Built-in BIAS?

By
published

Was the Federal Communications Commission telegraphing its view of Internetservice providers in the Open Internet Order? Scott Cleland, chairman of NetCompetition, an e-forum supported by broadband interests, sees a possible link.

“In acronym-obsessed Washington, it is telling that the FCC created a new acronym for ‘broadband’ in the Open Internet Order’s rules, apparently to help justify the FCC’s imposition of preemptive anti-discrimination rules on broadband providers,” he said. “That new broadband acronym is none other than ‘BIAS’ for ‘Broadband Internet Access Service.’ Why use one word when four can imply the regulatory target is presumed guilty until proven innocent.”

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.