The key to getting anything done in Washington, D.C., is when the constellation of forces, the congealing of ideas and a sense of timeliness all combine to “force” participants to act. Network neutrality, as contentious as the issue has been, seems now to be on the agenda with an constellation of forces that could be moving the issue in a constructive direction.
That is to say, the debate might be evolving to a discussion of more-practical directions that recognize the significant and reasonable network management issues that must be resolved, in a way that is acceptable both to the leading access providers and leading application providers.
 
The latest evidence for this view is the founding of a voluntary Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group including AT&T, Cisco Systems, Comcast Corporation, DISH Network, EchoStar Corporation, Google, Intel Corporation, Level 3 Communications, Microsoft Corporation, Time Warner Cable and Verizon.
 
Just as important, the group’ s work will be facilitated by Professor Hatfield, a former Federal Communications Commission chief technologist. Hatfield has been around long enough, is respected well enough and has enough domain knowledge to be highly credible.
 
Significantly Hatfield is used to working at the intersection of network technology and regulation of networks, a key perspective.
 
The TAG’ s mission is to bring together engineers and other similar technical experts to develop consensus on broadband network management practices or other related technical issues that can affect users’ Internet experience, including the impact to and from applications, content and devices that utilize the Internet.
 
Participants agreed that the TAG’ s mission could also include:

(1) educating policymakers on such technical issues;
(2) attempting to address specific technical matters in an effort to minimize related policy disputes;
and (3) serving as a sounding board for new ideas and network management practices.
 
“The TAG will function as a neutral, expert technical forum and promote a greater consensus around technical practices within the Internet community,” said Hatfield. “The TAG would consider a number of factors in looking at technical practices, including whether a practice is used by others in the industry; whether alternative technical approaches are available; the impact of a technical practice on other entities; and whether a technical practice is aimed at specific content, applications or companies.”
 
The participants in these initial founding efforts for the TAG expressed their desire that the group would advise on technical issues, attempt to resolve disputes over network management and related issues outside of an adversarial context, and help inform federal agencies such as the FCC, Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice in their industry oversight functions. Staff from these agencies would be encouraged to observe and provide suggestions for the TAG’ s area of focus.
 
The group will include “a diverse membership” including engineers and other similar technical experts from academia, non-profit and Internet user communities as well as participating companies representing a diverse range of industry views, such as broadband providers, applications developers, content developers, and equipment manufacturers.
 
There always are legitimate questions to be asked about unfair business practices, and there always is a legitimate need to manage network performance under conditions of scarcity. Hopefully the TAG can help policy makers maintain the latter and prevent the former without disrupting the climate of Internet innovation.

By Gary Kim.