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The FCC should ban pay-to-play arrangements through a...

The FCC should ban pay-to-play arrangements through a combination of Section 706 and, if necessary, Title II, AOL Chief Counsel for Global Public Policy Leigh Freund, Pantelis Michalopoulos of Steptoe & Johnson, and Andrew Guhr, counsel to AOL, told officials…

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from FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s office, the Wireline Bureau, and the legislative affairs and media relations offices July 17, an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1nRY84x) posted Tuesday said. The agency should “adopt firmer and simpler rules,” including bans on pay-to-play when a broadband access provider is affiliated with an upstream edge provider, when the provider has market power, or is in the business of charging end-users, the filing said. All other pay-to-play arrangements would be subject to prior approval by the commission, AOL said. The rules would be sufficiently different from common carrier rules to pass muster, AOL said. Title II should be a last resort if Section 706 rules prove insufficient, the filing said.