Delivered-To: dfarber+@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2003 09:56:49 -0700
From: Robert Cannon <rcannon100@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Press Release: FCC Policies that Damaged Media Now Threatening
Internet
Sender: Telecom Regulation & the Internet <CYBERTELECOM-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: CYBERTELECOM-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: News Media
contact:
October 9, 2003 Jessica Rosenworcel at (202)
418-2000
FCC POLICIES THAT DAMAGED MEDIA
NOW THREATENING INTERNET
Commissioner Copps Asks in Speech "Is The Internet As
We Know It Dying?"
Commissioner Michael J. Copps, in a speech at the New
America Foundation, today warned that: "The Internet
as we know it is at risk. Entrenched interests are
positioning themselves to control the network's
chokepoints and they are lobbying the FCC to aid and
abet them. The Internet was designed to prevent
government or a corporation or anyone else from
controlling it. But this original vision of the
Internet may soon be lost. In its place a warped view
that open networks should be replaced by closed
networks and that accessibility can be superceded by a
new power to discriminate is emerging."
Copps continued: "Our ill-advised Internet policy is
only one piece of a tectonic shift across the whole
range of FCC issues. From media to telecom to the
Internet, we appear to be rushing toward breathtaking
regulatory alterations. The Commission is permitting,
even encouraging, competition to wither in the face of
centralization. It is short changing its
responsibility to protect the public interest."
The FCC may soon implement fundamental regulatory
changes that would have deep and lasting effects on
consumers, innovators, and business users. Copps:
"Until now the big corporations that control Internet
bottlenecks have been unable fully to capitalize on
this power. But now we face scenarios wherein those
with bottleneck control will be able to discriminate
against both users and content providers that they
don't have commercial relationships with, don't share
the same politics with, or just don't want to offer
access to for any reason at all. From the not so
distant shadows of the past, old attitudes favoring
industry consolidation and limited access are again
seeking to reestablish themselves."
At issue are upcoming decisions at the FCC that will
determine how much control companies will have over
Internet access and their ability to discriminate
against users, data, websites, or technologies. In
the dial-up world, current protections require these
companies to treat everyone equally. This equal
treatment has contributed to enormous growth and
innovation on the Internet. These decisions come on
the heels of the FCC eliminating related media
concentration protections. A federal court has stayed
that decision, and Congress is now debating reversing
it. In addition, on Monday, another federal court
overturned aspects of the FCC's cable broadband
policy.
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\ @@==+ Leashes!
====== We Don't Need No Stinkin' Leashes!
|| || -Pancho Villa
Washington Internet Project
www.cybertelecom.org