Emailing "ISPCON: National Broadband Policy Debate"
I'll write more about this later, but this morning ISPCON hosted a debate between [Dewayne Hendricks](http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.01/hendricks.html) and [Jim Baller](http://www.baller.com/national_broadband.html) over whether or not the U.S. should have a national broadband policy.
Hendricks pointed out that the language used to describe the problem in Washington is not the language used by network operators.
Baller pointed out that we have not really had a national broadband policy during the past eight years beyond massive deregulation. He pointed to OECD statistics and other metrics by which the U.S. has fallen behind other nations since 2001.
There were several members of the press at the session and one pointed out that the election of Barack Obama makes it more likely that there will be a national broadband policy during the coming years.
ISPs fear that a national broadband policy will either amount to a handout to the monopolies, with little actual difference from what's practiced now, or that a national broadband policy will not allow ISPs to choose their own equipment or manage their own networks.
It seems clear that a policy will be formulated, but whether it is passed, and enforced, is open to question. ISPs should be following this issue closely as change may happen fast, starting with the appointment of a new FCC commissioner from the Democratic party.