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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsObama's Crony Capitalism will Kill Net Neutrality. New FCC Staff in Bed with ISPs
Former Comcast and Verizon Attorneys Now Manage the FCC and Are About to Kill the InternetBy Lee Fang
Under the new proposed system, companies such as Comcast or Verizon will be able to create a tiered Internet, in which websites will have to pay more money for faster speeds, a change that observers predict will curb free speech, stifle innovation and increase costs for consumers.
Like so many problems in American government, the policy shift may relate to the pernicious corruption of the revolving door. The FCC is stocked with staffers who have recently worked for Internet Service Providers (ISP) that stand to benefit tremendously from the defeat of net neutrality.
The backgrounds of the new FCC staff have not been reported until now.
Take Daniel Alvarez, an attorney who has long represented Comcast through the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP. In 2010, Alvarez wrote a letter to the FCC on behalf of Comcast protesting net neutrality rules, arguing that regulators failed to appreciate socially beneficial discrimination. The proposed rules, Alvarez wrote in the letter co-authored with a top Comcast lobbyist named Joe Waz, should be reconsidered.
Today, someone in Comcasts Philadelphia headquarters is probably smiling. Alvarez is now on the other side, working among a small group of legal advisors hired directly under Tom Wheeler, the new FCC Commissioner who began his job in November....
MUCH MORE DISGUSTING DETAIL AT LINK
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)over and over and over again.
Armstead
(47,803 posts)TheBlackAdder
(28,227 posts)Select Legislators, Bureaucracies & Special Business interests ONLY!
The average citizen has NO say in what goes on. Just look at the dismantling of the USPS.
You have politicians who get legal bribes from business to do their bidding, mostly on select committees.
You have businesses who are legally bribing politicians to get them to enact laws and pressure bureaucracies that favor them.
Then, there is the stagnant bureaucracy who is at the mercy of the legislators, fearing cuts and executive firings.
===
The president isn't in this equation. Nice try though.
This is strictly by the legislature, accepting funding. Private groups and people are not allowed to participate, because MONEY is the primary driver.
If you're going to be condescending to people, it helps not to make really dumb mistakes. The president nominates the FCC commissioners who make the rules, so he is very much part of the equation.
Armstead
(47,803 posts)TheBlackAdder
(28,227 posts)That still leaves the influence of the "Iron Triangle" as the primary motivating force.
It all comes down to money.
Armstead
(47,803 posts)The president chooses who is appointed, and he didn't have to pick a Comcast/Cable Industry shill who would, in turn hire his industry-lobbyist friends to key "regulatory" posts within the FCC.
Obama's role in this is inexcusable.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)within. To me he seems to think these insiders are going to be able to understand enough to fix the problem when in fact they are part of the problem.
It is l like he does not see the picture we see.
What would you venture to guess will be his net worth within 3 years after he leaves office'
GoneFishin
(5,217 posts)Both are a good fit though to describe what Obama and Bush before him have done over and over again.
I don't believe this is about appointing knowledgeable people. There is more to it than that. One appointment maybe, but not so farging many of them.
Armstead
(47,803 posts)That sometimes seems like the mantra of too many political leaders today.
.......or they're just looking to feather their nest once they leave office
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Phlem
(6,323 posts)Obama is perfect in every possible way.
Dragonfli
(10,622 posts)Mary was a bit of a slacker...
moondust
(20,016 posts)that the Comcast/Time Warner merger is in the works at the same time as this? Sheesh.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)Armstead
(47,803 posts)QC
(26,371 posts)will come busting out.
Or so I have been assured.
Armstead
(47,803 posts)tiredtoo
(2,949 posts)Do not know why but, college students seem to have a fool me once attitude. (sarcasm)
This is also a strong factor in the expected dismal showing of college students in the upcoming mid-terms.
Armstead
(47,803 posts)Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Sorry to say.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)in Nov.
Vattel
(9,289 posts)what set of regulations the FCC should put in place, why that set of regulations is superior to all possible alternatives, and how those regulations will withstand all legal challenges. Otherwise STFU! (I am being facetious here.)
Dragonfli
(10,622 posts)I recommend you dive into a vat of salt to banish the darkened spirits.
Armstead
(47,803 posts)Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)librechik
(30,677 posts)this was inevitable. We've just been in a safe period where they couldn't quite make it happen. Just shitty broadband. Now they have slipped a toe under the tent It's all over anyway. Citizens don't have influence. Thank you Clinton and Obama, among others...
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)1. It's really a great thing
2. The president had nothing to do with it