• Financial Times, Friday, September 7, 2007 12 PM

The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday backed the big telecommunications companies in the States, warning the Federal Communications Commission not to impose so-called "net neutrality" rules on Internet service providers. Should the FCC decide not to, ISPs would be allowed to prioritize how they distribute network bandwidth.

The DoJ said that preventing broadband companies from charging content providers for using more bandwidth "could shift the entire burden of implementing costly network expansions and improvements on to consumers."

These comments do not represent a ruling; they are just a suggestion to the FCC. Nevertheless, the comments are a significant blow to content companies like Google, Amazon and eBay--which fervently backed network neutrality standards, pouring hundreds of thousands of lobbying dollars into a united campaign.

Since becoming one of the most popular social issues of 2006, net neutrality has fizzled. A one-time concern for the likes of MoveOn.org, barely anything has been mentioned about the debate since the Democrats took Congress at the beginning of the year. Many thought that net neutrality laws would be a sure thing, although the Dems have been after bigger fish since they took control--namely, the practices of the Bush administration. Meanwhile, the big telecoms have been lobbying too--to a mostly Republican base.

Read the whole story at Financial Times »