Communication Law Bulletin, February 2008 - Part 1

The Month in Brief

February saw developments on a number of fronts that could fundamentally alter the regulatory landscape. Notably, net neutrality – the idea that broadband service providers should be required to make their networks and services available to applications providers, content providers, and other third parties on a nondiscriminatory basis – continued to gain traction in Congress and at the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC" or "Commission"). Also, the Commission announced an end to the ban on common ownership of broadcast stations and newspapers in the same markets, and tentatively concluded that high-cost support for telecommunications service should be allocated on the basis of "reverse auctions" rather than more traditional methods.