A group of US broadband and high-tech companies joined adjunct professor Dale Hatfield of the University of Colorado at Boulder in announcing initial plans for a voluntary Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group. The TAG's mission is to bring together engineers and other similar technical experts to develop consensus on broadband network management practices or other related technical issues that can affect users' internet experience, including the impact to and from applications, content and devices that utilise the internet. The group comes in response to plans by the Federal Communications Commission to increase regulation of ISPs, in part to control the growing use of traffic and network management techniques for internet subscribers. TAG will focus on promoting outreach within the internet technical community; identifying "best practices" by broadband providers and other entities; interpreting "safe harbor" practices; providing technical guidance to industry and to the public; and/or issuing advisory opinions on the technical issues germane to the TAG's mission that may underlie disputes among discrete parties. The participants in these initial founding efforts for the TAG expressed their desire that the group would advise on technical issues, attempt to resolve disputes over network management and related issues outside of an adversarial context, and help inform federal agencies in their industry oversight functions. The participants in the initial efforts to formulate the TAG have included representatives from AT&T, Cisco Systems, Comcast, Dish Network, EchoStar, Google, Intel, Level 3 Communications, Microsoft, Time Warner Cable and Verizon. The Open Internet Coalition, a longtime backer of 'net neutrality', said it welcomes the TAG initiative, but noted that any type of industry self-regulation will still need legal backing through the FCC's proposed rules. The group Public Knowledge gave a similar response, saying it was "cautiously optimistic that it may do some good". However, the group is dominated by the telecom idnustry and is "not a substitute" for FCC rules and enforcement.
