The FCC Forms a Committee (w/Comcast, Netflix) to Review Net Neutrality Policies

While Comcast challenges the Net Neutrality rules ("We do not prioritize our video .. we just provision separate, additional bandwidth for it" - here), OTT providers protest (Sony, Netflix) and the FCC chairman says that "Business model innovation is very important" (here) it seems that the US needs to re-examine its Open Internet laws (see "FCC's Net Neutrality Rules Made Official; Start on Nov. 20" - here).

The FCC announced the "composition of the Open Internet Advisory Committee (OIAC). The OIAC’s members include representatives from community organizations, equipment manufacturers, content and application providers, venture capital firms, startups, Internet service providers, and Internet governance organizations, as well as professors in law, computer science, and economics".

"Jonathan Zittrain (pictured), Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and Harvard Kennedy School, Professor of Computer Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and CoFounder of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, will serve as Chair of the OIAC"

Among the members are Neil Hunt, Chief Product Officer, Netflix; Kevin McElearney, Senior Vice President for Network Engineering, Comcast ; Chip Sharp, Director, Technology Policy and Internet Governance, Cisco Systems; Marcus Weldon, Chief Technology Officer, Alcatel-Lucent and Charles Kalmanek, Vice President of Research, AT&T.

"Since the Open Internet Order was adopted in 2010, the broadband economy has flourished. In 2011, investment in wired and wireless network infrastructure rose 24 percent. The United States now leads the world in 4G wireless service adoption. There has been a dramatic increase over the past few years in the deployment of fixed broadband networks capable of very high speeds—100 Mbps—from being available in less than 20 percent of U.S. homes in 2009 to approximately 80 percent today. In 2011, Internet-specific companies attracted nearly $7 billion in venture capital funding, a 68 percent increase in dollars and 24 percent increase in deals from 2010. The “app economy” that has grown around applications for Internet-based smart phones and other wireless devices has also thrived. This market barely existed in 2009, yet it now accounts for nearly half a million U.S. jobs. The OIAC will track these trends in our broadband economy and make recommendations for how the FCC’s policies and practices can best support this tremendous innovation and growth"

See "ANNOUNCEMENT OF MEMBERS ON OPEN INTERNET ADVISORY COMMITTEE" - here.