Former Comcast and Verizon Attorneys Now Manage the FCC and Are About to Kill the Internet

[cheryl]

Former Comcast and Verizon Attorneys Now Manage the FCC and Are About to Kill the Internet - Vice

The open Internet may soon become a thing of the past.

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal dropped something of a bombshell with leaked news that the Federal Communications Commission is planning to abandon so-called “net neutrality” regulations—rules to ensure that Internet providers are prevented from discriminating based on content. Under the new proposed system, companies such as Comcast or Verizon will be able to create a tiered Internet, in which websites will have to pay more money for faster speeds, a change that observers predict will curb free speech, stifle innovation and increase costs for consumers.

Like so many problems in American government, the policy shift may relate to the pernicious corruption of the revolving door. The FCC is stocked with staffers who have recently worked for Internet Service Providers (ISP) that stand to benefit tremendously from the defeat of net neutrality.

The backgrounds of the new FCC staff have not been reported until now.

 

[The Other Side]

Since when hasnt "money" been the driver of all policy in the United States? And yet, this surprises you?

TOS.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Since when hasnt "money" been the driver of all policy in the United States? And yet, this surprises you? TOS.

It's not so much that it surprises her but rather that it concerns her. "Marginal websites", such as this one, would have to increase the number of ads that they allow on their site to generate the revenue needed to compete with the more mainstream websites with much deeper pockets.

 

[oldngray]

Its mostly an issue of creating a situation where there would be a few big net gorillas like netflix that would squeeze out any possible new competition I think.

 

[cheryl]

I'm not usually a fan of government meddling in the free markets, but in this case our society will be giving the decision about what you will have internet access to over to big telecom and cable companies.

This is bad for all of us - and bad for community sites like this one, nonprofits, alternative news sites, activists and anything without big money behind it.

Big businesses with deep pockets will control the internet. With U.S. net neutrality gone, the Internet's "level playing field" is gone.

The EU is going the other way:
EU passes net neutrality law, votes to end throttling, site blocking - ZD Net

The idea of giving preferential treatment to websites willing to pay for it means that smaller websites stand to lose out, and the very idea of competition on the internet is being essentially undermined since companies can simply buy prime placement.

One prediction:

ISPs will curate your Internet like cable does your TV channels.

The obvious business model for ISPs without net neutrality is one much like cable television. They'll offer "bundles" that curate the sites you see. The cheapest, fastest bundles will probably include the sites that pay ISPs the most -- most likely the big boys, including Amazon and Netflix. Another possibility is that ISPs could bundle popular sites with less-popular ones that are willing to pay. If you pay for a Netflix bundle, for example, you may be forced to use the Bing search engine.

Nastier yet ISPs and big businesses may team up to offer "exclusive deals." Netflix and Time Warner Cable, say, could strike a deal that makes Netflix only available to Time Warner Cable customers (or, more likely, only available to certain customers at its fastest speed). This kind of deal may make businesses a lot of money. The only people hurt are users.

 

[cheryl]

The FCC is about to axe-murder net neutrality. Don't get mad – get even - The Guardian

This is a potentially tragic turning point in American politics and policy. We are on the verge of turning over the internet – the most important communications system ever invented – to telecoms that grew huge through the government granting them monopoly status. Barring a genuine shift in policy or a court stepping in to ensure fair treatment of captive customers – or better yet, genuine competition – companies like Verizon and Comcast will have staggering power to decide what bits of information reach your devices and mine, in what order and at what speed. That is, assuming we're permitted to get that information at all.

Do we want an open internet? Do we want digital innovation and free speech to thrive? If we continue down the regulatory road pursued by the former cable and wireless industry lobbyist Tom Wheeler, all of those good things will be in serious jeopardy.

 

[oldngray]

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey wants to empower an obscure federal agency to begin scouring the Internet, TV and radio for speech it finds threatening — a plan met with jeers from defenders of the First Amendment
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/opinion/editorials/2014/04/editorial_markey_s_mission_creep

 

[Johney]

If I have to pay to access the net for things like this site and YouTube,etc. I'll do without as will millions of others I'd bet. They will lose in the long run. I really only need the internet to check my check.

 

[moreluck]

My high school site moved to Facebook......know what I said ??

bye-bye !!

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

If I have to pay to access the net for things like this site and YouTube,etc. I'll do without as will millions of others I'd bet. They will lose in the long run. I really only need the internet to check my check.

I'll get my Internet the way most people do-----borrow it from my neighbor who doesn't know how to secure his router.

 

[cachsux]

Does this mean we'll have to go back to porn in magazines?

 

[wkmac]

 

[The Other Side]

My high school site moved to Facebook......know what I said ??

bye-bye !!

Your old school needs alot more than broadband to catch up to the 21st century.

 

[The Other Side]

"Big businesses with deep pockets will control the internet. With U.S. net neutrality gone, the Internet's "level playing field" is gone."

Again i ask, since when does BIG BUSINESS with deep pockets NOT control everything in this country?

Walmart
Exxon
Mobil
Shell
Verizon
Google
The Koch brothers

etc etc etc...

Thats what the "free" market creates. People with big money making all the rules.

TOS.

 

[roadrunner2012]

You pay, you play.

I think Ronald Reagan said that.

You made your bed, sleep in it.

 

[cheryl]

The FCC changed course on network neutrality. Here is why you should care. - Stanford Law School

 

[cheryl]

Google and Netflix are considering an all-out PR blitz against the FCC’s net neutrality plan - BGR

More bad news for the Federal Communications Commission: It looks like the coalition that came together to kill the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) might be getting back together to rally against its proposed new net neutrality rules. The Wall Street Journal reports that while big tech firms such as Google, Netflix and Yahoo have kept their powder dry so far when it comes to the FCC’s new rules, “officials inside the companies who follow government policy say they are considering mobilizing a grass-roots campaign to rally public opinion around the idea that the Internet’s pipes should be equally open for all.”

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

"Big businesses with deep pockets will control the internet. With U.S. net neutrality gone, the Internet's "level playing field" is gone."

Again i ask, since when does BIG BUSINESS with deep pockets NOT control everything in this country?

Walmart
Exxon
Mobil
Shell
Verizon
Google
The Koch brothers

etc etc etc...

Thats what the "free" market creates. People with big money making all the rules.

TOS.

You left out George Soros.

Sent using BrownCafe App

 

[The Other Side]

You left out George Soros.

Sent using BrownCafe App

What does he own in this country?

TOS.

 

[pickup]

Since when hasnt "money" been the driver of all policy in the United States? And yet, this surprises you?

TOS.

Wow, you must know how to read minds because the first post was just an excerpt from an article. Yet, you infer that the info in it surprises Cheryl.

You are really quite amazing. Just not in a good way.