Remarks of Commissioner O'Rielly Before the Internet Innovation Alliance

The question posed to me and the subsequent panel is: what is the regulator's role in our expanding broadband economy? When contemplating today's topic, I started to form some basic principles that would serves as a good starting point for approaching these issues in the current environment:

1. The Internet cannot be stopped.
2. Understand how the Internet economy works
3. Follow the law; don't make it up
4. Internet access is not a necessity or human right: It is important to note that Internet access is not a necessity in the day-to-day lives of Americans and doesn’t even come close to the threshold to be considered a basic human right. People can and do live without Internet access, and many lead very successful lives. It is even more ludicrous to compare Internet access to a basic human right. In fact, it is quite demeaning to do so in my opinion. Human rights are standards of behavior that are inherent in every human being. They are the core principles underpinning human interaction in society. These include liberty, due process or justice, and freedom of religious beliefs. I find little sympathy with efforts to try to equate Internet access with these higher, fundamental concepts.
5. The benefits of regulation must outweigh the burdens.