones. He plans to suggest that all six principles apply to both wired and wireless networks.

Genachowski also introduced a new website, www.openinternet.gov, to help people follow the issue and proposed an official start to the rulemaking process with a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the FCC’s October meeting.

The GigaOm article provides a good overview, but Kevin C. Tofel at jkOnTheRun.com digs a bit deeper and offers some opinions on how this might impact the current mobile industry:

That last phrase bears repeating — all six principles apply to all platforms that access the Internet. Although I haven’t kept up with all of the net neutrality nuances, this is the first time I’ve seen explicit broadening to include all web-enabled devices. Obviously, that means traditional mobile device like phones. But it also includes non-phone devices that contain Wi-Fi modules — think of Apple’s iPod Touch and Microsoft’s ZuneHD, for example. All of the newest Blu-Ray players that offer integrated Netflix streaming would apply here. Internet radio devices, web-connected home security systems and cameras with integrated wireless connectivity all fit the bill. The list is practically endless now.

Tofel gives even more detailed examples of potential ramifications. You should definitely read the whole thing.

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