FCC Asked To Apply Open Internet Rule To Skype
The Free Press has asked the Federal Communications Commission to confirm that all U.S. wireless networks must adhere to the same open Internet policy as landline networks. The policy gives consumers the right to access all online content.
The nonprofit media-policy watchdog said recent statements from AT&T strongly suggest the wireless carrier, in cooperation with Apple, is blocking the use of Skype’s VoIP application on the iPhone. Free Press also said applications which would allow the tethering of the Android-based T-Mobile G1 phone are not available to T-Mobile customers on Google’s Android Marketplace.
“The Internet in your pocket should be just as free and open as the Internet in your home,” said Free Press Policy Counsel Chris Riley. “The FCC must make it crystal-clear that a closed Internet will not be tolerated on any platform.”
A Critical Clarification
When it comes to forcing broadband operators to open their networks, the Free Press is no novice. Together with Public Knowledge, the media-policy watchdog filed a successful complaint with the FCC against broadband service provider Comcast last year.
Former FCC Chairman Keven Martin subsequently compared Comcast’s suppression of BitTorrent P2P traffic to post office employees opening an individual’s mail, deciding they didn’t want to bother delivering it, and hiding that fact by sending it back stamped “Address unknown — return to sender.”
“Unfortunately, that is exactly what Comcast was doing with their subscribers’ Internet traffic,” Martin said last August. “Subscribers should be able to go where they want, when they want, and generally use the Internet in any legal means.”
Now the Free Press is asking acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps — who sided with Martin in last year’s Comcast decision — to inform AT&T and other U.S. wireless operators that they cannot adopt discriminating terms of service prohibiting the use of certain applications.
“As more and…
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