Stanford Hosts Net Neutrality Hearing

Major ISPs did not respond to the invitation

Net neutrality keeps on being one of the most disputed issues on and off line. In this respect Stanford University held an important hearing on the subject on Thursday where major companies such as Comcast, AT&T, Verizon and Time Warner were invited but none of them were present, eFluxMedia informs. The FCC hearing has allowed advocacy groups to plead for enforcing net neutrality principles and demand that ISPs treat all users and traffic equally.

According to FCC commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein “Consumers have come to expect and will continue to demand the open and neutral character that has always been the hallmark of the Internet.” He also explained that the Commission is at this time looking into a number of petitions and complaints which point to an unfair policy by the ISPs: “broadband providers have intentionally and secretly degraded applications in a way that undermines the open and interconnected character of the Internet.”

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin talked about the importance of keeping consumers well informed at all time about the exact nature of the service they are paying money for.

However there were some who opposed the general stand toward net neutrality like the songwriter Rick Carnes, president of the Songwriters Guild of America who emphasized again the role piracy plays in the music industry’s losses.

 Although they didn’t attend the hearing, Comcast has made another move to clear its name after being the target of so many complaints for its obstruction of p2p traffic last year. Together with Pando Networks, Inc., Comcast announced they will engage in creating a “P2P Bill of Rights and Responsibilities” (BRR) for peer-to-peer (P2P) users and Internet Service Providers (ISPs).