NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Re: Comcast likes the FCC Broadband Plan (and other reactions)
The thing to stress is that government funded internet should be no
different than government funded roads. Both are many-to-many
interconnection methods, whereas broadcast radio and TV are
one-to-many. The bits carried on the net are just stuff in a truck.
Existing commerce laws should provide the start of the model for
what we can carry in that truck. (And I say "start of the model"
because our state-based commerce framework is a little brain dead
to begin with.)
OTOH, I would love to see it a Federal crime to physically attack
the infrastructure, by let's say, digging up a fiber trunk with a back-hoe.
:-)
[ The road analogy is utterly reasonable and logical.
However, given Congress' previous attempts to control Internet
content (and some of these are not "completely [all] dead" in
the "Miracle Max" sense - http://bit.ly/bNHRaE [YouTube]), and
the political popularity of content and other Internet controls
in law enforcement and political spheres, I would personally not
want to bet our civil liberties on "reasonable and logical"
necessarily winning out over "politically expedient" when
Congress in general and taxpayer funding in particular are involved.
-- Lauren Weinstein
NNSquad Moderater ]
On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 4:43 AM, George Ou <george_ou@lanarchitect.net>wrote:
> " Once taxpayer funds are involved, Weinstein added, there will likely
> be significant pressure on legislators to control content, just as
> pro-life activists fought to prevent public funding of abortions."
>
> I really don't think we can stress this point enough. The current Internet
> is like Sirius, and there will be a lot of pressure to make the government
> funded Internet be "clean" like radio.
>
>
>
> George Ou
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nnsquad-bounces+george_ou=lanarchitect.net@nnsquad.org
> [mailto:nnsquad-bounces+george_ou <nnsquad-bounces%2Bgeorge_ou>=
> lanarchitect.net@nnsquad.org] On Behalf Of
> Lauren Weinstein
> Sent: Monday, March 15, 2010 6:08 PM
> To: nnsquad@nnsquad.org
> Subject: [ NNSquad ] Comcast likes the FCC Broadband Plan (and other
> reactions)
>
>
> Comcast likes the FCC Broadband Plan (and other reactions)
>
> http://bit.ly/9xWxw3 (Broadcasting & Cable)
>
> The FCC Proposes, and Congress Disposes. In other words,
> assuming that anything Congress actually does in these
> regards will necessarily resemble the FCC Plan, is, uh,
> highly problematic.
>
> A number of people having problems accessing the associated site have
> asked me to quote my comments from the NewsFactor article. Here's the
> related text:
>
> ...
>
> "While activists for greater online access praise the FCC's interest
> in the availability of more spectrum, some see more regulation as
> potentially onerous and fear the program will be bogged down in
> Congress in the same fashion as President Barack Obama's health-care
> initiatives."
>
> A Contentious Issue
>
> "Getting part of the spectrum back from TV broadcasters is going to
> be very contentious and presumably lead to court action for many
> years," said Lauren Weinstein, cofounder of People for Internet
> Responsibility and an activist with several similar grassroots
> groups. "Anything Congress does in this area that is not trivial is
> going to be challenged."
>
> "Everyone agrees we need better access to broadband, just as everyone
> agrees we need better health care," Weinstein said. "But when you
> get down to the nitty-gritty ... you will find results hinging on
> specific issues of comparatively narrow focus."
>
> Once taxpayer funds are involved, Weinstein added, there will likely
> be significant pressure on legislators to control content, just as
> pro-life activists fought to prevent public funding of abortions.
>
> "People will say how can you spend taxpayer dollars on porn or on
> [unauthorized] downloading of movies?" he predicted.
>
> ...
>
> --Lauren--
> NNSquad Moderator
>
>