The Wall Street Journal just reported that the Federal Communications Commission is holding "closed-door meetings" with industry to broker a deal on Net Neutrality -- the rule that lets users determine their own Internet experience.
Given that the corporations at the table all profit from gaining control over information, the outcome won't be pretty.
The meetings include a small group of industry lobbyists representing the likes of AT&T, Verizon, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, and Google. They reportedly met for two-and-a-half hours on Monday morning and will convene another meeting today. The goal according to insiders is to "reach consensus" on rules of the road for the Internet.
This is what a failed democracy looks like: After years of avid public support for Net Neutrality - involving millions of people from across the political spectrum - the federal regulator quietly huddles with industry lobbyists to eliminate basic protections and serve Wall Street's bottom line.
| Obama pledges to appoint Net Neutrality supporters to the FCC |
The Industry's regulatory capture of the Internet is now almost complete. The one agency tasked with oversight of communications now thinks it can wriggle free of its obligation to protect the open Internet, if only it can get industry to agree on a solution.
Congress is holding its own series of "closed-door" meetings and, while they've been ambiguous on the details, many remain skeptical on whether the process will lead to an outcome that serves the public interest. After all, this is the same Congress that is bankrolled by the phone and cable lobby in excess of $100 million.
Why is this so startling even for the more cynical among us? The Obama administration promised to embrace a new era of government transparency. It's the tool we were supposed to use to pry open policymaking and expose it to the light of public scrutiny.
In that spirit, President Obama pledged to "take a backseat to no one" in his support for Net Neutrality. He appointed Julius Genachowski to head the FCC -- the man who crafted his pro-Net Neutrality platform in 2008.
But the mere existence of these private meetings reveals to us a chairman who has fallen far short of expectations. Instead Genachowski is shying from the need to fortify the Internet's open architecture in favor of deals made between DC power brokers.
These deals will determine who ultimately controls Internet content and innovation. Will phone and cable companies succeed in their decade-long push to take ownership of both the infrastructure of the Internet and the information that flows across its pipes? Will they cut in a few giant companies like Google and the recording industry to get their way?
Whatever the outcome, the public - including the tens of millions of Americans who use the Internet every day and in every way - are not being given a seat at the table.
Genachowski's closed-door sessions come after six months of public comments on whether the agency should proceed with a rule to protect Net Neutrality.
During that period, more than 85 percent of comments received by the agency called for a strong Net Neutrality rule. Look at it this way: If a candidate received more than 85 percent of the vote, wouldn't she have a mandate to decide on the public's behalf?
In Chairman Genachowski's alternative view of reality, though, the public is immaterial, and industry consensus supreme.
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Art Brodsky: Use the Internet to Save the Internet -- Your Videos Can Counter Big Lobbying Dollars
The big telecom companies spending all that money are spending it for a reason. They want to control your access to the Internet, and, as a result, your experience on the Internet. Now is the time to stand up and say no.
FCC Reportedly In Talks With Carriers On Net Neutrality Issue
Verizon CEO Seidenberg: Open to net neutrality, not greater FCC authority over ...
For what Democracy is worth, and corporatism and Academic Freedom being the bedfellows they are, I know of not one individual involved in Public (Democratic that is) 'education' who would allow or choose to cite Wikipedia.
congrats...
I don't know about you, but the idea of the government, whether its a democat or republican administration running the show, 'reinventing', 'licensing' and 'funding' of the press and journalism, scares the hell out of me.
http://www.ftc.gov/opp/workshops/news/jun15/docs/new-staff-discussion.pdf
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-shapiro/how-a-government-tax-coul_b_604940.html
They damn well better be doing it.
It's not industry, its your government. Please don't confuse this any longer. By doing so you compromise freedom.
This really pisses me off. I am sick and tired of government knows best. COMPLETELY SICK AND TIRED. I AM SICK AND TIRED OF BEING CONSIDERED RICH and paying 5X what my neighbors pay in taxes and have ZERO time for my son.
I am a 17th generation American - and I ready to show the country what I am made of.
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Another promise broken!
Wake up all you faithful. Yer bein' had.
who ever controls the voice, controls the race.
free speech is very important.
and for me, my concern has little to do with obama, but rather, future presidents and administrations.
Oh, too inconvenient for our busy lives :-)
I will take corporate control for a hundred Alex.
Tim Karr is shedding crocodile tears.
BY AMY SCHATZ
WASHINGTON–Federal Communications Commission officials are quietly holding talks with phone and cable companies about a legislative compromise that would give the agency authority over Internet lines without the need to adopt a controversial proposal to reregulate Internet lines.
FCC Chief of Staff Edward Lazarus and other senior FCC staffers are holding closed-door meetings with a small group of lobbyists representing Internet providers, including AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, and Internet services providers, such as Google Inc. and Internet phone provider Skype Ltd.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704895204575321283834920928.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_tech
Imagine the government builds a highway system going anywhere. Anyone can drive this road anywhere they want. Of course, you can also get lost, stall in a bad neighborhood, crash your car... but you are a free person and can go anywhere. There are police and tow trucks, but much of what happens to you is down to common sense, good driving, and buying a map.
That's Net Neutrality in a paragraph.
Now Wall Street comes in and says, "Look at all these accidents, look at all these people getting their tires stolen! We have the solution: let us make it all private toll road. Let us decide which exits to open or close, who can drive on it, how much to charge."
Wall Street, like any other tyranny, is interested in freedom: but only for itself.
Profit for the few is all.