Information is not just power. It is also money, with those controlling its dissemination in the age of behemoth telecom companies possessing an inordinate proportion of both.
This is why President Obama must step in and utilize his electorally-mandated power to save net neutrality. (More on that below.) For if he doesn't, access to information over the Internet may become unequal, matching and exacerbating our country's growing problem of income inequality.
Obama recognized in 2007 the essential nature of keeping the internet free and open, just as our public roadways are free and open to anyone with a vehicle and a proper license. As Zephyr Teachout notes in Politico Magazine:
Barack Obama made an important promise when he first ran for president. “The Internet is perhaps the most important network in history, and we have to keep it that way,” he said in 2007. As a senator, he had similarly called for a “neutral platform” uncontrolled by “some corporate media middleman” like Verizon or Comcast. Obama, in other words, was committed to preserving network neutrality—the notion that Internet service providers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon have to provide fair and neutral access to all websites and applications; they can’t make small websites slow to load and give “fast lanes” to monopolies and large companies who pay extra for special treatment.
But that is precisely what is about to happen, for the chairman of the FCC, Tom Wheeler, has proposed a law which would essentially
allow companies such as AT&T and Comcast to create pay-to-play fast lanes. Wheeler has dishonestly claimed that his rule firmly intends to protect net neutrality; however, nothing could be further from the truth, for paragraph 97 of his rule proposes "
individualized arrangements for priority treatment."
Imagine Wal-Mart paying Verizon a large sum of money to have its website load at light speed in Philadelphia, leaving a small, independent store's site to load at a snail's pace.
Wheeler's rule, which passed by a vote of 3-2 and now undergoes a four-month review period, would establish such a possibility.
Some have called for Obama to remove Wheeler as chairman of the FCC, replacing him with one of the other four commissioners in its leadership. (President Obama cannot fire Wheeler, who is in the middle of a five-year term.) However, both Democrats on the FCC commission, Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel, voted in favor of Wheeler's rule despite their own critiques.
The solution is not to simply remove Wheeler. The solution is for President Obama to leverage his ability to remove Wheeler by insisting he back up his pro-net neutrality rhetoric by removing paragraph 97. Even better, insist that Wheeler amend his rule to define broadband as a public utility (or Title II) so that a free and equally-accessible Internet will become a protected public network.
So far, the Obama administration is watching closely from the sidelines, citing the FCC as an independent agency. Though Jay Carney did have this to say on Thursday after the FCC vote:
“The President has made clear since he was a candidate that he strongly supports net neutrality and an open Internet."
If a free an open Internet is to remain, if Obama is to stand by his stated position, then the White House will need to do more than watch from the sidelines. It will need to enter the game and play offense.
If that is happening behind the scenes, it would be welcome news. However, with Wheeler's rule having passed the FCC, there are no indications that such is the case.
Obama stated in 2007 that the Internet is "perhaps the most important network in history." He has a chance to ensure that history does not fail us.
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David Harris-Gershon is author of the memoir What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?, just out from Oneworld Publications.