UK regulator: network neutrality rules bad for consumers

Ofcom, Britain's telecommunications regulator, says its "preliminary view" is that "there is currently insufficient evidence to justify regulation to prohibit certain forms of traffic management." In other words, Ofcom sees no need for open Internet rules, given the agency's view that nothing has happened in United Kingdom cyberspace to merit them. The "consultation," as Ofcom calls its new discussion piece, notes "the absence of complaints or concrete examples of discrimination" presented to the agency so far. But what caught our eye about the piece—the equivalent of a Notice of Inquiry launched by our Federal Communications Commission—is its theory of Internet economics. The report plays down worries about the prospect of ISPs charging content and applications providers for access to Internet subscribers, or seeing this as a form of potential discrimination.