What Justice?

The Justice Department Friday took its belated stance on whether the FCC should impose Net neutrality and -- surprise! -- said no.

The good news or bad news, depending on your perspective, is that the DoJ's announcement is likely to have little effect on whether Net neutrality proponents succeed in getting government restrictions placed on how Internet services can be sold, priced and delivered.

As several others have noted, the way the announcement was made was more than a little strange, even by Washington rules. It came almost two months after the deadline for comments on the FCC's proceedings and was accompanied by a press release. It offered no real new information, nor any significant insights. In fact, the DOJ's arguments came across as old and a little bit tired -- the agency trotted out the U.S. Post Office analogy of charging different rates for different types of delivery and hailed the value of free-market competition over legislation that has the potential to dry up investment.

It's hard not to look a little cynically at what the top law enforcement agency is saying, given the turmoil at the top over the last several months, and the ongoing issues of whether the federal government has illegally invaded the privacy of hundreds of Americans in the name of homeland security. The reaction to the DoJ announcement has, in fact, been an outpouring of cynicism and a thorough online rehashing of the agency's previous support for large telecom players.

It would have been better for those companies, who oppose Net neutrality, if the DoJ had maintained its silence on the subject. Little was ventured and nothing was gained.

E-mail me at cwilson3@telephonyonline.com.