ITIF submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on how best to ensure an open Internet. ITIF argued that the Commission is right to return broadband to a lighter-touch regulation by classifying broadband as an information service. The alternative, utility-style regulation, unnecessarily limits innovation in networks, and risks opening the door to price regulation here and abroad. ITIF also argued, however, that the FCC should retain authority over open internet issues, and not abdicate its jurisdiction to the Federal Trade Commission. The FCC should establish clear guidelines for predictable case-by-case oversight of traffic differentiation, allowing experimentation with commercially reasonable deals that do not harm the openness of the Internet. Courts have recognized that the FCC has great latitude in protecting the open Internet, and tailored regulation allows for flexible oversight specific to the goal of promoting an evolving, innovative, but fundamentally open, Internet.
