US: Coalition wants FCC to look into data cap exemptions

A coalition of technology companies and advocacy groups earlier this week wrote to the Federal Communications Commission, urging it to open a public investigation into zero-rating practices, in which mobile providers allow some video or music providers to be excluded from data caps.

The group, which includes Common Cause, Etsy, Foursquare, Mozilla and Upworthy, called on the FCC to examine the zero-rating practices of AT&T, Comcast, T-Mobile and Verizon to determine whether those practices harm competition.

“Zero rating profoundly affects Internet users’ choices,” the letter stated. “Giving ISPs the power to favor some sites or services over others would let ISPs pick winners and losers online — precisely what the open Internet rules exist to prevent.”

The FCC is evaluating how to apply net neutrality rules to zero-rating practices, as the open Internet rules did not explicitly extend those rules to zero-rating policies. Over the past year, a number of major carriers have developed zero-rating plans.

Full Content: ECommerce Times

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