US indie labels and net neutrality
US indie label’s organisation A2IM described the new internet regulation voted on February 26 by the five-member Federal Communications Commission as “historic”.By reclassifying high-speed internet service as a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act, the FCC imposed on ISPs the same rules as telecoms companies and confronted the concept of net neutrality.
The new regulation, proposed by FCC chairman Tom Wheeler, means that ISPs and wireless operators will not be able to offer so-called “fast lanes” to carry content faster against payment for the service.
“No one — whether government or corporate — should control free open access to the Internet,” Wheeler said in a speech before the vote. “The Internet is simply too important to allow broadband providers to be the ones making the rules… the action that we take today is about the protect of internet openness.”
He added: “This is no more a plan to regulate the internet than the First Amendment is a plan to regulate free speech. They both stand for the same thing: openness, expression, and an absence of gate-keepers telling people what they can do, where they can go and what they can think.”
A2IM President Rich Bengloff commented: “The result of today’s vote to adopt new net neutrality rules means that Independents will continue to have fair access to the online marketplace. These safeguards are critical to the Independent music industry’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that depend on the distribution and monetization of intellectual property.”
Bengloff added: “We are also pleased with the FCC decision to apply open Internet rules only to lawful content, applications and services. This distinction is important to maintain, as it has become increasingly clear that the music sector must be free to pursue any and all available means of combating the unlawful sharing of copyrighted content. A2IM applauds the Commission on noting the important distinction between protecting intellectual property and maintaining an open and competitive marketplace.”
Source: Music Week
