Net Neutrality Order Protecting Edge Providers, not Helping Consumers, FSF Says
FCC protection of edge providers in its net neutrality order has had the perverse effect of "reduc[ing] the opportunity for consumer-friendly innovation elsewhere, namely by facilities-based broadband providers," the Free State Foundation said in a white paper Monday. Written by…
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Daniel Lyons, Boston College Law School associate professor and an FSF academic advisers board member, the paper argued the order "allows the FCC to deprive consumers of services they want, in order to protect edge provider markets." While usage-based pricing and zero-rated services can lead to more competition and consumer choice, net neutrality advocates have frequently pushed for rules limiting them, and FCC recent inquiries into AT&T's Sponsored Data and Data Perks programs, Comcast's Stream TV and T-Mobile's Binge On (see 1512170030) "are likely to put a damper on Internet providers' efforts to meet evolving consumer demand though zero-rating and sponsored data programs," FSF said. The FCC didn't comment.