FCC Chair Genachowski Again Offers Very Little in Defense of his Internet Land Grab
by Seton MotleyFederal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski continues his persistent push to dramatically increase his Commission’s regulatory authority over the Internet.
He remains just as persistent in refusing to offer a substantive legal authority for doing it.
This could be because there really isn’t one. And it’s not just me saying it. It’s also a unanimous D.C. Circuit Court (in the Comcast-BitTorrent case), 282 members of Congress – including 74 House Democrats, and even seventeen minority groups who almost NEVER line up against any Democrat anywhere.
The consensus being that legislation is required to better delineate FCC authority over the Internet.
Way back on May 27, Michigan Democrat John Dingell sent Genachowski one of his famous “Dingell-grams” requesting an explanation. On July 26 – nearly two months later – Genachowski finally responded. Dingell was underwhelmed.
So much so that he yesterday publicly released a letter, in which he clearly expresses his under whelmed-ness.
“Unfortunately, the paucity of substantive responses to my aforementioned questions in your recent letter has served only to substantiate my fear that the Commission’s proposed path with respect to the regulation of broadband is based on unsound reasoning and an incomplete record,…”
Them’s harsh words. From a Democrat, to a Democrat.
Dingell went on to express his substantial concern for the debilitative effect the Commission’s move to regulate would have on future Internet successes and investment.
“I worry that hurried action by the Commission to complete a rulemaking or issue a declaratory ruling concerning the classification of broadband Internet access services in the absence of a clear statutory mandate from the Congress will result in poor policy and protracted litigation, which itself will confound the Congress’ and the Commission’s efforts to encourage further investment in broadband infrastructure, create new jobs, and stimulate broadband adoption as we seek to implement network neutrality rules.
“With this in mind, I reiterate my suggestion that the Commission abandon the classification effort it has set in motion and instead seek the authority it requires by asking the Congress to enact a statute that clearly delegates such authority. In this way, the Congress and Commission may ensure the steadfast legal foundation for an open internet.”
Congressman Dingell gets a little sideways with his contradictory desires to “implement network neutrality rules” and “ensure the steadfast legal foundation for an open internet.” But his letter is a good and thorough whacking of the overreaching course currently charted by the FCC.
Congressman Dingell is just another in a LOOONG line of public officials – from both the legislative and judicial branches – telling the executive branch’s FCC that they do not have the regulatory authority to do what they are currently trying to do – commandeer control of the Internet.
It’s time for Chairman Genachowski to acknowledge this obviousness, and defer to Congress to do what it has always done with the FCC – decide whether or not to pass laws that give the Commission the authority it foolishly wishes to exercise all by it’s lonesome.
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65 Comments
I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Oh, my countrymen! What will our children say, when they read the history of these times? Should they find we tamely gave away without one noble struggle, the most invaluable of earthly blessings? As they drag the galling chain, will they not execrate us? If we have any respect for things sacred; any regard to the dearest treasures on earth; if we have one tender sentiment for posterity; if we would not be despised by the whole world – let us in the most open, solemn manner, and with determined fortitude, swear we will die, if we cannot live free men!" – Josiah Quincy, Jr., 1788 Boston Gazette
FCC wants its own little dictatorial playground to stifle free speech. It's fun when even D-rats can't support such an action.
I do believe the govt wishes to control individual thought and communication. The most threatening aspect is where any idea contrary to what a censor czar thinks permissive(PC) will be regulated and censored by the spin city east thought police. That scares me. And it now appears that google wants to get in bed with the current knuckle draggers at the witless house.
These communist keep pushing the envelope,a little here and a little there,they never give up,do they?
If there is a demand for unfettered Internet access – and I believe there is – there will be a provider who offers it. If they charge too much, another provider will charge less. This is not an issue.
We need to stop passing laws to fix problems that aren't even problems yet. Nevermind the lack of federal authority to regulate this, the problem they're ostensibly trying to solve has no examples available. None. This whole argument is based on "IF the evil corporations…."
Dear President Obama,
As I have watched for any positive results in the economy from your stewardship, I have been unable to detect any. GM has produced a car, no one will buy, that runs on electrical power that liberal democrats are hell bent on stopping the efficient production of. Thanks to you, we have debt, and deficits in the trillions that are growing by the billions on a weekly basis. The United States military has zero leadership, and is being pushed from an overt mission into a covert one, leaving the public sphere to be filled with Islamic Radicalism in that part of the world fed daily from Al Jazeera and CNN. Finally, Mr President you are playing the race card, the class card, and any other card you can stick up your sleeve prior to the game on November 2, 2010.
You and I both know the numbers and the stakes, we know the safe zone and the loss zone of numbers and polls. With 96 days to go you are now all set to hit the ground on the taxpayers dime, and try to move beyond the hard 20 to help those in safe districts to keep their seats to avoid veto proof majorities in the house and the senate that the last President faced in 2006. Politicians and prostitutes share erie similarities. Give either enough money they’ll do just about anything – you are no different. Republicans are a little better looking then liberal Democrats, though, they tend to bathe more. But that was then, and as they say, this is now. Now America has been awakened, the American Eagle is on the move, and ready to strike at the ballot box, it is about damned time.
Why is this happening now in our political system when other systems would just collapse and die? The Soviet Union died in the space of one week. That success of freedom and liberty occurred because of a failure to promote achievement and a lack of competition. For instance, in the Soviet Union, if you failed miserably at your job but you believed the party line and promoted it, even though it was a lie, you were promoted to positions of more responsibility where you could do more damage. Kind of like you Mr. Obama. Communists and Socialists parading as liberal democrats promoted you based on a lack of character and ability, to a position of power, watching the Clintons try to fend you off was even more humorous, they likened you to a drug dealing terrorist and the panty waste liberals thought that this would matter to a guy like you or your core supporters. In their ears you were a “man of the people,” and they were paying you a complement.
In as much as the speed bumps to your fascistic dictatorship have been bulldozed, by Republican and Democrats alike, each in their own times, the smallest core of our system still exists, an election every two years for the House and 1/3 of the Senate. The more I think about it the more I realize Americans haven’t had a real choice between liberty and tyranny since the early 90s and in 1980. Every so often
Americans get lost in the weeds, led there by liberal hacks posing as journalists. That has come to an end with Congressional approval in the sewer and yours circling the drain with the pubic hair once again; whether or not this movement back to liberty over your tyranny has the power to last, and undo the damage liberals have done prior to the United States of America’s dissolution, is anyones guess.
On this November, though, we will be voting for liberty, we will be voting Republican as our only defense. We will not fail, we must not fail, to beat you Mr. Obama.
Joe Doakes
PS. If it is one day my fate to be lined up on a wall, and shot for my comments here, please have the decency to provide a cigarette, with a no smoking sign placed behind my head – I think that would make a nice shot:)
Nope.
Yea go ahead try to takeover and regulate the net and the real rulers of it will teach "you" a lesson. Its like the gun laws that are passed , you take the guns away from the law abiding citizens but those who are above the law continue on and ratchet things up. Problems is these morons who want to mess with the net have no idea those who allow us to dwell here could tear us apart in the digital world! We all see the ads day in day out to buy protection services against ID theft. What do you think is going to happen when they start regulating the net, the thieves are going to go into high gear not against me or you they are going to go after the folks messing with their playground!
I think there will be a larger reaction as the net is the 1770's vs of the pamphlet. You try to regulate it or take that away from the bloggers, web site owners etc on either side of the fence you are going to create a sh*tstorm you will not be able to handle. My money as I have said repeatedly is on the hackers, go ahead piss them off and see what happens!
This will be fun to watch!
Am I reading this correctly? Dingle seems to be saying something sensible for a change…? Shocking…!
Everyone in this regime has been given a green light to go for the most regulatory control that they can attain. At this rate, it will be DECADES before this is all sorted out and repealled. But that's the point, isn't it.
My God man, that was brilliant.
Fantastic quotes, thanks for bringing them to my (our) attention.
http://www.cafepress.com/politicalstckrs
Since when have rules applied to the left?
I think there's a number of things at play and a number of possiblities.
First, the internet is the future of much of the world's communication and the FCC wants to be in on that or fade to obscurity (saving their own jobs). As more and more business and personal communications and commerce is conducted via the internet, the FCC can either have a hand in that pie or fade away with landlines and voice coms. Even full TV is likely to go to the internet eventually.
Second, we know Obama and his administration is no fan of free speech. They take every opportunity to bash outlets of descent such as Fox News and Breitbart, among many others. So the FCC may very well be acting as the progressive enforcement arm trying to slam the door shut on descent.
Third, taxes. Money. Moolah. Regulating the internet also means taxing the crap out of it. We know the government wants/needs more money to "spread the wealth" with. What better thing to tax than another item we can't live without anymore?
I'm not sure which combination of those motives are in play, but I'm fairly certain it's more than one of the above. So far, the internet has been one of the greatest engines of the economy since the steam engine. IMO, private companies have done a good job in developing the internet and making access both fast and affordable for most people in the country. Competition is king. Lets not allow the government to throw a heavy wrench into the works.
The best thing is that the democrats have exposed their dark under belly for all to see. No repsect for rule of law, removal of individual rights, hate filled name calling of political opposition, secrecy, behind the doors meetings, bypassing elections with unappointed czars, executive mandates, attempts ta censorship, putting aliens rights ahead of citizens, etc etc etc! (my god they are evil!)
So people now KNOW without ANY doubt what the democratic party is all about. Control, tyrrany and hatred. Do they have the legal means to justify it? Hell no, but that won't stop them. This is why they will be out of office for a generation or more. All those naive college voters who put these idiots in office still don't have jobs and are living in their parents homes. Amazing how a cold spalsh of reality can mkae those "hope and change" unicorns disappear.
Wow, 2 in a row. You and Joe Doakes101 sum things up quite well. Outstanding.
They have grabbed control of many things while in power such a short time knowing there would be a backlash. They've been setting the table diminishing our rights ahead of the next "crises." Free speech is a big tipping point.
This is like the pattern of Latin style takeovers. Get elected, then rig the rules and the media so you can't be elected out of power. Obama already scapegoats people like a Latin dictator doesn't he? It's there all right.
The efforts of the FCC and of Congress to "…to encourage further investment in broadband infrastructure, create new jobs, and stimulate broadband adoption …" ought to be confounded. The first phrase translates into plain English as: "To limit investment in broadband infrastructure to our political allies and supporters." The second, into "Create new jobs that can only be filled by political influence." And the third, into "stimulate the participation of the technologically-challenged but politically powerful now being denied what their influence entitles them do have." Confounded? Ought to be fully thwarted.
Agree strongly. Collapsing states, Federal and municipal levels and the bond markets will implode. Rome has extended itself beyond it's ability to tax.
Not just here, but Europe as well, and the 70 year fiat money experiment has failed. The world is holding it's breath to see if Pelos/Obama are goiing to bankrupt the USA and take everybody down with them.
He is exactly right, I have a son-in-law who is in IT security, them is some scary little dudes.
All three of the above. There is nothing subtle or piecemeal about their approach. They know we are coming in November and are accelerating at warp speed!!
MyKu:
Just wait until they
play their trump card and say,
"It's for the children!"
They want to control everything. Health care, finances, energy and communication. They will push us too far!
Too bad this great letter will never been seen by king zero.
Not 'til their last breath…….
What I keep asking is "What happens when the progressives become the minority and the infrastructure is there for complete power?"
Either the progressives cannot see the future they are creating or they never plan to be out of power again.
This is scary either way!
They have already pushed us too far…..
Can any progressive explain why any of this regulation is necessary? Does there exists some endemic situation in which the net has to be regulated? Its been running since around 1985 and there isn't a problem.
BTW its very obvious the ONLY entity that can force censorship is a government and clearly the ONLY entities censoring right now are governments.
So why should anyone trust the only mechanism that has forced censored the internet and arbitrarily done so in the process…. government. A private entity has a right to allow what they wish on their paid for bandwidth. But there hasn't been any evidence of some massive corporate block of content other than metering the 1% of users who consume like 90% of the bandwidth with movies and content.
So in the kantian attempt at stopping some so called abuse that hasn't happened yet, the progressives essentially cause more damage through regulations. Their plan is similar to jailing all free men in hopes of stopping one burglar… and the burglar steels stuff anyone.
Please can a progressive explain why a system that has run fine unregulated needs regulations and why you trust the one entity (government) that has actually practiced arbitrary censorship to protect some rights that have not actually been violated?
How come progressives do not trust their fellow man?
Once the government gets its claws into the internet you can bet its control will grow every year until it is taxed and regulated as much as the banking industry. It's important to oppose any government control of any aspect of the internet.
I guess there was nothing in it for him.
Neither do WE!!!
I hope TV doesn't go to full internet. I cannot get high-speed where I live (even the pricey satellites don't stream fast enough nor allow a large volumn of data). I think my head would explode if everything I watched was constantly buffering!
But, but If people can just CHOOSE a provider through competition of providers then, then that would be CAPITALISM which we all know doesn't work for the people.
But if you regulate, then you can collect more taxes!
AMEN Brother!
I'm referring to the future. In the not too distant future, assuming that are not all slaves of the ruling class, the internet will be much faster and therefore more high-bandwidth content will co-exist and it will be delivered by devices that haven't been invented yet – some not even imagined. The necessary leaps in technology are already being made today. I'm sorry you can't get high-speed now, that sucks. Hopefully, you'll have it available soon.
You can use this tool on Broadband Reports to see if there is any type of high speed service available to you – just plug in your zip code:
http://www.dslreports.com/search
I'm sure Obama will execute some executive orders to get what the FCC wants with out any conscent from congress,supreme court, or the general public….Just wait until he is a lame duck, the number of orders will be in the thousands, he might not even have time to pardon people….
WE need a list and committees set up beforehand to hit the ground running. Everything, and I mean everything should be studied going back to Wilson and Roosevelt. No reset buttons here, Roll back buttons are necessary.
You might be suprised at just who might read these remarks. Excellent letter.
We can accomplish all this in less than four years if the correct folks get into government. The real problem will be to rid ourselves of those entrenched within the various agencies as nonproductive seat warmers.
Rick- It's not just the worthless culls that wrote the regs in the first place, it's the regs themselves. That is a web that will prove stubborn to remove.
I don't want anything to do with anything that has the word "Federal" in it right now. If the Fed Govt suceeds in controlling the Internet, it is one segment that will backfire on them, because the "IT" geniuses will create a "Free Internet" around the FCC. Its too easy.
I don't trust Dingell at all. IF he is against FCC control, there is something in it for him, and it's not US. He's a Career corrupt-o-crat that needs to go.
Great letter Joe, but why is it, whenever, I try to post something that long, I have to make 4 chapters…??
That's really for the Administrator…
Ask him about a 'fire sale' it was the central topic in "Live Free or Die Hard" the transportation, financial, utility and communications infrastructure were hacked in and attacked. Yea yea its Hollywood I get it but if they can dream it up then IT can happen. FYI after 9/11 I remember hearing about Pentagon officials meeting with Hollywood directors and producers for terror scenarios.
Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes. – William Prescott
I submit to you that not only can we see the "whites of their eyes", we are being overrun. With the exception of a very few, those who are supposed to be representing us have yet to fire a shot. I suspect those who sit on the House Ethics Committee that bear an R after their name are about to let another enemy of the state walk free under the fear of being labeled racist and playing "partisan politics".
Which Republican will surrender this time?
I'm madder than a june bug on a hot stove!
Just reminded me of a time when the boys and I were sitting around a fire…
A June bug flew out and up my pants leg….had to open my fly to let it out….
Sure picked the wrong time to go commando….
Ouch! They are menace whether it be cleaning them off the windshield, getting hit in the face while riding without a helmet or in your case. I cringe at the thought of those scratchy legs on my "sack". Great story.
No, no, no, you assume that we the people are competent to make our own choices in your response. Once Genochowski takes control, little thought crimes like yours will be swept under the censorship rug. /sarc
The true netizens will fight back if they try to take over the net, and they're worried about China's cyber attacks? I guess that's why they had to give Obama the ability to shut down the net outright first.
It may eventually all be computerized, but right now when it comes to the gaming market especially, TV consoles are king. And that is a trend away from PC.
I'll certainly ask him, but I know that he has told me some stuff that he has done on some of his assessments that would make your head swim. He's only been doing it for about 4 or 5 years. I can only imagine what someone who's been doing it for 15 or 20 years is capable of doing. The technology they have is scary!
Just doing my job as a concerned citizen:) More to come . . . I have only begun to fight.
You know thats right
All congress has to do until 2012 is defund the unwanted bills. I think you know of those which I refer.
Actually, there are more of US than there are of THEM. The Progressives are running scared, they know their days of power ARE numbered.
Keep up the excellent work.:)
I object to the very existence of the FCC. Please, someone tell me how any government entity can purport to own and dictate the use of the natural phenomenon that is the electromagnetic spectrum.
I also object to most other government agencies, other than Defense, Interior, and Treasury.
It's important to oppose any government control of any aspect of human endeavor.
FREEDOM
Sounds like some of the Dems and libs are starting to jump on OUR (broad)bandwagon…!
Another thing to add to the new Congress' to-do list:
1. Put the brakes on Porkulus and TARP.
2. Untie our troops' hands so they can kick some terrorist ass.
3. Repeal Obamacare.
4. Hold many hearings on the scuz-bag Dems AND the DOJ!
5. Disband the FCC.
Actually, he cant come up with a good defense on controlling the internet. He would be better off with George Sros and Michael Moore and come out and say, Hey, we are communist, You don't have rights to free speech, alternative news, talk radio. Then yet again I see why they want to take over the internet. If YOU already know why they want it, maybe YOU will fight to keep him from doing it.
This is a wonderful letter that sums up the degree of frustration and dissatisfaction of the majority of people in the US. I am old enough to know what "more freedom" was. Being raised in the 50's was a much better time. I am teaching my 4 grandsons to stand up and not take this government BS. See you in Washington 9-12, along with my 4 grandsons! God Bless. I'll give you a cigarette, as I light one myself and stand beside you.
It's all about money Darkwolfe, how much they can get to allow their version of free speech. Oh ya can I type the word socialist on this site?
Mr. Obama not President Obama, clearly noted! Very well said Joe.
IMPEACH ARREST and Jail this communist prick
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