Re: FCC Hires Industry Shill to Develop US National Broadband Plan

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Richard Bennett <richard () bennett com>
Date: August 29, 2009 7:47:24 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] FCC Hires Industry Shill to Develop US National  
Broadband Plan

Bowers seems to be implying that Scott Wallsten is the only, or at  
least the principle person developing national broadband strategy at  
the FCC. This is clearly not the case, of course, as the commission  
has dozens of people working on the project representing a broad range  
of disciplines and perspectives. Wallsten is a very good economist, in  
my experience, and a sound empirical thinker. If I were managing a  
project of the scale and importance of the NBP, I'd certainly like to  
staff if with a diverse group of competent people, of which he is  
clearly one.

The concern of the "net roots" faction Bowers represents seems to be  
that a diverse and talented FCC team will not endorse the simplistic  
vision of "all packets are equal" internetworking they've been trying  
to foist off on the American people since the net neutrality debate  
started. And indeed, Wallsten has never been a proponent of feel-good  
legislation, so their fears are probably warranted. The FCC is not  
going to ignore the seriousness of their mission in order to score a  
few cheap political points for the net roots. Rather, they're going to  
make a concerted attempt to deliver a comprehensive, realistic, and  
otherwise reasonable plan. Rolling over for the conventional wisdom  
won't get it done, so including critical voices is an essential part  
of the process. I wasn't very pleased that the FCC had commissioned  
the Berkman Center to study international broadband policies. But I  
had to accept that Berkman's point of view is a legitimate part of the  
discussion. I'd suggest that Chris Bowers should embrace diversity of  
thought.

That being said, I'd like to see the FCC hire some people who deeply  
and thoroughly understand how the Internet actually works day-in and  
day-out, and where the bodies are buried. Lawyers, economists, and  
historians are fine, but there's no substitute for engineers and  
system architects.

RB

David Farber wrote:
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
> Date: August 28, 2009 9:27:11 PM EDT
> To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
> 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

--
Richard Bennett
Research Fellow
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
Washington, DC





-------------------------------------------
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