[opendtv] Broadband legal limbo lingers
- From: Monty Solomon <monty@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: undisclosed-recipient: ;
- Date: Tue, 6 Apr 2004 01:39:40 -0400
Broadband legal limbo lingers
From Multichannel News, April 5, 2004
By Ted Hearn
Federal broadband policy took another hit last Wednesday, less than a
week after President Bush called for affordable nationwide broadband
access by 2007.
The setback came in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which
refused to allow the Federal Communications Commission to use certain
legal standards to shield cable-modem service from potentially
intrusive regulation.
The 9th Circuit's decision had the effect of perpetuating the legal
limbo hanging over cable-modem service since 1999, and probably
introduced more uncertainty over whether FCC chairman Michael Powell
can graft his cable policies onto digital subscriber line (DSL)
services provided by the Baby Bell phone giants.
Legal clarity is nowhere within sight. The current litigation could
putter along for a few more years, at the conclusion of which the FCC
might find it necessary to modify its policies. Those new policies
would undoubtedly trigger a new round of litigation. Somewhere along
the line, Congress could always step in with a new law.
One more factor to weigh: a victory by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in
the November presidential election could lead to the installation of
a committed pro-regulatory FCC majority that could force cable to
share its broadband facilities with the competition.
The legal jockeying is expected to continue by this Wednesday, as the
FCC or National Cable & Telecommunications Association is expected to
ask the 9th Circuit to stay its decision while the case makes its way
to the U.S. Supreme Court.
...
http://www.freepress.net/news/article.php?id=3010
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