Defining Cable Broadband Internet Access Service: Background and Analysis of the Supreme Court's Brand X Decision

Publication Date: July 2005

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Media, telecommunications, and information

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Abstract:

In 2002, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Declaratory Ruling and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the provision of Internet services over cable connections to address the legal status of such services under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. In the Declaratory Ruling, the Commission determined that “cable modem service, as it is currently offered, is properly classified as an interstate information service, not as a cable service, and that there is no separate offering of telecommunications service.” By classifying cable modem service as an information service and not a telecommunications service or a hybrid information and telecommunications service, the Commission precluded the mandatory application of the requirements imposed on common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act, thus allowing the provision of such services to develop with relatively few regulatory requirements.