FCC’s net neutrality order is worse than we thought

[Valin]

The Hill:

Justin Vélez-Hagan

Mar. 17 2015

 

The FCC recently released its lengthy “net neutrality” order, finally allowing the public to see the results of the heated debate between those vying for more regulations to “protect” the Internet, and those who see more government intervention as the creation of a new problem altogether. Unsurprisingly, the new order may be more complicated, worse for business and the economy, and have more deleterious effects on the Internet than many of us originally anticipated.

 

The length of the entire published order, at 400 pages, does not seem to be a concern for many supporters. They point to the fact that the actual rules only comprise about eight pages, while the rest is full of historical context, explanations, and dissenting opinions. Some have even gone so far as to suggest that no business, except those looking to sue the FCC, will need to read more than the words of the order itself. They are wrong.

 

To be nice, I am going to round down (way down) and say that the FCC only took 300 or so pages to explain the few that comprise the rule changes. Doesn’t it go without saying that if it takes 300 pages to explain eight, those eight might be a little complicated? Any business that operates in this sector, small or large, is going to have to read, understand, and comply with the entire document, whether they like it or not.

 

In fact, I would argue that smaller companies, those who provide the most robust local competition to large Internet Service Providers (ISPs), will have to spend a greater percentage of time and resources understanding and complying with this order and less time building out services that drive down costs and improve services, than any of the publicly-traded telecom companies we all know.

 

(Snip)