Telco Lobby Attempts to Slow Cook Congress
June 1st, 2006 by tkarrThe telephone and cable companies have been going all out in Washington to smooth their way for control of the Internet by proposing what appears at first to be a reasonable policy, which, on further review, doesn’t hold up.
In a commentary at TPM Cafe, Art Brodsky — the communications director for SavetheInternet.com member group Public Knowledge — compares the phone and cable lobbying on Net Neutrality to a metaphor called “boiling the frog.” According to Brodsky, it goes something like this:
If you throw a frog into boiling water, it will jump out. But if you put a frog in warm water, and gradually raise the temperature, it will become acclimated, until it becomes cooked. Gross, but accurate. This is what the telephone companies and their allies who sell them equipment are doing.
The legislation on next week’s menu is the COPE Act — a House bill that has been gift wrapped for AT&T and Verizon.
With this bill, Brodsky writes, the telco cartel is trying to woo Congress into believing that its intentions are good — when in reality it seeks to gain complete Internet control through an access tiering scheme that returns massive profits at the expense of Internet freedom:
When the telephone or cable company picks what goes onto a network, the telephone or cable company, not the customer, and not the company the customer might want to reach, is in charge. The telephone and cable company will do what they can to improve their new toll road. And today’s Internet? Wouldn’t be as attractive in the future, would it, if companies feel they have to pay extra for “special arrangements” or be left behind.
What the telephone and cable companies are saying, is “trust us” not to disrupt the Internet. They, after all, are in the transmission business. But “trust us” only goes so far, particularly when we look at other parts of the world and see how far behind our telephone and cable companies have left us.
Compared with other developed nations the U.S. has fallen from 3rd to 16th in broadband penetration per capita, far behind countries like Canada, South Korea and Japan. The United States also numbers 16th in terms of broadband growth rates, suggesting our world ranking won’t improve any time soon.
But that’s only the half of it. Recent Free Press analysis of the “low-priced” introductory broadband offers by companies like AT&T and Verizon reveal them to be little more than bait-and-switch gimmicks. On a per megabit basis, U.S. consumers pay 10 to 25 times more than broadband users in Japan.
The reason for the Broadband price gouging? According to Free Press’ Derek Turner, it’s due to an industry-friendly regulatory regime that gave the cable/telco duopoly control of the broadband marketplace:
The “fierce competition” among broadband platforms is seriously overstated. The FCC’s own report shows that satellite and wireless broadband continue to lose market share. Today, cable and DSL providers control almost 98 percent of the residential and small-business broadband market.
No competition means no fair pricing. As Brodsky also points out, this could become worse by regulations that allow telephone companies not to have to share their broadband networks with competitors on the theory that they will invest in the network.
But, so far, their alleged investment in broadband infrastructure has left us far behind the most developed nations.
And now they’re urging Congress to extend more favors by killing Net Neutrality — the only safeguard that stands in the way of total Internet dominance by the telephone and cable companies.
The cartel has turned the heat up another notch in Washington. Unless Congress takes action on behalf of those who elected them, we’ll all get cooked.
June 1st, 2006 at 6:30 am
The carriers representing the duopoly appear to have spent much of their energy on (no, not innovation):
1) Lobbying Congress to gain tax breaks and prevent unbundling of services and competition
2) Suppressing last-mile competition (e.g., muni wireless)
3) Building out minimal infrastructure that paled in comparison to their promises
And these are the guys who want the keys to the Internet? More here.
June 1st, 2006 at 6:32 am
I feel as though you should know that they have already begun their marketing for this act.
A commercial is currently running for “TV4US” calling for “more choice”, running under the old beaten idea that the “internet companies” want us to pay for the “next generation of the internet”, calling Net Neutrality “sticking it to the consumers”.
At then end of this montage, it clearly asks the people to call their senators and say “no net neutrality”.
We may be informed. But I fear that those not so well informed will fall in line with their scheme.
June 1st, 2006 at 7:32 am
Cmg3 — what TV market have you seen that spot in? I’ve heard it’s airing in Milwaukee and Seattle, curious to see where else it’s playing. Also: was it one of the ads listed here? http://www.wewantchoice.com/page/content/ads
June 1st, 2006 at 2:22 pm
bbyrne - As far as it seems this ad is also running in and around the Boston area. And yes, it is the same ad listed by wewantchoice.com.
June 10th, 2006 at 7:32 pm
I had an idea that I am calling…
FIGHT THEM IN THE TRENCHES
1. Given that is the telephone companies that are using our phone bill money to bribe our (s)elected representaives to kill internet freedom….
2. We are, in effect, paying them the very money they will use to disconnect our reps from the majority opinion and our phone bills are also paying for the commercials that are brainwashing the citizenry on this issue…..
3. Why not hit them where it hurts… not ONLY in the bribed corporate legislature, but IN THEIR TELEPHONE SERVICE CENTER CALL ROOMS. LETS START A MASS CAMPAIGN TO CALL OUR PHONE COMPANIES IN THEIR SERVICE CENTERS TELLING THEM WE DONT WANT OUR PHONEBILL MONEY USED TO REMOVE OUR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS TO A DEMOCRATIC INTERNET.
4. THIS WILL MAKE THEM FEEL IT WHERE IT COUNTS. MORE AND MORE ANSWERERS WILL BE TIED UP WITH THIS ISSUE AND THAT WILL PRESENT A REAL PROBLEM FOR THEM AS TO HOW TO HANDLE THIER REAL SERVICE CALLS.
5. OF COURSE THE IOWANS OR INDIANS WHO ANSWER OUR CALLS WILL NOT BE DIRECTLY TO BLAME BUT TRY TO STAY ON THE LINE FOR AT LEAST A COUPLE OF MINUTES INSISTING THAT YOU WANT YOUR MESSAGE HEARD..
e.g.
.”.YES I KNOW THAT YOU PERSONALLY DONT DEAL WITH THE INTERNET, BUT THE PHONEBILL I PAY IS BEING USED TO GIVE THIS VERIZON ET AL TOTAL CONTROL OVER THE INTERNET SO I WONT BE ABLE TO SEE WHO MY TAX DOLLARS ARE REALLY KILLING MAKING ME BELIEVE THE LIES ON FOX OR NBC AND AS MORE IRAQIS ARE KILLED THEIR CHILDREN WILL WANT TO KILL MY CHILDREN SO DONT YOU SEE YOU HAVE TO RELATE THIS MESSAGE TO YOUR BOSS AS A PATRIOTIC AMERICAN TRYING TO END TERRORISM…ETC”
The more time you take up the fewer other calls are being answered… and now they have to deal with that problem by hiring more wervice center workers or whatever ITS NOW THEIR PROBLEM AND THEY ARE FEELING IT IN A VERY REAL WAY..
We will be FIGHTING THEM IN THE TRENCHES….THEIRS!
I THINK WE SHOULD URGE PEOPLE TO CALL THEIR PHONE COMPANIES TODAY. IF YOU AGREE PLEASE COPY THIS AND POST IT PROMINANTLY EVERYWHERE.
June 12th, 2006 at 8:30 am
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November 16th, 2006 at 9:35 pm
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