Comcast’s “network management” practices set off a firestorm of controversy, leading to an FCC inquiry and lending support to a new Congressional bill entitled “The Internet Freedom Preservation Act.” Some argue that such management practices are necessary primarily to deal with network congestion created by a small number of users to prevent a worsening of service to everyone else, while others contend that providers can use them to discriminate unfairly against certain types of content. In the FCC public hearing on “Broadband Network Management Practices” on February 25, Chairman Kevin Martin indicated the FCC’s willingness to discourage certain network management practices, but provided little indication what such rules might entail. This panel will evaluate the economic, legal, and engineering aspects of network management based on evidence from the United States and Japan and will discuss the potential impacts of possible proposed regulations.

PANELISTS
Scott Wallsten (moderator), Vice President for Research and Senior Fellow, iGrowthGlobal
Marvin Ammori, General Counsel, Free Press
David Burstein, Editor, DSLPrime
George Ou, Technical Director, ZDNet
Haruka Saito, Counselor for Telecom Policy, Embassy of Japan
Christopher S. Yoo, Professor of Law and Communications, University of Pennsylvania