Cable, Advocacy Groups Spar Over Net Neutrality

Latest wrinkle in debate turns on dueling interpretations of First Amendment implications.

One of the most enduring elements of the debate over Net neutrality is the rhetorical fluidity that enables the opposing sides to start with a very general and entirely non-controversial goal, and then argue with breathless urgency that either the enforcement or absence of regulations threatens to stifle innovation, sap investment in the Internet economy, squelch competition, and on down the line.

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So this week the debate lurched into First Amendment territory, with high-profile members of the pro and con camps sparring over the impact Net neutrality rules would have on freedom of speech.

It began with a speech the head of the cable industry lobby delivered at the Media Institute thinktank, where he argued that nearly all Net neutrality proposals would entail government oversight of ISPs and, by extension, the Internet.

For much of his address, Kyle McSlarrow, the president of CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), made an ipso facto type of argument, framing government regulation in any form as principally opposed to the spirit of the First Amendment.

"By its plain terms and history, the First Amendment is a limitation on government power, not an empowerment of government," McSlarrow said.

The latest salvo from the cable industry comes as the Federal Communications Commission is in the midst of a rule-making process that could produce Net neutrality regulations enacted some time next year.

The timing of McSlarrow's First Amendment argument was no coincidence. On Tuesday, the FCC has