The End Of The Internet As We Know It?

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Wed, 12 Apr 2006 11:07:08 -0400 (EDT)

" American Progress Action Fund "

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Progress Report: The End Of The Internet As We Know It?

 

 

AMERICAN PROGRESS ACTION FUND

The Progress Report

by Judd Legum, Faiz Shakir, Nico Pitney

Amanda Terkel and Payson Schwin

 

 

 

www.progressreport.org

4/12/06

 

 

TECHNOLOGY

The End Of The Internet As We Know It?

 

Telecommunications companies like Verizon and AT & T want to build

high-speed networks to provide video and Internet services in

competition with cable companies. Will these networks be broadly

available and foster technological innovation? Or will they simply

benefit certain moneyed interests? The answer -- and, ultimately, the

future of the Internet -- depends on the telecommunications bill

currently winding its way through Congress. Consumer advocates and

progressives like Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) are pushing for the telecom

networks, which will be built using public rights-of-way, to provide

universal, non-discriminatory access. The telecommunications companies

(along with the cable giants) want to reserve the right to give

preferential access to whomever has the most cash. Thus far,

unfortunately, the industry is winning.

 

WHAT IS NET NEUTRALITY?: Markey and others are pushing for the

telecommunications bill to require " net neutrality. " The telephone

network already operates on this principle. Anyone willing to pay a

reasonable fee can get his or her own phone line. Once you get a phone

line, it works just as well as Paris Hilton's phone line or any other

phone line. Also, it doesn't matter whether you're calling Brad Pitt

or your grandmother, the connection works the same. (This is the way

networks run naturally. Data is data. It doesn't matter who sends it.)

Open, non-discriminatory access to the phone networks means businesses

compete on the basis of what they do with the telephone network, not

whether they can afford preferential access to it. The telecoms want

to reserve the right to sell privileged access to their high-speed

networks. (Edward Whiteacre, the CEO of SBC Communications put it this

way: " Now what they would like to do is use my pipes free, but I ain't

going to let them do that. " ) So, for example, Amazon.com could pay the

telecoms a premium and ensure that its site loads much faster than an

independent bookstore's site. The end result could be a two-tiered

Internet, where your success doesn't depend on innovative ideas but

rather the ability to pay, thus stifling small businesses that could

become the next Microsoft or Google.

 

NET NEUTRALITY IN NAME ONLY: Last week, a House subcommittee rejected

by a 23-8 vote an amendment by Markey that would have required net

neutrality. Instead, the subcommittee vote to " codify the FCC's

voluntary principles governing net neutrality. " The key word here is

" voluntary. " The bill would do nothing to stop cable and telecom

companies from offering " premium broadband tiers and charge content

providers more to use them. " There are no provisions " barring

anti-competitive conduct, " such as favoring content produced by the

company that owns the network. Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital

Democracy lamented, " Members from both sides of the aisle endorsed a

plan which will permit cable and phone companies to construct 'pay as

you surf, pay as you post' tollbooths for the Internet.

Special-interest money contributed to committee members has given the

AT & T, Verizon, Comcast and others another brand new monopoly to

control--our digital communications network known as the Internet. The

committee's vote against 'network neutrality' was more about the power

of big money to influence their anti-Internet freedom position. "

(Check out the top contributors for Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), who is the

sponsor of the current legislation.) Markey says the bill, as it

stands now, " imperils the future of electronic commerce and innovation

to the `world wide whims' of broadband barons, and ties the hands of

the FCC in a way that will legally prevent it from saving something

very special. "

 

TECH INNOVATORS SUPPORT STRONG NET NEUTRALITY GUARANTEES: The CEOs of

some of the world's most innovative and successful technology

companies -- including Google, EBay and -- wrote the House

Energy Committee last week to express their concern that " legislation

being considered by the Committee fails to preserve the longstanding

openness of the Internet. " As a result, according to the CEOs,

" consumer choice, American innovation and global competitiveness " are

put at risk. They urged the committee to adopt net neutrality rules

that were " both meaningful and readily enforceable. "

 

THE BUILD OUT PROBLEM: The telecoms want to use public rights-of-way

(i.e., the land used to build roads, etc) to build their networks. But

they also want the right to provide service only to the most

profitable areas within those communities. As of now, the bill lacks a

so-called " build out " provision that would require telecom companies

competing with a cable franchise to provide service everywhere the

cable company does. The result may be that low-income and minority

neighborhoods will not see the benefits of improved networks and

competition.

 

BYPASSING COMMUNITIES: Currently, cable companies are required to

negotiate franchise agreements with local communities to provide

service. The telecoms want to compete with the cable companies but

bypass communities. These negotiations are the only opportunity for

towns to ensure " cable and Internet providers pay attention to labor

issues, provide for technology upgrades and ensure public safety

concerns are met. "

 

 

GOOD NEWS

 

" The number of foreign graduate students studying in the U.S. is on

the rise, following a sharp post-9/11 dip. "

 

STATE WATCH

 

KENTUCKY: Gov. Ernie Fletcher ® declared yesterday " Diversity Day, "

then " cut from the state government's hiring policy a provision that

explicitly protected public employees from discrimination based on

their sexual orientation. "

 

MASSACHUSETTS: Before signing the state's health insurance bill today,

Gov. Mitt Romney ® plans to take out penalties for employers who do

not offer health insurance, putting the burden on individuals.

 

MAINE: Maine protects pets.

 

BLOG WATCH

 

THINK PROGRESS: Video: Cheney loudly booed during first pitch.

 

EARLY WARNING: Army, Marines making plans for land war in Iran.

 

GRISTMILL: " Catfight! " Car companies and Big Oil exchanging barbs.

 

DEMOCRACY ARSENAL: Beyond baby steps in Darfur.

 

DAILY GRILL

 

" The first pitch of the Washington Nationals' second season at Robert

F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium was low and away, bouncing in the dirt

before being scooped up by catcher Brian Schneider. For that, Vice

President Cheney received a round of boos from the home crowd this

afternoon. "

-- Washington Post, 3/11/06, on Cheney being booed because he threw a

bad pitch

 

VERSUS

 

" VPOTUS stepped out onto field dressed in khakis and a Nats bomber

jacket to the sound of thunderous boos and catcalls. "

-- White House Pool Report, 3/11/06, on Cheney being booed because

he's Cheney

 

(Watch for yourself.)

 

 

UNDER THE RADAR

 

IRAN -- URANIUM ENRICHMENT ANNOUNCEMENT CALLED 'POLITICAL THEATER':

Radical Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced yesterday that

the country had enriched a small amount of uranium, " far below the

quantity and purity needed " to produce nuclear weapons but still in

violation of a recent U.N. Security Council demand that it halt work

on the process. The announcement -- which was made during a festive

ceremony featuring music and dancers -- " may have had less to do with

an engineering feat than with carefully timed political theater, "

demonstrating its defiance, according to the New York Times. One U.N.

official said the news " should be depicted with caveats. If they've

enriched for 5 minutes it's one thing, if you have major enrichment

it's another. " Indeed, while Iran has now apparently enriched uranium

to 3.5 percent purity; " for weapons-grade material they need to kick

it up to about 80 percent and do so on an industrial-scale, all of

which will likely take years. "

 

NATIONAL SECURITY -- ADMINISTRATION MADE SECRET AGREEMENT TO HIDE

RECLASSIFICATION EFFORTS: In February, the New York Times revealed

that " thousands of declassified documents had been reclassified by

executive branch agencies and removed from public access in

questionable circumstances. " The Federation of American Scientists

declared the reclassification " a threat to the integrity of the entire

national security classification and declassification program, " and

warned that the efforts would reduce the National Archives to a " mere

repository of officially-sanctioned history. " Most recently, the

non-profit National Security Archive, located at George Washington

University, exposed how the reclassification scheme came about.

According to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) obtained through a

Freedom of Information request, " The National Archives and Records

Administration secretly agreed to a covert effort, led by the Air

Force, the CIA, and other still-hidden intelligence entities, to

remove open-shelf archival records and reclassify them while

disguising the results so that researchers would not complain. " As

part of the secret agreement, the National Archives " agreed that the

existence of the program was to be kept secret as long as possible "

and that " the withdrawal sheets indicating the removal of documents

would conceal any reference to the program and 'any reason for the

withholding of documents.' "

 

ETHICS -- NEW E-MAILS SHOW ABRAMOFF USED DONATIONS IN EXCHANGE FOR

RIGHT-WING FAVORS: According to fallen lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the

Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan was " (easily) our most important

project. " Abramoff leveraged his congressional connections to

eventually win a $3 million government award for the Saginaws to build

a school. The federal funds were originally intended for " impoverished

Indian tribal schools, " but in 2003, the Interior Department ruled the

Saginaw tribe too rich to participate. New e-mails show that Abramoff

" bluntly discussed with a Republican Party official using large

political donations as a way to pressure lawmakers and the

administration into securing federal money for the Saginaw " tribe.

Abramoff's " multi-pronged " approach to lawmakers included having his

colleague Tony Rudy, former staffer to Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), reach

out to his old boss. Additionally, Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC) and Sen.

Conrad Burns (R-MT) took up the fight, writing a May 2003 letter to

the Interior Department on the Saginaws' behalf. In April 2003,

Abramoff's firm threw Taylor a fundraiser where Abramoff donated

$2,000 and the Saginaws donated $1,000. The tribe donated $3,000 more

to Taylor a month after the letter. Burns also received $1,000 from

the Saginaw and $5,000 from another Abramoff tribe shortly before

writing the letter. The month after the letter, the Saginaw delivered

another $4,000.

 

IMMIGRATION - RIGHT WING STARTS BACKPEDALING ON ENFORCEMENT-ONLY BILL:

In the face of massive protests across the country, the right is

promising to reconsider certain aspects of the House immigration bill

that focused " exclusively on security and enforcement " rather than

comprehensive reform. The bill makes the presence of an undocumented

worker in the country a " felony punishable by a year and a day in

jail " and " would criminalize even minor acts of mercy like offering a

meal or administering first aid. " Now, congressional leaders are

backing away from the felony provision, promising yesterday not to

" make unlawful presence in the United States a felony. " Only a few

months after passing the bill, the right is " worried that a tough

anti-illegal-immigration bill they thought would please their

political base has earned them little benefit while becoming a

lightning rod for the fast-growing national movement for immigrant

rights. " " It was an ugly bill in most respects, the felony stuff, the

wall and no amendments, " said Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ). " The leadership

saw this more as a statement than a policy, but I think in the end we

would have been better off had we been more deliberative.

 

THINKFAST

 

While most lawmakers and lobbyists are disavowing the K Street Group,

right-wing activist Grover Norquist is seeking a trademark on it,

saying the group has been given a bad rap. " We will jealously guard

the real phrasing the way Kleenex and Coca-Cola do. We will sue anyone

who says it wrong and make lots of money. "

 

33: Number of American troops who have died in Iraq so far this month,

exceeding the 31 killed in all of March.

 

A year after John Negroponte became the first director of national

intelligence, key lawmakers worry that the spy agency is not

fulfilling its vital mission. The office is " not adding any value " by

enlarging the bureaucracy, said House Intelligence Committee Chairman

Pete Hoekstra (R-MI). " They're lengthening the time to make things

happen. " (Maybe that has something to do with the 3 hours a day

Negroponte spends at a health club?)

 

Unnamed " insiders " believe new White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten

is " leaning toward selecting an outsider " as the new head of the

Office of Management and Budget. One person " even suggested that

retiring Rep. Tom DeLay was being considered. "

 

President Bush's health-care initiatives, which he showcased as his

top domestic priorities in his most recent State of the Union address,

" are stalled in Congress, with little chance for passage. " Bush's

congressional allies say there is little hope any legislation will be

passed this year.

 

The current national surveillance system for work-related injuries and

illnesses may miss two-thirds of the total number of occupational

injuries and illnesses, according to a new study by Michigan State

University.

 

57: The percentage of Americans who believe the estate tax should be

reformed or left as is, according to a new poll. Only 23 percent of

those polled backed full repeal.

 

In May 2003, President Bush pointed to " mobile bio labs " found in Iraq

and declared, " We have found the weapons of mass destruction. " But two

days prior, a secret U.S.-U.K. mission had reported that the labs

weren't banned weapons, but rather " the biggest sand toilets in the

world. "

 

Devastated by Hurricane Katrina, St. Bernard Parish is turning to the

man who provided them no help during the hurricane: former FEMA

director Michael Brown. " I'll talk to the devil himself if I thought

he could help us, " said parish president Henry " Junior " Rodriguez, who

may hire Brown as a consultant.

 

And finally: " Italy's most famous porn star " Cicciolina has " offered

herself " to Osama Bin Laden. " I am ready to make a deal, he can have

me in exchange for an end to his tyranny, " she said at an " erotic

fair. " " My breasts have only ever helped people while Bin Laden has

killed thousands of innocent victims. "