Here's a
snippet of Tim Wu's (professor at Columbia Law School and co-author of
Who Controls the Internet) testimony regarding network neutrality and the proposed legislation, the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006 (COPE).
[This is an issue that affects people directly. Once upon a time the internet was a kind of toy, used by hobbyists, scientists, and geeks. But today it's something different: it has become part of America's basic infrastructure. It has become as essential to people and to the economy as the roads, the electric grid, or the telephone. It's an infrastructure that people and firms depend on for everyday activities, whether planning weddings, managing investments, or running a small business.
Given this infrastructure, Americans are accustomed to basic rights to use the network as they see fit. That's why there's been surprise and indignation over plans, advanced by the Bells, to begin deciding what consumers want, by slowing down disfavored companies, and speeding up favored companies. It's as if the electric company one day announced that refrigerators made by General Electric would henceforth not work quite as well as those made by Samsung. That would be a shock, because when it comes to the electric grid and the internet, people are used to a network that they are free to use as they wish.
Second, whatever AT&T and others may claim as motives, the potential for abuse of market power is obvious to everyone. Ninety-four percent of Americans have either zero, one, or two choices for broadband access. Many of us wish things were otherwise, but they are not.
Given today's market, it's obvious that a firm like AT&T may earn, at the margin, more money by distorting competition among internet firms. It can, through implicit threats of degradation, extract a kind of protection money for those with the resources to pay up. It's basically the Tony Soprano model of networking, and while it makes some sense for whoever is in a position to make threats, it isn't particularly good for the nation's economy, innovation, or consumer welfare. . . .
This mission - protecting consumer choice against market power - is a minimum and appropriate role of government. I wouldn't be here if there were five broadband providers, each competing to give customers the best and fastest service possible. If that were the case, I am certain that the best service would win out - if one company blocked or slowed some companies, consumers would run away. If a rental car company doesn't let you drive the car where you wanted, you'd choose a different company. The problem is the lack of choice in this market.
Let me close by looking at who's on each side. The Bell companies have taken the lead in moving things back to the world where they pick and choose who gets better access on the network. Who wants that? Very few people. Not bloggers, libertarian, conservative, or liberal, who know that larger media outlets will be favored over them. Not the application makers, among the most active sectors of the nation's economy. Not anyone who dislikes or distrusts excesses of centralized power. Not even cable operators. And, when made aware, certainly not consumers. In fact, no one wants this but the Bells themselves, and perhaps that tells us something.
One of the major problems with this legislation is that consumers haven't been made aware. It's been a sleeper issue, and Congress hasn't been hearing about it from their constituents. Which is where we come in. Here's the list of members of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Please take a few minutes to look at the list, find your representative, and call him or her. The message to give them is clear. "Don't give the Internet away to AT&T. Oppose the COPE Act as it is currently written."
You can call or write your Representative even if he or she isn't on Energy and Commerce. The more pushback they feel on this legislation, the sooner it dies. You can also register your opposition at any and all of the following sites:
SavetheInternet.com
Moveon Petition
Save the Internet on MySpace