McCain was knee-deep in UNE-P

[Commentary] Although it is true that Sen John McCain (R-AZ) probably has a limited grasp of Internet culture or content, as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee from 1997 to 2001 and again from 2003 to 2005, he developed a sophisticated knowledge about the plumbing of the Internet. Sen McCain has taken free market positions on Internet-related regulation. In the Senate, he opposed Network Neutrality legislation that would have codified an Federal Communications Commission policy prohibiting telecom carriers from blocking or discriminating against Internet content generated by competing service providers that use incumbent networks. He has also long been an opponent of taxation of Internet sales. As chairman, Sen McCain oversaw the rise and fall of the 1996 Telecom Act's Unbundled Network Element Platform (UNE-P) provisions requiring incumbent phone companies to allow rivals access and regulated wholesale prices for use of their networks to provide Internet services. In 2002, while chairman, Sen McCain backed a broadband bill seeking to deregulate residential broadband services in a way that would drive many incumbent phone rivals out of business. The FCC, under McCain's watch, eliminated many of the statute's line-sharing and unbundling requirements. Observers may debate whether Sen McCain was on the right or wrong side of the battle over access and pricing for broadband services over incumbent phone lines, but they should acknowledge he was a key player in the key policy decisions at an important time in the Internet's development. In his way, McCain understands the business battles over the Internet, despite being befuddled by the emails and websites it enables.