Heartland Institute: State Net Neutrality Efforts Costly, Bad for Consumers

Net neutrality is of interest to VoIP service providers and consumers because it tends to compete directly with telephony services offered by broadband providers - traditional landlines on DSL and VoIP service offered by cable providers. The concern is that independent VoIP providers like Vonage and Skype will be blocked by broadband providers to boost their own business.

An article from The Heartland Institute argues that state-level efforts on net neutrality will likely invite costly lawsuits that the states will inevitably lose. They argue that this is the domain of the FCC, so the states will eventually lose in court:

But Internet policy is unquestionably the province of the federal government, as established by statute and an abundance of case law and administrative orders. To circumvent proper legislative and regulatory channels would provoke costly litigation and inhibit broadband investment in states that attempt it.

Furthermore, they argue that even if the regulations are somehow upheld, they'll be bad for consumers:

Even assuming state regulation were somehow permissible, there’s simply no benefit to any state becoming widely known as hostile to the broadband industry. Regulatory burdens are anathema to investors, and lawmakers who impose net neutrality rules would put their state at the end of the line for high-tech investments.

Ultimately, state skirmishes over net neutrality will only harm citizens who live there. The most responsible reply to demands for net neutrality regulations is: “No. Go compete in the marketplace.�

This final point may be partially correct - some broadband providers may avoid states with higher regulation. Uniform nationwide net neutrality would change this argument. On the other hand, there tend to be very few broadband providers competing in any particular local market, so it's tough to imagine a company pulling out of a city where it's one of two broadband providers because of net neutrality regulation.

Diane Smith writes about VoIP topics, including VoIP Phones. Visit Heartland Institute: State Net Neutrality Efforts Costly, Bad for Consumers.

Article Source: http://www.thearticleinsiders.com