Federal Communications Commission FCC 09-93 Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) Preserving the Open Internet ) GN Docket No. 09-191 ) Broadband Industry Practices ) WC Docket No. 07-52 NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING Adopted: October 22, 2009 Released: October 22, 2009 Comment Date: January 14, 2010 Reply Comment Date: March 5, 2010 By the Commission: Chairman Genachowski and Commissioners Copps and Clyburn issuing separate statements; Commissioners McDowell and Baker concurring in part, dissenting in part, and issuing separate statements. TABLE OF CONTENTS Heading Paragraph # I. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................. 1 II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 16 III. BACKGROUND.................................................................................................................................. 17 A. The Open and Transparent Internet................................................................................................ 17 B. Historical Commission Policies..................................................................................................... 24 C. Commission Focus on Preserving the Open Internet..................................................................... 28 IV. DISCUSSION....................................................................................................................................... 48 A. The Need for Commission Action ................................................................................................. 50 1. Commission Goals................................................................................................................... 51 2. Evolution of the Internet Marketplace and Technologies........................................................ 56 3. The Debate Regarding Oversight of Traffic Management Pricing and Practices ................... 60 a. Investment and Innovation................................................................................................ 62 b. Competition and Market Forces........................................................................................ 67 c. Speech and Civic Participation ......................................................................................... 75 d. Congestion ........................................................................................................................ 79 4. Next Steps................................................................................................................................ 81 B. Our Authority to Prescribe Rules Implementing Federal Internet Policy...................................... 83 C. Codifying the Existing Four Internet Principles ............................................................................ 88 D. Codifying a Principle of Nondiscrimination................................................................................ 103 E. Codifying a Principle of Transparency ........................................................................................ 118 F. Reasonable Network Management, Law Enforcement, Public Safety, and Homeland and National Security.......................................................................................................................... 133 1. Reasonable Network Management........................................................................................ 135 2. Law Enforcement .................................................................................................................. 142 3. Public Safety and Homeland and National Security.............................................................. 145 G. Managed or Specialized Services................................................................................................. 148 Federal Communications Commission FCC 09-93 H. Applicability of Principles to Different Broadband Technology Platforms................................. 154 1. Emergence of Mobile Internet Access................................................................................... 158 2. Background of Wireless Open Platforms .............................................................................. 161 3. Application of the Internet Principles to Wireless................................................................. 163 a. Connection to the Network and Device Attachment....................................................... 163 b. Application of Nondiscrimination with Respect to Access to Content, Applications, and Services, Subject to Reasonable Network Management.................... 171 I. Enforcement................................................................................................................................. 175 J. Technical Advisory Process......................................................................................................... 177 V. PROCEDURAL MATTERS.............................................................................................................. 178 VI. ORDERING CLAUSES..................................................................................................................... 185 APPENDIX A: PROPOSED RULES APPENDIX B: LIST OF COMMENTERS APPENDIX C: INITIAL REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANALYSIS I. INTRODUCTION 1. Forty years ago, the first packet switches linked computers into a network, laying the foundation for the Internet, which has transformed our nation’s economy, culture, and democracy. The Internet has been a launching pad for innumerable creative and entrepreneurial ventures; enabled businesses small and large, wherever located, to reach customers around the globe; allowed individuals in remote parts of America to access information and services previously unavailable to them; and made it possible for the voice of a single citizen—whether in the form of a blog post, online video, or tweet—to influence world events. As recently as twenty years ago, it would have been difficult to imagine the profound benefits the Internet routinely provides today. 2. With today’s Notice, we seek public input on draft rules to preserve an open Internet— the next step in an ongoing and longstanding effort at the Commission. As described in greater detail below, the Commission has considered the issue of Internet openness in a wide variety of contexts and proceedings, including: a unanimous policy statement, a notice of inquiry on broadband industry practices, public comment on several petitions for rulemaking, conditions associated with significant communications industry mergers, the rules for a major spectrum auction, and specific enforcement actions against particular parties. In examining this issue, the Commission has provided abundant opportunities for public participation, including through public hearings and requests for written comment, which have generated over 100,000 pages of input in approximately 40,000 filings from interested companies, organizations, and individuals. 3. Throughout this extensive process, one point has attracted nearly unanimous support: The Internet’s openness, and the transparency of its protocols, have been critical to its success. Because the Internet’s creators did not know—and did not want to pre-determine—what would emerge and succeed on the network, they chose an architecture that did not favor particular applications. The network’s architecture was based on a set of non-proprietary standards. It was open to any computer or information processor configured to use the standard protocols, and to any content addressed in accordance with the protocols. 4. Because of the historically open architecture of the Internet, it has been equally accessible to anyone with a basic knowledge of its protocols. As a platform for commerce, it does not distinguish between a budding entrepreneur in a dorm room and a Fortune 500 company. As a platform for speech, it offers the same potential audience to a blogger on her couch and to a major newspaper columnist. The Internet’s accessibility has empowered individuals and companies at the edge of the network to develop and contribute an immense variety of content, applications, and services that have improved the lives of Americans. Such innovation has dramatically increased the value of the network, spurring—in a virtuous 2 Federal Communications Commission FCC 09-93 circle—investment by network operators, who have improved the Internet’s reach and its performance in many areas. 5. This Commission has a statutory responsibility to preserve and promote advanced communications networks that are accessible to all Americans and that serve national purposes.1 Four years ago, the Commission sought to safeguard and promote the open Internet by announcing four general Internet policy principles that would guide its interpretation of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the Act):2 • To encourage broadband deployment and preserve and promote the open and interconnected nature of the public Internet, consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content of their choice. • To encourage broadband deployment and preserve and promote the open and interconnected nature of the public Internet, consumers are entitled to run applications and use services of their choice, subject to the needs of law enforcement. • To encourage broadband deployment and preserve