Net Neutrality

Years ago Noam Chomsky wrote the book "Manufacturing Consent".  In it one of the things he railed against was the small circle of families-26 I believe was the number-across the globe who together essentially owned the world of print media.

In the US they were held in check by the "Fairness Doctrine" which was created in the 30's to counter the power of the print media barons and to check the growth in the "new" area of media the radio.

It was proposed among others by some of the leaders of print and electronic media, perhaps to level the playing field, and was incorporated in the tenets of the FCC.

I have written earlier of how President Reagan dismantled the Fairness Doctrine and that President Carter went on to weaken it even further with the removal of barriers to owning national radio and television stations as well as cross-ownership of print and electronic media.

The next step in the ever increasing attack on freedom of communication are the continuing attempts to dismantle net neutrality.

"Fundamentally, net (short for "network") neutrality is the idea that the Internet works best when ISPs deliver every Internet site's traffic without discrimination. At its core, net neutrality demands ISP equality in the treatment of consumers who pay for the same or a greater quality of service, permitting peer-to-peer communication in any platform of the consumers' choosing, regardless of the amount of content transmitted or bandwidth utilised."*

 

It is a strange fight. 

 

Pro net neutrality supports are looking at "freedom of speech" and the right to have free choice in the sense that they wish to maintain an open broadband in which major Internet providers cannot control what information people see, at what speed and at what price as promoted by the Federal Communications Commission.

 

On the other side of the debate are those looking to ensure that they control the content, the speed and the price of the Internet.  These are the major Internet providers and their congressional supporters like Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.), who introduced H.J. Res. 37 on Feb. 16, 2011, a few weeks after the FCC had put forth a regulation maintaining a high level of net neutrality. 

 

The Honourable Mr Walden's Resolution held that:  "....that Congress disapproves the rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission relating to the matter of preserving the open Internet and broadband industry practises (my italics), and such rule shall have no force or effect."

Just to confirm what happened.  The House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology voted to repeal an FCC Regulation because the Regulation preserved the open Internet and broadband industry practises.

And wanted to replace it with a sort of Cable TV structure controlling the Internet.

*Sedgewick Law Los Angeles Daily Journal