Minority, Women's Organizations Call on FCC to Ponder Net Neutrality Rules Groups ask for workshop on possible negative impact on access to broadband By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/5/2010 11:36:17 AM

A group of minority and women's organizations have called on the FCC to think hard about the impact of proposed network neutrality rules on the digital divide.

In a letter and proposal to the commission Tuesday, the groups asked for a field hearing and workshop on the subject.

The groups are essentially the same ones that raised red flags early on about the possible negative impact on minority access to broadband of network neutrality rules, depending on how they were crafted. They then took umbrage at the suggestion by some in the public advocacy community that the groups were carrying water for big media.

The group making the pitch include the Asian American Justice Center, the Hispanic Technology & Telecommunications Partnership, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, and the National Conference of Black Mayors.

In their proposal, they asked the FCC to drill down into issues like whether network neutrality issues should apply to search engines and content and application providers--the FCC has signaled it should be confined to the ISPs.

They also suggest that a number of "facially neutral, idealistic" social policies unintentionally widened social divides by race and income, citing Medicare and Social Security, for example. It also points to school desegregation and the FCC's own minority broadcast ownership rules as examples of programs that failed to close divides due in part to insufficient enforcement. "What can be learned from these experiences and how can that knowledge be applied to the design and implementation of potential network neutrality regulations?"

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