The industry lobby is dismissive and deceptive. Its anti-government no-regulation appeal adds confusion to an already complicated situation. The Industry giants have pulled together under the umbrella of trade associations and powerful business lobbying groups. They should deal with the public in an honest fashion. I read a piece this past week posted by Michael Powell that point to documents created by his trade association that represents the communications giant’s position.
They are wrongly playing on peoples’ anti-government phobias. The real threat to the Open Internet or Net Neutrality is not the US Government but the so-called ISPs. The manipulation of the government by these deep-pocketed companies and their alliances is just as or more dangerous than Government regulation. The public and business interests that us the network of networks need to come together and realize that big brother has many disguises.
The issue is not as much about the wires as the switches. The Telecom switch owners are the ones that want complete control of the Net. They want the power to decide what traffic get preferential treatment rather than act as the Neutral agents that they should be. Giant telecommunications providers are very similar to the monopolies of the pre 1930s era. “Susan Crawford, a professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York, has written a book, “Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age,” that offers a calm but chilling state-of-play on the information age in the United States.”
Michael Powell gave a great interview on LinkedIn a couple weeks ago. One can respect personally and not respect his positions. His trade association should not be condescending topeople and businesses seeking protections under the law. He heads his Telecom funded organization after leaving the chair of the FCC. The idea that regulation of Telecom’s control of the Internet is anti-growth and un-American is nonsense. They state that regulation of Telecoms like before 2002 would be a disaster. That is boloney. Their casting dispersions on people having a reasoned debate is wrong.
It was a mistake, not a disaster to classify Internet backbone providers as ISPs in 2002. There were many true ISPs at the time. Industry consolidation by the backbone providers AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner has left few true service providers in place nationwide. The massive corporations with fleets of lawyers now want the ability to regulate and throttle traffic going through their switches. True service providers will have to pay to play on their network. That does not seem like open Internet. What do you think?
Their hard driving lobbying efforts are understandable. They are profit driven businesses that want to eliminate competition. They have done a good job of that. Barbara Cherry came from AT&T and worked at the FCC under Powell’s leadership. According to Wired Magazine’s articles on Net Neutrality earlier this year, she now feels it was a bad decision to classify Telecoms as service providers exempting them from Title II provisions.
”As Cherry points out, internet service providers were thought of as common carriers when the 1996 act was written. The FCC’s 2002 decision changed this. These companies want total freedom to determine who they serve, where they serve, and under what conditions they serve,” says Cherry. “We’ve never allowed that in this country before with a critical infrastructure.”
“Classifying cable and DSL connections as “information services” changed that. The move has led to limited competition in the broadband internet market, with ISPs like Comcast and Verizon dominating the landscape, and now, it may undermine net neutrality–the notion that our internet should be fair for everyone and free of tampering from meddlesome ISPs.
For many people, including [Barbara Cherry] and Tim Wu, the father of net neutrality, the best way to keep powerful ISPs in check is to reclassify broadband providers as common carriers. This would give the FCC the regulatory teeth needed to keep internet access open in a reasonable way to to make sure that service providers don’t grow into kingmakers—deciding which online companies can flourish on the net and which can’t.”
The quotes are from a three part series in Wired Magazine – See http://www.wired.com/2014/06/common-carrier/
It may not help. The plan is not to actually slow anything down. That is what the Telecom giants want to do. This plan is promote the Open Internet issue using banners that show what the effects will be for the users. It is to call attention to the end of the commentary on the comments period. That ends September 18th.
“If you have a website, blog, or Tumblr run the slowdown widget on your site to symbolically show your users a “loading” message and help people understand what the Web could be like without net neutrality. If you do not have a site, change your profile pic to the “loading” symbol, so that the entire Internet is alive with protest on September 10th, and forward this email to everyone you know to spread the word.
The truth is, unlike Comcast and their cronies, we have nothing to hide. A report from the Sunlight Foundation yesterday showed that 99% of comments the FCC has received are in support of net neutrality. The public agrees, and hell hath no fury like the Internet scorned. As I write this email, I’m feeling more hopeful about our chances of victory in the battle for net neutrality than I have since we started this fight.”
https://www.battleforthenet.com/sept10th/?t=dXNlcmlkPTU1MjY0NjIxLGVtYWlsaWQ9OTAxMQ
Go to the http://fcc.org/ and read some comments that people submitted in the initial comment period. Many I read were obviously from online forms but a large number were articulate and concise. The Internet should remain Open rather than controlled by unregulated private companies. FCC Establishes New Inbox for Open Internet Comments
The Commission is considering proposed rules to protect an Open Internet. The proposed rules ask questions about how best to ensure the Internet remains an open platform for innovation and expression. Chairman Wheeler is encouraging the public to share their views now. He intends to have rules of the road…
This problem needs more people involved. The well-written snarky advertising pieces by the industry are just adding confusion. The Net Neutrality cause and individuals concerned about it have a voice. It is wrong that monopolies or even near monopolies dismiss the American people like children. Our concerns are valid. Use your voice now to let the FCC know how you feel.