Department of Justice Submits Ex Parte Filing to the Federal Communications Commission on Net Neutrality; Cites Litan and Singer

September 7, 2007

The Department of Justice (DOJ) submitted ex parte comments to the FCC yesterday in response to calls for new regulations governing the transmission of traffic over the Internet. The filing cautions that marketplace restrictions could prevent optimal investment and innovation in the Internet. The DOJ cites a study by Robert Litan and Hal Singer entitled “Unintended Consequences of Net Neutrality Regulation” to demonstrate how marketplace restrictions could prevent broadband providers from offering differentiated quality of service. The Litan-Singer study was one of only three economic studies cited by the DOJ.

The DOJ cautions the FCC to be “highly skeptical of calls to substitute special economic regulation of the Internet for free and open competition enforced by the antitrust laws.” The Department finds that “free market competition, unfettered by unnecessary government regulatory restraints, is the best way to foster innovation and development of the Internet.” The filing concludes with the strong recommendation that the Commission show restraint before initiating a notice of proposed rulemaking and adopting rules that would regulate the Internet.

To read the DOJ filing, click here.

To read the Litan and Singer study, click here.