[bestbits] Move to regulate skype and whatsup in India.

[Lee W McKnight]

I argued in my 'Over the Virtual Top' paper and at an FCC Advanced Broadband workshop also last year, that with Netflix and Google Youtube together accounting for 50% of Internet traffic (at prime time, ie 8pm US), and Netflix laso growing substantially in share of bandwidth usage also in Europe, that both firms fit the classic definition under competition policy of dominant  firms. 

I did not suggest detailed regulation of OTT players, but did suggest regulators were curiously overlooking the new dominant information service market players, since they did not fit classic telco regulatory categories.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265599051_Over_the_Virtual_Top._Digital_Service_Value_Chain_Disintermediation_Implications_for_Hybrid_Hetnet_Regulation 

But of course the FCC's recent Open Internet order continues its focus in the opposite direction, with its complete overreach into the Internet interconnection market only getting pulled back last second because....Google and Netflix asked the FCC to do so ; ).

Michael's link to the New York Post story may explain why the FCC is that attentive to the newly dominant players.

Anyway, my 2 cents for folks in other jurisdictions is the same: ask the regulators to pay attention to OTT market dominant players, of whatever type/lineage, and be prepared to use competition policy levers if those are the ones available to keep players from playing the regulators for...well you get my point.

But...applying old world/title II-type rules to these types of services would also be a mistake, so no easy outs here.

Lee
________________________________________
From: bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net <bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net> on behalf of Amelia Andersdotter <amelia.andersdotter at piratpartiet.se>
Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2015 4:03 PM
To: bestbits at lists.bestbits.net
Subject: Re: [bestbits] Move to regulate skype and whatsup in India.

On 03/29/15 20:54, rysiek wrote:
> Dnia niedziela, 29 marca 2015 14:01:59 Sivasubramanian M pisze:
>> Hello,
>>
>> http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/social/trai-seeks-to-regulate-ot
>> t-players-like-skype-viber-whatsapp-and-google-talk/
>>
>> On similar proposals in other countries,  how did the Internet user respond?
> This is a tricky question.
>
> On one hand government regulation of such services raise valid concerns (David
> Cameron's idea to ban strong encryyption comes to mind).
>
> On the other, some of these services are a de facto infrastructure these days,
> and have huge power over users and businesses, due to the Network Effect:
> http://rys.io/en/131
>
> So I am slowly leaning towards actually promoting the idea we need *some*
> level of regulation of *huge* walled gardens. The question is, what exactly,
> and how exactly, we're to regulate.

There is much insightful guidance to be got from competition law in this
field, I think.

The European Commission merger cases SYBASE/SAP, Google/Motorola and
Google/Doubleclick were particularly helpful to me. The Commission
recently decided to start a larger sectoral inquiry into electronic
services. http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-4701_en.htm

Although the results will be a couple of years, I would propose pushing
for similar inquiries in your jurisdictions. It is not clear that OTT
providers require the same kind of regulation as for instance telecoms
operators do. Product liability and the exemption of these actors from
consumer rights legislation (services vs products) is likely to be a
bigger deal than a lack of sectoral regulation. At least in Germany and
Sweden, consumer groups are taking an increasing interest in these issues.

best regards,

Amelia

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