Maintaining an Open Internet for All

Short Synopsis

The Internet has emerged as a critical forum for public discourse.  This project will allow Media Access Project to fight the legal battles in the Courts and at the Federal Communications Commission to ensure that all Internet users - not just the privileged - will have access to this vital resource for our democracy.  

Description/Treatment

This project reflects Media Access Project's (MAP) continued commitment to ensuring that everyone has the ability to receive and deliver information over the Internet. For more than 35 years, MAP has served as the nation’s only public interest law firm dedicated exclusively to protecting the public’s First Amendment right to receive and access information from a diversity of sources in the electronic mass media.  MAP occupies a unique role in the media reform movement, providing both direct representation before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Federal Courts, while also providing specialized legal, regulatory and policy counsel to civil rights, civil liberties, consumer, labor, religious and other citizen groups.

In essence, MAP functions as the de facto “general counsel” for public interest groups on media and telecommunications matters.  It seeks to assure that the media reform community receives the same quality and depth of legal representation as that provided to the industry by corporate law firms and trade associations.  No other public interest group has the resources or expertise to track the day to day activities of the FCC and the Courts.  Despite its small size and limited resources, MAP’s talented staff, reputation for integrity and knowledge of the legal culture in which this fight takes place enables it to go toe-to-toe with the nation’s largest law firms.  Indeed, according to the National Journal, MAP is “considered by some... dollar-for-dollar the best run public interest group in Washington.”

MAP's expertise will be especially critical in helping to lead the legal effort in maintaining an open Internet. In October 2007, Comcast was caught by the Associated Press blocking its subscribers’ access to Bit Torrent, a file sharing program.  Together with Free Press and Public Knowledge, MAP filed a Petition for Declaratory Ruling pressing the FCC to establish that blocking peer-to-peer communications like BitTorrent violates the agency's "Internet Policy Statement" -- four principles issued in 2005 that are supposed to guarantee consumers competition among providers and access to all content, applications and services.

In August, the FCC voted 3-2 to order Comcast to stop blocking BitTorrent and other p2p applications by the end of the year.  This ground-making decision has already dramatically altered the industry terrain, massively scaling back investment in some "network management" technologies and forcing ISPs to look at different ways to handle network congestion.  But the FCC's August Order didn't end the fight over who gets to set the "rules of the road" for the new broadband networks.  MAP, on behalf of p2p distributor Vuze and consumer groups, filed its own appeal to force Comcast to stop blocking p2p right away and to protect the FCC order.  On September 19, Comcast filed a detailed description of its past practices, a description of its future network management plans, and a compliance plan with benchmarks.  The details of Comcast’s plan will likely shape how other ISPs manage the traffic congestion issue as well.  At the same time, however, Comcast is still challenging the FCC's enforcement power in court.  

MAP will help to lead the litigation effort against Comcast's challenge in the Courts.  This will involve significant time and resources towards writing and filing briefs.  In addition, MAP will continue to lead in advocacy efforts at the FCC to ensure that Internet service providers are complying with the FCC's Internet Policy Statement and are not using unreasonable methods to manage traffic congestion.