Will the FCC Regulate the Net?

Lam1969 writes "Computerworld's Robert Mitchell wonders if the FCC could one day have regulatory power over the Internet. The causes? As telephone calls are increasingly delivered as an IP service, and traditional telephony fades away, traditional telephone companies are demanding a level regulatory regimen for all service providers. From the article: "Assuming that the FCC buys arguments such as this, we could see a new regulatory focus on the Internet and a decline in the hands-off attitude shown in the past. From the regulators' viewpoint, the Internet increasingly may be viewed as just another utility that requires oversight.""

Comments

Don't make me laugh

[stunt_penguin]

They might be able to regulate internet service providers, making sure they are competitive, making sure that they provide high standards of service, provide service to rural areas etc., and basically all the things that a regulator should do. As for regulating the internet, well this smells like something that a shitload of lawyers would dream up a a way to make money. My comunications are none of their business and will remain so until I commit a crime.

The packets we send out into the world are our own, and if they want to regulate them, they can bite my shiny metal ass. Of course I'm not American, so they couldnt regulate me anyway.

What if every person outside Washington decided that they wanted to declare a new country called..... I dunno the United States of..., um, Americaa. Make NY the capital and make lawyers illegal. That'd solve most of your problems right there ;o)