Post by thedirtman on Aug 6, 2014 21:29:15 GMT -5
Obama: 'My administration is against internet fast lanes'
by Joan McCarter
At the summit of African leaders in Washington Tuesday, President Obama was asked about net neutrality, and he gave one of his strongest endorsements of an open internet yet. He also hinted that he might be in conflict with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler over the issue of paid prioritization, allowing companies to pay for better delivery of their content.
One of the issues around net neutrality is whether you are creating different rates or charges for different content providers. That's the big controversy here. So you have big, wealthy media companies who might be willing to pay more and also charge more for spectrum, more bandwidth on the Internet so they can stream movies faster. I personally, the position of my administration, as well as a lot of the companies here, is that you don’t want to start getting a differentiation in how accessible the Internet is to different users. You want to leave it open so the next Google and the next Facebook can succeed.
Here's the conflict: Wheeler has proposed rules that would do just that—allow ISPs to charge different rates for better delivery—with the caveat that the FCC would come down on such deals it deemed "commercially unreasonable." The holes in that promise are big enough to drive the late Sen. Ted Steven's proverbial "big truck" through. Not the least of which is the changeable nature of the FCC—all political appointees—and their willingness to strictly regulate companies.
Those rules are being considered now by the FCC. President Obama's public statement that his administration is opposed to paid prioritization should give the commission something to chew on. Perhaps a direct communication from the president to Chairman Wheeler and the other members would help, too.
www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/06/1319636/-Obama-My-administration-is-against-internet-fast-nbsp-lanes
by Joan McCarter
At the summit of African leaders in Washington Tuesday, President Obama was asked about net neutrality, and he gave one of his strongest endorsements of an open internet yet. He also hinted that he might be in conflict with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler over the issue of paid prioritization, allowing companies to pay for better delivery of their content.
One of the issues around net neutrality is whether you are creating different rates or charges for different content providers. That's the big controversy here. So you have big, wealthy media companies who might be willing to pay more and also charge more for spectrum, more bandwidth on the Internet so they can stream movies faster. I personally, the position of my administration, as well as a lot of the companies here, is that you don’t want to start getting a differentiation in how accessible the Internet is to different users. You want to leave it open so the next Google and the next Facebook can succeed.
Here's the conflict: Wheeler has proposed rules that would do just that—allow ISPs to charge different rates for better delivery—with the caveat that the FCC would come down on such deals it deemed "commercially unreasonable." The holes in that promise are big enough to drive the late Sen. Ted Steven's proverbial "big truck" through. Not the least of which is the changeable nature of the FCC—all political appointees—and their willingness to strictly regulate companies.
Those rules are being considered now by the FCC. President Obama's public statement that his administration is opposed to paid prioritization should give the commission something to chew on. Perhaps a direct communication from the president to Chairman Wheeler and the other members would help, too.
www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/06/1319636/-Obama-My-administration-is-against-internet-fast-nbsp-lanes