"Brand X" Case: Sounds Technical But It is Important

The Supreme Court case on what access rights third parties should have to cable modems is one of those rulings that will have significant impact on cable companies, independent internet service providers and you, the web user.

Access has been a core issue for cable and telecommunications from the beginning: when ATT ruled as a de facto monopoly, when cable companies had to attach their wires to telephone poles, when the ATT break up resulted in dominant regional telcos, when independent telephone companies needed connections to switches owned by the ATT progeny, and now, access to cable modems and their broadband capacity.

The scope of regulated companies rights to control its property needs to be measured against the desire to have actual competition in communications and telecommunications services. When established companies have spent billions to create a telecommunications infrastructure, their interest in reaping the rewards of that investment is legitimate. Yet, access to information has become an essential personal and business interest and having as free a choice as possible for selecting search engines and other web services is also legitimate.

This is one case to follow.