JB: Is this a case of the president abdicating responsibility? Could he play a bigger role here? If not, and we're forced to rely on Wheeler, what more can the public do?
MF: Publicly the President is saying that it is up to the FCC to decide, but we do know that the White House has intervened in policy decisions made by agencies in the past. So, the President could play a bigger role behind the scenes and might be doing that. We can't count on that, and so we must continue to pressure the FCC.
We have come farther than anyone could have imagined over the past 8 months. In May, it looked like weak rules would be the outcome but, with heavy pressure over a two week period which included an occupy encampment outside the FCC, Title II was put onto the agenda. A record number of public comments and consistent actions at every opportunity have made some form of Title II inevitable. Now it is our responsibility to make sure that we achieve full Title II.
If people want to get involved, we urge them to take the action pledge at PopularResistance.org so they can receive action updates. We've organized national days of action and protests at the FCC. We also have a campaign called "My Voice Matters" where we are asking people to submit photos of themselves calling for Title II net neutrality. It is particularly important that people of color submit photos because the NAACP and Reverend Jesse Jackson have taken money from and have sided with the industry on this issue, not with the people.
JB: That's very disturbing.
MF: Yes it is.
JB: Can you explain exactly why and how the Big Telecoms skirting Net Neutrality could be so damaging to the rest of us? Lots of us get the idea in principle but the details are foggy.
MF: If we lose net neutrality, we will lose our freedom of expression and ability to communicate freely on the Internet. We'll lose access to information about what is actually happening. The events in Ferguson, MO triggered a national response to police brutality because of the stories, photos and videos shared through social media. These important voices cannot be suppressed.
Losing net neutrality will begin a cascade that will turn the Internet into a platform like cable TV where the giant telecoms will control access to content. Those websites that have the money will have faster and fancier service that will dominate the Internet and the rest of us will be less visible. And telecoms will be able to sell packages like cable where people will only have access to the content they can afford.
The Internet has become an essential tool in our lives. We use it to communicate with friends and family, to find and share information, to get access to goods and services, to find jobs, to report news and to organize around important causes. It is used by small businesses to find customers and by tech companies to create new products. It is a place where people can work together to solve problems and it fosters creativity.
If we lose net neutrality, we will lose the Internet as we know it. And it will particularly hurt those who are most vulnerable and who won't be able to afford access. That is why we see net neutrality as a fundamental issue.
Our goal is to win net neutrality by having the Internet be reclassified as a common carrier and then to go farther than that and push for universal and affordable access to high quality Internet. The US lags behind other countries in the quality of our Internet services. Just as we do in health care, we spend the most for Internet that is poor quality in comparison. The places in the US where there is universal access and the fastest service are areas where they created municipal Internet service providers. When you make access to the Internet a public utility and take the profit out, you have the best results.
JB: Great idea. I assume other countries must have a similar conflict between the telecoms and the people. How do they handle this issue, Margaret?
MF: Recently in Hungary, the government proposed an Internet tax that would decrease access to the Internet and thousands of people protested in the streets and even threw old computer parts at the headquarters of the major political party. When the government said it would lower the tax, tens of thousands protested and the government backed down.
We need to show a similar level of resistance here in the US.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
