----- Forwarded message from David Farber <[email protected]> ----- Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:32:15 -0400 From: David Farber <[email protected]> Subject: [IP] FCC Hires Industry Shill to Develop US National Broadband Plan Reply-To: [email protected] To: ip <[email protected]>
Begin forwarded message: From: [email protected] (Dewayne Hendricks) Date: August 28, 2009 9:27:11 PM EDT To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <[email protected]> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] FCC Hires Industry Shill to Develop US National Broadband Plan FCC Hires Industry Shill to Develop US National Broadband Plan by: Chris Bowers Fri Aug 28, 2009 at 16:28 <http://www.openleft.com/diary/14837/fcc-hires-industry-shill-to-develop-us-national-broadband-plan > The FCC's broadband task force is tasked with developing our national broadband policy. This is a project that FCC Commissioner Michael Copps ranks of the highest importance: "I'm enthused as I can be that this country is finally, finally going to develop a national broadband plan," Copps said Wednesday in an interview for C-SPAN's "The Communicators" series.(...) "We're way behind in broadband," he said. "There is a need to do something now." Copps said he is not underestimating the importance of the FCC's task: "It's the biggest thing that's come to the FCC since I've been there," he said. And so, because our government is run by corporations and for corporations even when it is controlled by Democrats, a telecom industry shill, Scott Wallstein, was named as economics director of that task force. From a source close to the process, in the extended entry I proivde a thorough background on Wallstein's industry connections and long history of fighting against American consumers: Wallsten is a guy who: ? Has spent the last five years at three different coin-operated think tanks. ? Most recently with the Technology Policy Institute whose supporters include AT&T, Comcast, T-Mobile, Time Warner Cable, Verizon ? He previously worked for the Progress and Freedom Foundation whose primary funders include AT&T, Comcast, Cox, NCTA, Time Warner Cable, Verizon. (Source) ? Before that he worked for the American Enterprise Institute/Brookings Institution whose funders include AT&T, SBC, Verizon. ((Source) ? Doesn't believe there is a broadband problem in America . Point 1 would explain this belief, Here's some of the industry and GOP-friendly positions he's taken ? "... the U.S. does not have a broadband problem. The remarkable investment in broadband infrastructure and rapid increases in subscribership that have taken place suggest the market is working well. Any policy or regulation intended to further accelerate deployment should clearly identify and target the market failure it is intended to mitigate:" (Source) ? "The wireless industry exhibits no evidence of a market failure, and regulations - especially sweeping ones of the type [Tim] Wu would like us to consider - are likely to impose significant costs on society and ultimately harm consumers." (Source) ? He frequently uses long discredited FCC data to state the broadband market is full of competition and advocates for the fingers-crossed approach to competition. (Source and source). [snip]RSS Feed: <http://www.warpspeed.com/wordpress> ------------------------------------------- Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com ----- End forwarded message -----
