By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 6-25-18
Network neutrality activists have been playing up doom-and-gloom scenarios of internet service providers blocking, throttling or engaging in paid prioritization with impunity, now that FCC rules against those practices are gone.
But the matter is not quite so black and white, or in this case black and blacker, as the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission has made clear. He also put ISPs on notice that any anti-competitive conduct would draw the agency’s ire.
Yes, there are no longer express prohibitions on those practices. And, yes, the FCC did deed the FTC primary enforcement of network neutrality.
But while activists have suggested that all internet service providers need to do is be transparent about their practices to escape enforcement, the FTC’s power goes beyond just punishing ISPs for not doing what they say they are doing per the FCC’s heightened transparency requirements. » Read More