Broadband and Internet Regulation Become Presidential Campaign Issues

In a sure sign that broadband and Internet issues will make its way into the US presidential campaign, the Republican presidential platform adopted at the convention in Tampa included a statement regarding Internet freedom, criticism of the Democratic leadership at the FCC, and support for increased mobile broadband deployment.

In a section in the platform called "Protecting Internet Freedom," the platform makes the point that the Internet should retain its independence from regulatory barriers. According to the platform: "We will remove regulatory barriers that protect outdated technologies and business plans from innovation and competition, while preventing legacy regulation from interfering with new and disruptive technologies such as mobile delivery of voice video data as they become crucial components of the Internet ecosystem."

The platform also includes a more representative structure for Internet regulation - which is also part of the Democratic position on the issue.

The Republican party platform says that it is committed to a guarantee that "personal data receives full constitutional protection from government overreach and that individuals retain the right to control the use of their data by third parties." However - "the only way to safeguard or improve these systems is through the private sector." This position regarding an emphasis on the private sector was one of the obstacles encountered by both parties in an attempt to pass cybersecurity legislation earlier this year.

Chris Dodd, former Democratic Senator from Connecticut, and now the Chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) made the following statement:

“The Republican Party platform language strikes a very smart balance: It emphasizes the importance of us doing more as a nation to protect our intellectual property from online theft while underscoring the critical importance of protecting Internet freedom," Dodd said in a statement. "As the party points out, the Internet has been for its entire existence a source of innovation, and it is intellectual property that helps drive that innovation."

The position of the MPAA is important because the organization was a strong advocate for strict copyright enforcement and lobbied Congress to adopt anti-piracy legislation. The anti-piracy legislation ultimately was not passed, but remains a hot political issue in Washington. The trade lobby has said its studio members have seen their bottom lines battered by websites that offer pirated copies of their films, often when they're still being played in movie theaters.

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At the same time the Republicans attest support for an independent Internet, opposition to the FCC's open Internet rules remains. Republicans maintain that regulation of the telecommunications industry is way behind the times:

"Today's technology and telecommunications industries are overseen by the Federal Communications Commission, established in 1934 and given the jurisdiction over telecommunications formerly assigned to the Interstate Commerce Commission, which had been created in 1887 to regulate the railroads," according to the platform in a section entitled: "A Vision for the Twenty-First Century: Technology, Telecommunications and the Internet."

With regard to Republican support of broadband service providers and Internet related companies: "An industry that invested $66 billion in 2011 alone needs, and deserves, a more modern relationship with the federal government for the benefit of consumers here and worldwide," they say. "The current Administration has been frozen in the past. It has conducted no auction of spectrum [and] has offered no incentives for investment."

You may recall recent FCC reports stating that broadband has not been deployed in a sufficient manner, and calling upon the telecom industry to speed up deployment in unserved and underserved areas. According to the Republicans, the FCC is to blame for slow broadband deployment:

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"[The FCC] inherited from the previous Republican Administration 95% coverage of the nation with broadband. It will leave office with no progress toward the goal of universal coverage -- after spending $7.2 billion more." The $7.2 billion dollar reference was about President Obama's broadband stimulus funding, appropriated in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)."

In another criticism of the Obama Administration's FCC, the Republican Party platform took issue with the agency's spectrum management strategy.

Early in President Obama's term in office, the Administration's wireless spectrum strategy was hailed as a major priority of the President, and a key component of the Obama administration's National Broadband Plan.