Highlighting increased focus on technology at NCTA convention in ...
Highlighting increased focus on technology at NCTA convention in New Orleans, roundtable of FCC legal advisers and bureau chiefs said Commission faced dilemma over how to classify new services, such as broadband and cable telephony. Kyle Dixon, aide to…
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Chmn. Powell said: “We've been doing things in sort of piecemeal fashion, in many respects, without regard to the statutory language in direct application to the ‘96 [Telecommunications] Act. We sort of tried to marry what the previous Commission did before to the language of the Act.” Matthew Brill, aide to Comr. Abernathy, said: “I think this all began as a legal exercise because I will say, to be honest, the statute is not perfectly clear. Given the ambiguity, certainly from a policy standpoint, information service classification [for services such as broadband] is more flexible and allows the Commission to target its regulations.” However, continuing evolution of technology also muddies waters, panelists said. Because many policies are based on anticipated behaviors, Barbara Esbin, assoc. chief, Media Bureau, said “the FCC doesn’t have enough information” in many cases to make informed decisions, “because technology hasn’t evolved enough yet,” to indicate what behaviors it would engender.