Shocking Coincidence! Republicans, AT&T Unhappy With Proposed Network Neutrality Rules.
by John Paczkowski
Posted on September 21, 2009 at 3:07 PM PT
That was fast.
Just hours after Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, unveiled his open Internet proposal, a number of Republican senators stepped forward to oppose it. Arguing that Net Neutrality will “impede investment and innovation of new technologies,” Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R., Texas) proposed an amendment to an Interior Department appropriations bill that would bar the FCC from using federal funds to implement the proposal.
“I am deeply concerned by the direction the FCC appears to be heading,” Hutchison, the ranking Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, said in a statement. “Even during a severe downturn, America has experienced robust investment and innovation in network performance and online content and applications. For that innovation to continue, we must tread lightly when it comes to new regulations. Where there have been a handful of questionable actions in the past on the part of a few companies, the commission and the marketplace have responded swiftly.”
Joining her in proposing the amendment were Senators John Thune (R., S.D.), Sam Brownback (R., Kan.), David Vitter (R., La.), Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), and John Ensign (R., Nev.), who had this to say in a statement of his own:
“In this struggling economy, any industry that is able to thrive should be allowed to do so without meddlesome government interference that could stifle innovation. We must avoid burdensome government regulations that micromanage private businesses or that limit the ability of companies to provide what their customers want. The Internet has flourished in large part because of a lack of government interference; I see no need to change that now.”
Nor does AT&T (T), which–coincidentally, I’m sure–happens to be a top-20 donor not just for Ensign and Hutchison, but for the four other senators who would block Genachowski’s initiative as well. Said Jim Cicconi, AT&T’s senior executive vice president of external and legislative affairs: “AT&T would be very disappointed if [the FCC] has already drawn a conclusion to regulate wireless services despite the absence of any compelling evidence of problems or abuse that would warrant government intervention.”
Comments
I am deeply disappointed with Chairman Genchowski’s proposal today regarding the so called Open Internet. What he has done is condemned the Internet to the same issues that are present with today’s freeways. The Beltway around Washington DC at rush hour is what the Internet will be like as more and more high bandwidth traffic is loaded onto the Internet.
Without the ability to manage the traffic, telecom providers will not be able to insure that high priority/high value traffic like video will be delivered with quality.
What he has done is to dictate the equivilant of operating vehicles on our streets without the benefit of stop lights to manage the flow.
Even our streets occasionally restrict heavy traffic like trucks from certain areas.
I am hoping the FCC will reconsider this proposal.
Posted by Jim Snowden at September 21st, 2009 at 3:39 pmWhy wouldn’t AT&T be unhappy with Chairman Genchoski’s proposal? It threatens to wipe out their multi billion dollar investment and destroy their revenue stream. If the rules are adopted I see thousands more telecom employees out on street.
Posted by Terry Nenni at September 21st, 2009 at 4:25 pmHow many people tried a Vonage box when it was new and was disappointed with the results? Raise your hands now. Now go read today’s article over at Cringely.com
Over at WSJ comments on this same story contain whines and moans about lack of choice of ISPs in the Valley. Only problem with this is that vendor lock-in in the valley is the RESULT of government issued monopoly status and has nothing to do with Net Neutrality, quite the opposite.
Net Neutrality has become like magic beans and anyone who has second thoughts (particularly those evil Republicans) is like Jack’s mom calling him home for dinner.
Would things be better if the Feds owned and ran all the TV and radio stations, was back in the phone business, and was the only way you could get on the Internet at all? If you have doubts about that, you need to think again about going down this road.
I want MORE choices, not less. Give us choices, and the rest will take care of itself.
Posted by Mac Beach at September 21st, 2009 at 6:14 pmI was going to respond earlier, but my internet connection died.
Posted by Jeff Stevens at September 21st, 2009 at 7:41 pmMy cable company sucks…..
Too late anyway, I have a hit the sack, since I have a long commute. I would work from home, but I have no assurance my service will perform adequately.
Maybe I need to order a T1 line for myself. I wish all the other drivers would order a T1 line as well. If I get stuck in traffic I’ll send a twitter follow-up….
Gee, Patches, how many DEMOCRATS have received donations from ACORN?
Posted by David Owens at September 21st, 2009 at 8:24 pm