FCC Commissioner Copps at Freedom to Connect 2006

REMARKS OF COMMISSIONER MICHAEL COPPS FREEDOM TO CONNECT 2006
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
We view the Internet as a place of freedom and openness. We view it as a place where innovation can flourish, where it seems almost anyone with a good idea, some technological savvy and a healthy dose of persistence can develop a business with global reach. With the genius of a dumb pipe connecting to intelligence at the edges and the common language of IP communications, the possibilities are endless. And this is indeed the way things ought to work. But if we are not watchful, we will miss the signs that there are threats to the openness that makes the Internet so great. Some telltale clues are out there. News reports-from Business Week to The Wall Street Journal to The Financial Times to The New York Times-have sounded warning bells, suggesting a future where new broadband toll bridges may restrict the use of services like VoIP, or make it difficult to watch videos or listen to music over the web. It's not impossible to imagine these things taking place. Because the more concentrated our facilities providers grow, the more they have the ability, and possibly even the incentive, to act as Internet gatekeepers-unduly influencing the flow or speed of Internet traffic, ultimately perhaps even dictating who can use the Internet and for what purposes. We can't let this happen. If we do, there's no doubt in my mind we will look back, shake our heads and wonder whatever happened to that open, dynamic and liberating Internet that we once knew. "What promise it held," we'll say. And if that occurs, history won't forgive us. Nor should it. So let's roll up our sleeves and work together-all of us-to make sure that the Internet continues to foster freedom and innovation, and that the original vision that inspired this liberating technology lives for another day and another generation. This is not just about better communications or a better Internet, it's about a better America.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-264765A1.doc

* See coverage of another recent Copps' speech:

* Broadband access needs a champion, FCC commissioner says
http://wistechnology.com/article.php?id=2835

* Wireless Web could aid disaster response
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=413300