WASHINGTON—The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), one of the world’s top science and technology think tanks, along with a broad group of 16 academics and policy experts from the United States and Europe, today submitted an open letter calling on the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) to allow flexibility in the agency’s forthcoming net neutrality guidelines. The letter, which ITIF spearheaded, argues that net neutrality requires a nuanced approach, rather than categorical bans on certain types of behavior, as have been proposed by some of the most vocal advocates on the issue.
The group of experts urges BEREC to recognize that “[n]et neutrality, and surrounding issues like zero rating and specialized services, are not black and white: both sides of the debate have legitimate points, and the best solution from a consumer and innovation perspective involves tradeoffs and compromise.”
They go on to explain that specialized services and zero rating can benefit consumers and competition. “Rather than ban these innovations, better to follow a permissive, case-by-case approach informed by economic analysis, allowing for experimentation with beneficial forms of pricing or traffic differentiation.”
The letter concludes that in Regulation 2015/2120, which lays down measures concerning open Internet access, “the European Union established a consistent EU-wide approach to net neutrality, rightly recognizing the need for flexibility in this area. The regulation’s allowances for specialized services and zero rating are not ‘loopholes’ to be filled, but recognition of the need for optimistic oversight.”
ITIF Telecom Policy Analyst Doug Brake said, “Activists rallying under the banner of ‘Save the Internet’ have been very vocal in this proceeding, but they paint an overly simplistic, one-sided picture of the issues at hand. I hope regulators will focus on the nuances of this complicated issue as they move forward.”
Read the full letter.
