Law Commons^™

Sender Side Transmission Rules For The Internet, Tejas N. Narechania, Tim Wu

Faculty Scholarship

Since 1966, the Federal Communications Commission has, one way or another, protected businesses that deliver services over the nation’s communications infrastructure. But in January 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down the FCC’s net neutrality rules contained in its 2010 Open Internet Order. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has since indicated that he will take up the D.C. Circuit’s invitation to implement rules that, consistent with historic practice, “will meet the court’s test for preventing improper blocking of and discrimination among Internet traffic.”

Chairman Wheeler’s statement invites an obvious question: presuming that the FCC wants …

Subsidizing Creativity Through Network Design: Zero Pricing And Net Neutrality, Robin S. Lee, Tim Wu

Faculty Scholarship

Today, through historical practice, there exists a de facto ban on termination fees – also referred to as a “zero-price” rule (Hemphill, 2008) – which forbids an Internet service provider from charging an additional fee to a content provider who wishes to reach that ISP’s customers. The question is whether this zero-pricing structure should be preserved, or whether carriers should be allowed to charge termination fees and engage in other practices that have the effect of requiring payment to reach users. This paper begins with a defense of the de facto zero-price rule currently in existence. We point out that …