US: Mozilla petitions FCC with net neutrality proposals

The non-profit Mozilla Organization has reportedly filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission weighing in with its own proposals for net neutrality.

According to reports, Mozilla is proposing that the FCC declare Internet service providers as common carriers, but that the regulator does not reclassify Internet access as a telecommunications service.

It’s a proposal that presents a third option in the debate over net neutrality. Consumer advocacy groups champion the FCC’s re-classification of broadband Internet service as a “telecommunications service,” allowing the FCC to more broadly regulate the industry and bar so-called “fast lanes” of priority content delivery, which some say is anticompetitive to smaller content providers.

But that re-classification, some experts say, could hand the FCC too much power and possibly stifle innovation and growth within broadband networks.

The software developer has offered a third option Monday, suggesting that the FCC could declare broadband Internet service s a “telecommunications service” only for the relationship between websites and ISPs, and not in terms of the relationship between consumers and ISPs, according to reports. This means the regulator could ban ISPs from charging content providers for faster, higher-quality service, but would preserve it’s “light regulatory regime,” as reports call it.

In its filing, Mozilla told the FCC that “categorizing remote delivery services as telecommunications services would meet the standard set by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals and give the FCC legal authority to adopt and enforce meaningful net neutrality.”

The FCC came under fire from some consumer advocates recently after it announced it would no longer ban content providers from paying more to ISPs for faster, higher-quality content delivery, a move that opponents argue is anticompetitive.

Reports note that there is no indication as to whether the FCC will actually consider this proposal, however.

Full content: Nextgov

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