Wednesday, July 25, 2007
What I told Senator Durbin, Part I
See the entire set of comments on OpenLeft!
"Hands-Off" is NOT a Citizens Group
Senator Durbin,
I agree with you that, "Part of the Internet's success derives from the concept of open access that all participants and all information is treated the same." I'd go even further; this is the Internet essential difference from all other communications networks.
But please be careful when you suggest that there's some kind of equivalence between netizen-citizens and the "Hands Off the Internet Coalition." "Hands Off" is an astroturf organization started and funded by the Bells. I met Chris Wolf, the Co-Chairman of "Hands Off," on February 13, 2007, at the FTC hearing on broadband competition, and he told me personally (and with some pride!) that he personally approves each "Hands Off" blog post before it is posted. It is NOT a group of citizens, it is a top-down astroturf organization of paid PR professionals falsely posing as a citizens group.
"Hands Off" frames Network Neutrality (NN) as a fight between Google and Verizon, but it is not. It is really a fight of individuals to have a voice and small innovators to succeed in a meritocratic marketplace. But "Hands Off" frames NN as a business issue and asks whether we want "government interference" or a "free market." This is false framing. The Bells got big because they were a part of a U.S. Government regulated monopoly, not because they offered better products and got ahead in a merit-based marketplace.
We actually had broadband competition briefly in 1999 and 2000, and we saw hundreds of competitive telcos and internet service providers appear, despite Bell resistance, slow-rolling and litigation. Then the Bells got a bunch of FCC and court rulings that gutted the practice of unbundled network elements, culminating in the FCC Triennial Order of 2003 (which privatized fiber in the loop), the Brand X decision (which privatized cable Internet access) and the FCC's DSL order of 2005 (which privatized DSL).
The bottom line is Don't. Trust. The. Bells. "Hands Off" is the tip of the phony Bell campaign to pour the Internet into a Bell mold. Please don't mistake them for "the voice of the people."
David I
"Hands-Off" is NOT a Citizens Group
Senator Durbin,
I agree with you that, "Part of the Internet's success derives from the concept of open access that all participants and all information is treated the same." I'd go even further; this is the Internet essential difference from all other communications networks.
But please be careful when you suggest that there's some kind of equivalence between netizen-citizens and the "Hands Off the Internet Coalition." "Hands Off" is an astroturf organization started and funded by the Bells. I met Chris Wolf, the Co-Chairman of "Hands Off," on February 13, 2007, at the FTC hearing on broadband competition, and he told me personally (and with some pride!) that he personally approves each "Hands Off" blog post before it is posted. It is NOT a group of citizens, it is a top-down astroturf organization of paid PR professionals falsely posing as a citizens group.
"Hands Off" frames Network Neutrality (NN) as a fight between Google and Verizon, but it is not. It is really a fight of individuals to have a voice and small innovators to succeed in a meritocratic marketplace. But "Hands Off" frames NN as a business issue and asks whether we want "government interference" or a "free market." This is false framing. The Bells got big because they were a part of a U.S. Government regulated monopoly, not because they offered better products and got ahead in a merit-based marketplace.
We actually had broadband competition briefly in 1999 and 2000, and we saw hundreds of competitive telcos and internet service providers appear, despite Bell resistance, slow-rolling and litigation. Then the Bells got a bunch of FCC and court rulings that gutted the practice of unbundled network elements, culminating in the FCC Triennial Order of 2003 (which privatized fiber in the loop), the Brand X decision (which privatized cable Internet access) and the FCC's DSL order of 2005 (which privatized DSL).
The bottom line is Don't. Trust. The. Bells. "Hands Off" is the tip of the phony Bell campaign to pour the Internet into a Bell mold. Please don't mistake them for "the voice of the people."
David I
Technorati Tags: Astroturf, Framing, Freedom, NetworkNeutrality
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