The Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP) and the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC) both filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last week.  Both organizations support the four existing open Internet principles, as well as its newest sixth proposed rule on transparency.  However, both organizations remain unsupportive of the FCC’s efforts to place restrictions on network management of broadband providers.

In MMTC’s public notice, 24 leading, national organizations made up of Hispanic, Asian, and African American civil rights and advocacy groups expressed the following:

“In the Public Notice, the FCC has asked for comment on whether it should limit broadband providers to a pre-determined set of specialized service offerings. We strongly urge the Commission not to pursue this proposal. At bottom, we have no idea what pro-consumer broadband offerings may emerge in the coming years and what types of specialized offerings they will require to function properly. By artificially limiting the provision of specialized offerings based on our knowledge about currently available technologies, the FCC would threaten innovation. And it could also prevent offerings that can help close the digital divide from ever reaching the marketplace.”

HTTP (who also supported MMTC’s FCC filing), along with the support of several national Hispanic organizations, expressed deep concern that the FCC’s new proposed broadband and wireless regulations will only prove to be counterproductive and not properly serve the people it is setting out the help the most. According to HTTP, one of its greatest concerns is that “the proposed net neutrality regulations will not help to achieve the broader policy goals of expanding broadband access, choice, or affordability for members of the Hispanic community.”

It seems that the FCC has the necessary information and feedback to understand that minority communities will not benefit from greater online regulation.  You can read more about the two organizations filings by clicking on the links below.

http://mmtconline.org/lp-pdf/Natl%20Orgs%20Comments%20Underdeveloped%20Issues.101210.pdf

http://httponline.org/2010/10/http-files-comments-on-proposed-wireline-and-wireless-regulations/