Background: AT&T has announced that only users who subscribe to its "Mobile Share" data plans will be able to use FaceTime, an iPhone video chat service, on their cellular connections.
The following statement may be attributed to John Bergmayer, Senior Staff Attorney at Public Knowledge:
"By blocking FaceTime for many of its customers, AT&T is violating the FCC's Open Internet rules. These rules state that mobile providers shall not 'block applications that compete with the provider's voice or video telephony services.' Although carriers are permitted to engage in 'reasonable network management,' there is no technical reason why one data plan should be able to access FaceTime, and another not.
"'Over-the-top' communications services like FaceTime are a threat to carriers' revenue, but they should respond by competing with these services and not by engaging in discriminatory behavior."
