Dorgan, Clyburn Tackle ‘Big Lie’ About Reclassification
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn rallied supporters of Title II reclassification of broadband Internet services Tuesday at the Free Press Summit. It’s a “big lie” that the government wants to take over the Internet, Dorgan said. Clyburn urged the audience to dispel that and other myths she said lobbyists for big businesses in the industry are spreading. She also said the FCC needs to involve consumers outside Washington more in the Comcast-NBC Universal deal and other matters.
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Dorgan backed FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s “third way” approach limiting the application of the Title II rules. The senator previously called for full reclassification. “I think it’s a pretty reasonable approach, and I support what he’s doing,” Dorgan told us after his keynote. Asked whether Genachowski is moving fast enough to reclassify, Dorgan said, “There’s a lot of pushback for what he’s trying to do, but I think he’s trying to do the right thing."
The FCC needs help getting the message out that the government isn’t trying to seize control of the Internet, Dorgan said in his speech. “The big lie ought not work in this case,” he said. “What we do here, if we're able to be successful, will have an impact on this country for decades.” The federal government created the Internet with nondiscrimination rules, but they were removed by former FCC Chairman Michael Powell, Dorgan said. Deregulation isn’t appropriate, because many markets in the U.S. still only have two broadband providers, the senator said. Dorgan said he believes in the free market, but he added that the Internet “also needs a referee.”
Smaller forces must fight the “lobbying machine” whirring on reclassification, Clyburn said. Leading myths are that the Comcast decision took away the FCC’s authority to regulate the Internet under any section of the act, that the commission is out to burden industry with additional rules, and that the FCC is trying to take over the Internet, she said. With reclassification the FCC is “merely trying to preserve” the authority everyone thought it had before the court ruling, she said. The motive for reclassification goes “far beyond” net neutrality, she said. Unless the FCC reclassifies, the road ahead for universal service, privacy, transparency and cybersecurity is “laden with landmines,” she said.
The FCC should draw in consumers affected by the Comcast-NBC Universal deal by holding public hearings around the country, Clyburn said. The commission can’t go to every city, but “we do have the ability to hold more than one hearing in places where consumers will be directly affected, either positively or negatively, by this landmark” transaction, she said. Field hearings will “force the commission to interact and see up close how Americans feel about this proposed merger.” Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and members of two minority caucuses in Congress urged hearings in a letter to Genachowski last week (CD May 10 p12).
The federal government tends to be too Washington-centered, having more regular contact with lobbyists than the people affected by decisions, Clyburn said. That has resulted in a great deal of “political swordplay,” she said. Smaller groups must find creative ways to counter big companies’ influence, Clyburn said. Lobbying in itself isn’t bad, she said: It can illuminate companies’ positions. But big companies have a “huge advantage” because they “know how we make decisions, when we make decisions, and often they have access to information that many commission officials themselves do not have.” Coalition-building, good sound bites and better understanding of the way the FCC works can make small groups more effective, Clyburn said.
The “mythical free market” won’t make “everything right,” no matter what industry lobbyists say, said Executive Director Josh Silver of Free Press. That approach led to media consolidation and the U.S.’s decline in world broadband rankings, he said. Net neutrality is about “preventing censorship,” and claims that Free Press and it supporters are “Marxist” are false, Silver said.