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 Federal  Communications  Commission  FCC  05-  151 
 Before  the  Federal  Communications  Commission 
 Washington,  D.  C.  20554 
 In  the  Matters  of 
 Appropriate  Framework  for  Broadband  Access  to  the  Internet  over  Wireline  Facilities 


 Review  of  Regulatory  Requirements  for  Incumbent  LEC  Broadband  Telecommunications 
 Services 
 Computer  III  Further  Remand  Proceedings:  Bell  Operating  Company  Provision  of  Enhanced 
 Services;  1998  Biennial  Regulatory  Review  –  Review  of  Computer  III  and  ONA  Safeguards  and 
 Requirements 
 Inquiry  Concerning  High-  Speed  Access  to  the  Internet  Over  Cable  and  Other  Facilities 


 Internet  Over  Cable  Declaratory  Ruling 
 Appropriate  Regulatory  Treatment  for  Broadband  Access  to  the  Internet  Over 
 Cable  Facilities 


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 CC  Docket  No.  02-  33 
 CC  Docket  No.  01-  337 


 CC  Docket  Nos.  95-  20,  98-  10 


 GN  Docket  No.  00-  185 
 CS  Docket  No.  02-  52 
 POLICY  STATEMENT 
 Adopted:  August  5,  2005  Released:  September  23,  2005 
 By  the  Commission: 
 I.  INTRODUCTION 
 1.  The  availability  of  the  Internet  has  had  a  profound  impact  on  American  life.  This  network  of  networks  has  fundamentally  changed  the  way  we  communicate.  1  It  has  increased  the  speed  of 


 1  The  Internet  is  “the  international  computer  network  of  both  Federal  and  non-  Federal  interoperable  packet  switched 
 data  networks.”  47  U.  S.  C.  §  230(  f)(  1).  The  Internet  is  also  described  as  “the  combination  of  computer  facilities  and  electromagnetic  transmission  media,  and  related  equipment  and  software,  comprising  the  interconnected 


 worldwide  network  of  computer  networks  that  employ  the  Transmission  Control  Protocol/  Internet  Protocol  or  any  successor  protocol  to  transmit  information.”  47  U.  S.  C.  §  231(  e)(  3).  The  Supreme  Court  has  described  the  Internet 
 as  a  “network  of  interconnected  computers.”  National  Cable  &  Telecommunications  Ass’n  v.  Brand  X  Internet  Services,  125  S.  Ct.  2688,  slip  op.  at  2  (2005)  (NCTA  v.  Brand  X);  see  also  Reno  v.  ACLU,  521  U.  S.  844,  849-  50 
 (1997).  No  single  entity  controls  the  Internet;  rather  it  is  a  “worldwide  mesh  or  matrix  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  (continued  .  .  .) 
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 Federal  Communications  Commission  FCC  05-  151 
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 communication,  the  range  of  communicating  devices  and  the  variety  of  platforms  over  which  we  can  send  and  receive  information.  2  As  Congress  has  noted,  “[  t]  he  rapidly  developing  array  of  Internet  .  .  .  services 
 available  to  individual  Americans  represent  an  extraordinary  advance  in  the  availability  of  educational  and  informational  resources  to  our  citizens.”  3  The  Internet  also  represents  “a  forum  for  a  true  diversity  of 
 political  discourse,  unique  opportunities  for  cultural  development,  and  myriad  avenues  for  intellectual  activity.”  4  In  addition,  the  Internet  plays  an  important  role  in  the  economy,  as  an  engine  for  productivity 
 growth  and  cost  savings.  5 
 2.  In  section  230(  b)  of  the  Communications  Act  of  1934,  as  amended  (Communications  Act  or  Act),  Congress  describes  its  national  Internet  policy.  Specifically,  Congress  states  that  it  is  the  policy  of  the 


 United  States  “to  preserve  the  vibrant  and  competitive  free  market  that  presently  exists  for  the  Internet”  6  and  “to  promote  the  continued  development  of  the  Internet.”  7  In  section  706(  a)  of  the  Act,  Congress 
 charges  the  Commission  with  “encourag[  ing]  the  deployment  on  a  reasonable  and  timely  basis  of  advanced  telecommunications  capability”  –  broadband  –  “to  all  Americans.”  8 


 3.  In  this  Policy  Statement,  the  Commission  offers  guidance  and  insight  into  its  approach  to  the  Internet  and  broadband  that  is  consistent  with  these  Congressional  directives. 
 II.  DISCUSSION 
 4.  The  Communications  Act  charges  the  Commission  with  “regulating  interstate  and  foreign  commerce  in  communication  by  wire  and  radio.”  9  The  Communications  Act  regulates 


 telecommunications  carriers,  as  common  carriers,  under  Title  II.  10  Information  service  providers,  “by  contrast,  are  not  subject  to  mandatory  common-  carrier  regulation  under  Title  II.”  11  The  Commission, 
 however,  “has  jurisdiction  to  impose  additional  regulatory  obligations  under  its  Title  I  ancillary 


 (continued  from  previous  page)  networks,  owned  and  operated  by  hundreds  of  thousands  of  people.”  John  S.  Quarterman  &  Peter  H.  Salus,  How 
 the  Internet  Works¸http://  www.  mids.  org/  works.  html  (visited  Dec.  17,  2003)  (quoted  at  IP-  Enabled  Services,  WC  Docket  No.  04-  36,  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking,  19  FCC  Rcd  4863,  4869  n.  23  (2004)  (IP-  Enabled  Services 
 NPRM)).  2 
 IP-  Enabled  Services  NPRM,  19  FCC  Rcd  at  4869-  70,  para.  8.  3 
 47  U.  S.  C.  §  230(  a)(  1).  4 
 47  U.  S.  C.  §  230(  a)(  3).  5 
 See,  e.  g.,  Hal  Varian  et  al.,  The  Net  Impact  Study:  The  Projected  Economic  Benefits  of  the  Internet  in  the  United  States,  United  Kingdom  and  Germany,  available  at:  http://  www.  netimpactstudy.  com/  NetImpact_  Study_  Report.  pdf 


 (January  2002)  (visited  July  31,  2005).  6 
 47  U.  S.  C.  §  230(  b)(  2).  7 
 47  U.  S.  C.  §  230(  b)(  1).  8 
 47  U.  S.  C.  §  157  nt.  (incorporating  section  706  of  the  Telecommunications  Act  of  1996,  Pub.  Law  No.  104-  104,  110  Stat.  56  (1996)). 


 9  47  U.  S.  C.  §  151. 
 10  See  NCTA  v.  Brand  X,  slip  op.  at  1. 
 11  Id.  at  3. 
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