This is not a candidate diary, but it is another reason to elect Obama.
Just like our civil liberties that, when not held on to with vigilance, slowly slip away, the user-content control of the internet will slowly erode, and the mass telecom corps will have a new medium to funnel misinformation and banal cultural paradigms to an unsuspecting public.
Yesterday, as advertised by Sen. John Kerry her on kos, the senate communications committee held a meeting on "the Future of the Internet". Needless to say the leaps in logic by FCC Chair Kevin Martin and the sophistry of the telecoms were on full display. Join me after the jump for the details.
Democratic politicians were arguing for a law designed to prohibit telecoms from creating a so-called "fast lane" for certain internet content and applications. But the debate took a strange turn, when Martin, the fucking chair of the FCC, sided with the telecoms by arguing that there was no need for any net neutrality legislation like the proposed
Internet Freedom Preservation Act(Sponsors Dorgan (D- North Dakota) and Snowe (R-Maine).
Chairman Martin told the committee that he continues to believe that the FCC doesn't need to write new regulations because it already has the authority to enforce its existing broadband connectivity principles, which say consumers have the right to access the lawful Internet content and applications of their choice.
Martin says they were granted this authority under a Supreme Courts Brand X decision that, he says, allows the FCC to "adopt any rules we deem necessary to adequately protect consumers' broadband rights." Martin basically thinks that any legislation would be reinventing the wheel.
But the telecoms, Martin’s strange bedfellows, have a different understanding. They think that any incursion on their services by the FCC would and should be followed up with mass amounts of litigation.
Comcast and Kyle McSarlow, president of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, argued against any new regulations, saying there's no evidence that any of his member companies have ever engaged in content blocking or "anticompetitive conduct." They even stated that they agree with the FCC’s broadband policy statement. BUT can the FCC stop companies from following the FCC policies? Can the FCC enforece their broadband policy? McSarlow:
"it's not even a close call; the answer is no,"
So here is where we're at. Both the FCC and the telecoms don’t want any legislation. The FCC chair thinks he has all the authority he needs, but the telecoms disagree. You would think that would make Martin want the senate to pass legislation the solidifies his authority. This is what senator Dorgan had to say:
I believe what you are saying is that you believe you need authority to take action on these areas, and one of the biggest content providers says you don't have that authority, so shouldn't you be asking us to do something, in the event this is unclear, and you spend the next three to four years in court?
So what is the real story? Why doesn’t Martin want to ensure, legally, that internet content is not taken over by the telecoms? Why does he not want to be extra certain that net neutrality is not permenantly lost? Does he agree with Ted Stevens (of corruption fame) that "the system will right itself, if someone really tries to interfere with the fair access and right treatment of everyone using Internet systems"? Does he really believe what Comcast has been saying? Does he think that Comcast ""do not, has not, and will not block any Web sites or online applications, including peer-to-peer services"? Does he trust them?
Lastly, Martin, the telecoms, and republicans are all arguing that there is no need for this legislation. They say the legislation is searching for a problem to solve that doesn’t exist. But, god damn it, this is so fucking narrow-minded, ignorant, and, probably, corrupt. As I mentioned above, without regulative protections the internet content will drift towards corporate control. It happened with radio and television (and continues; thanks, Martin!). The problem is evident for anyone with a cursory understanding of communication technology’s history. Now the problem is staring us in the face: the telecoms think they are not legally bound to any content freedom on the internet. There is a lot of money to be made by the telecoms if they can take content control of the internet. They have already been trying to dominate the conversation by suppressing activists. They have already been busted blocking internet traffic. They are lobbying anyone with their hands out. They are manipulating the public by asking us to "trust" them and promising to "collaborate" with all interested parties, but they are defiant of any legal measures. Their motives are obvious.
We must stop them. We must get dems who support net neutrality legislation into the congress. We must get Barack Obama into the White House, so we can get rid of Martin. We must contact our senators and make sure they sign on to the Internet Freedom Preservation Act.
Act and Resist!!!!
I hope in all the election fury that this issue does not fall on destracted ears and minds, but....I'm not hopeful.