ACI Study Reveals Negative Effects of Net Regulation March 4th, 2010
Portia Krebs

Today, as the FCC discusses imposing greater government regulation of the Internet, debate is raging over the necessity of such policies.  After all, the rapid rise of broadband and its innovations has emerged from a relatively unfettered Internet ecosystem driven by vigorous investment and competition.  Now, a study from the American Consumer Institute finds that greater Internet regulation will stifle private investment and impede the innovation consumers enjoy and count on nationwide.

According to the study:

• Both historically and across the marketplace today, infrastructure investment, innovation and improvement of the Internet is robust.
• Broadband providers’ core innovations have enabled and stimulated next-generation innovations that would otherwise not exist.
• No data or analysis exists to support claims that proposed net neutrality rules would promote innovation in the Internet ecosystem.
• Imposing new net neutrality regulations would diminish network provider’s incentives and opportunities to continue historic trends of innovation and investment.

These findings are consistent with another recent ACI study focusing on the adverse impacts of proposed FCC policies on U.S. employment.  The study cites historical data demonstrating that for every $1 billion in revenue, network companies provided 2,329 jobs, while non-network companies generated approximately half that number of jobs.  ACI suggests that FCC regulations, if imposed, would favor non-network companies, as opposed to the IT sector – ultimately leading to less investment and employment.

To read more about what experts are saying about net neutrality and the ACI study; review this blog over at NextGenWeb.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at 4:23 pm and is filed under Reports and Studies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.