The first meeting of the National Internet Alliance took place on Wednesday in Washington DC. It follows a decision of 31st March by the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco which denied a request from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a review of an earlier decision against the FCC.
The case was between the FCC and an ISP called Brand X Internet Services. In October 2003, the court ruled that internet connections by cable companies are telecommunications services.
That meant that cable companies would be required to provide independent ISPs access to their networks on non-discriminatory terms and at reasonable prices. That battle is continuing. Earlier this month, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) and several leading cable operators filed their own complaints after the court's decision to refuse the appeal.
In response to these events, Jim Pickrell, president of Brand X, announced a call to action by ISPs and consumers to form a coalition that will advance the cause of open, non-discriminatory access to broadband networks.
Accordingly, the National Internet Alliance has been established to unify the ISP industry and its customers' collective voices.
The NIA also has its sights set on areas such as the Internet Tax Moratorium and other critical issues facing ISPs which stand in the way of fair competition, better services and pricing for consumers and fair market conditions.
David Robertson, President of the Texas ISP Association, who chaired Wednesday's inaugural meeting, expressed his satisfaction with the court decision, but suggested that battle was hardly won – as demonstrated by the NCTA's announcement.
"I am hopeful that the FCC will do the right thing," said Robertson. "I'm certain, however, that the cable companies will continue to fight to keep their systems closed. They simply do not want competition from independent internet providers and why should they? If a consumer today wants high speed internet service the cable company doesn't have to worry very much about the quality or price of its service – there is no other high speed game in town."
Kate Lynch, CEO of Bway.net, a New York City area ISP, also thought decision "may become the lever that opens cable networks to competitors, although we know they will fight it till the end." She said the FCC's policies and rules must also change and added, "The majority will resist, but ISP's now have a legal weapon for forcing that change and we plan to use it."