Matthew C Klein, Columnist

Ambiguity Is Clear for Net Neutrality

The proposed FCC rules would be a step toward constructive ambiguity.

April 24, 2014 at 9:00 PM UTC

Matthew C. Klein writes for Bloomberg View about the economy and financial markets. He previously wrote for the Economist magazine and its economics blog, Free Exchange. Before that, Klein was a research associate at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he spent more than two years studying the history of the Federal Reserve and the intellectual history of monetary economics for an upcoming book by Sebastian Mallaby. He also worked at Bridgewater Associates, where he studied the economies of Central and Eastern Europe and advised institutional investors on asset-liability management. Klein has a bachelor's degree in history from Yale University. Originally from Chicago, he lives in New York.

The wiring of a nation. Photographer: Ariana Lindquist/Bloomberg — The wiring of a nation. Photographer: Ariana Lindquist/Bloomberg

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

Lots of people are unhappy with the Federal Communications Commission's latest efforts to protect the so-called open Internet. The New York Times led its news story on the subject with the assertion that "the principle that all Internet content should be treated equally as it flows through cables and pipes to consumers looks all but dead." That's an extreme interpretation. It's more likely that regulators are embracing constructive ambiguity to encourage behavior without radically altering the existing rules.

The FCC is in this pickle because of the way it classifies Internet providers. It could say they are "common carriers" under the Communications Act. That would give the FCC broad authority to prevent broadband companies from discriminating among their customers -- rules that have long applied to landline phone service. The FCC has resisted taking this step, however, instead preferring to treat Internet providers as information services, which both transmit and process data. Maybe regulators agree with the National Cable and Telecommunications Association that "common carrier regulation discourages infrastructure investment and network enhancements."