Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D

1 The Internet is “the international computer network of both Federal and non-Federal interoperable packet switched data networks.” 47 U.S.C. § 230(f)(1). The Internet is also described as “the combination of computer facilities and electromagnetic transmission media, and related equipment and software, comprising the interconnected worldwide network of computer networks that employ the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol or any successor protocol to transmit information.” 47 U.S.C. § 231(e)(3). The Supreme Court has described the Internet as a “network of interconnected computers.” National Cable & Telecommunications Ass’n v. Brand X Internet Services, 125 S. Ct. 2688, slip op. at 2 (2005) (NCTA v. Brand X); see also Reno v. ACLU, 521 U.S. 844, 849-50 (1997). No single entity controls the Internet; rather it is a “worldwide mesh or matrix of hundreds of thousands of networks, owned and operated by hundreds of thousands of people.” John S. Quarterman & Peter H. Salus, How the Internet Works¸http://www.mids.org/works.html (visited Dec. 17, 2003) (quoted at IP-Enabled Services, WC Docket No. 04-36, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 19 FCC Rcd 4863, 4869 n.23 (2004) (IP-Enabled Services NPRM)).

2 IP-Enabled Services NPRM, 19 FCC Rcd at 4869-70, para. 8.

3 47 U.S.C. § 230(a)(1).

4 47 U.S.C. § 230(a)(3).

5 See, e.g., Hal Varian et al., The Net Impact Study: The Projected Economic Benefits of the Internet in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany, available at: http://www.netimpactstudy.com/NetImpact_Study_Report.pdf (January 2002) (visited July 31, 2005).

6 47 U.S.C. § 230(b)(2).

7 47 U.S.C. § 230(b)(1).

8 47 U.S.C. § 157 nt. (incorporating section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Pub. Law No. 104-104, 110 Stat. 56 (1996)).

1 47 U.S.C. § 151.

2 See NCTA v. Brand X, slip op. at 1.  

3 Id. at 3.

4 Id. at 3-4. We also note that the Enforcement Bureau recently entered into a consent decree to resolve an investigation with respect to the blocking of ports used for voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). See Madison River LLC and Affiliated Companies, File No. EB-05-IH-0110, Order, 20 FCC Rcd 4295 (Enf. Bur. 2005).

5 See Hush-A-Phone Corp. v. United States, 238 F.2d 266, 269 (D.C. Cir. 1956); Use of the Carterfone Device in Message Toll Telephone Service, 13 FCC 2d 420 (1968).

6 See Preamble, Telecommunications Act of 1996, P.L. 104-104, 100 Stat. 56 (1996) (enacting 1996 Act “to promote competition and reduce regulation in order to secure lower prices and higher quality services for American telecommunications consumers and encourage the rapid deployment of new telecommunications technologies”).

1 Accordingly, we are not adopting rules in this policy statement. The principles we adopt are subject to reasonable network management.