Netroots Tell Obama & FCC - You Can't Just Let The Telecoms Steal The Internet

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http://www.alternet.org/news/146735/netroots_tell_obama_and_the_fcc_--_you_can%27t_just_let_the_telecoms_steal_the_internet

Netroots Tell Obama and the FCC -- You Can't Just Let the Telecoms Steal the Internet

Many influential progressive sites have expressed dismay that the FCC Chairman would consider abandoning the agency's role as watchdog over the Internet.

May 5, 2010 | Leaders of the Internet's grassroots community have made it clear that inaction by the FCC is not an option when it comes to keeping the Web open and accessible.

In a series of posts and statements, bloggers for DailyKos, FireDogLake, OpenLeft.com, the American Prospect and other influential sites have expressed dismay that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski would consider abandoning the agency's role as watchdog over the Internet.

Bloggers were joined by online advocacy groups including MoveOn, CredoAction, ColorofChange.org, SavetheInternet.com and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which are urging the FCC chair not to abdicate his responsibility to stop corporations from picking and choosing how users access information over the Internet.

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A Washington Post story indicated that Genachowski was considering nothing to stop phone and cable companies from blocking access to websites and services. The chairman is weighing the agency's options in the aftermath of a federal appeals court decision that undercut the FCC's authority to protect Internet openness and ensure universal access.

According to the Post, Genachowski is "leaning toward keeping the current regulatory framework for broadband services" -- the one option that leaves the communications commission toothless in its oversight of 21st century communications.

This is a bad idea, writes Fred von Lohman of online civil liberties group EFF. "There is little chance future network neutrality rules could withstand a court challenge if the FCC rests on the same discredited argument that the court just rejected."

If the Post's reporting is correct, Genachowski is "simply hanging onto whatever authority the courts and the law have left to the FCC, and try to hold the telecoms accountable that way," writes Nancy Scola of theAmerican Prospect. "If that's indeed the FCC's plan, it's kinda laughable. It's like switching to a knife in a gun fight you're already losing."

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