I have little or no doubt that the Obama Administration is going to reach far down into their radical organizing and democrat roots and scheme to exert some measure of control over the Internet.
While the big telecommunications common carriers and content providers may disagree about deep packet mining and the surcharging of large files and video packet handling, they do agree about keeping the government out of the Internet business. One needs only to look at the monopolistic practices, confused pricing schemes and other machinations that are the result of government control over the nation’s telephone system.
So, if Obama and company wants to play in this game, they need to become their own Internet service provider and price the services so attractively as to drive out other Internet service providers. Wait! Haven’t I seen this model before. Of course, it is the “government option healthcare plan” where the initial premiums would be priced so low as to make it next to impossible for the for-profit insurers to compete. Something that is hopefully rejected in the near future.
So we must ask ourselves, is it beyond the pale for the government to engage in the blatant manipulation of the Internet service game? Especially if they plan to provide services at little or no cost to their core constituency: the poor, the disaffected including various and sundry victim groups.
Why should I believe that this can come to pass?
Reuters is reporting …
“U.S. regulators may dedicate spectrum to free wireless Internet service for some Americans to increase affordable broadband service nationwide, the Federal Communications Commission said on Tuesday.”
“The FCC provided few details about how it would carry out such a plan and who would qualify, but will make a recommendation under the National Broadband Plan set for release next week. The agency will determine details later.”
Sounds like healthcare again: commit now, details to follow. And we all know that the devil is in those pesky details. The ones that pander to the special interests and confer special advantages to those politically connected.
“One way of making broadband more affordable is to ‘consider use of spectrum for a free or a very low cost wireless broadband service,’ the FCC said in a statement.”
I wonder if this plan is simply to offer subsidies to existing Internet service providers or a tax credit for those who pay for existing service? No it can’t be a tax credit because most of the eligible people will probably not pay taxes.
Another summit?
“The FCC statement was released during a Digital Inclusion Summit aimed at connecting one-third of Americans without home broadband service.”
Imagine the control over the communications of one-third of the American people? Being able to track what they are doing on the Internet.
Now comes the community organizers favored by Obama to get out the vote and suppress those who dissent …
“The FCC also said there would also be a recommendation in the broadband blueprint to launch a Digital Literacy Corps of volunteers who would provide training to communities with low rates of adoption.”
More money to be shoveled into community organizers who have proven to support the democrats while lacking fundamental transparency and accountability. ACORN comes to mind – of course under their new name and free of the obvious taint.
Mission creep and social engineering …
The Federal Communications Commission was designed to develop licensing plans to assign telecommunications frequencies such that stations; amateur, public and private would not interfere with one another. In addition, the FCC was to police the frequency spectrum by insuring that technical specifications and antenna placement were minimizing this interference.
Over time, the FCC became obsessed with policing content for inappropriate behavior and naughty works. Anyone who doubts this should listen to George Carlin’s “Seven Forbidden Words” performance.
Now it appears that the FCC wants to go far beyond the boundaries of broadcast signals and regulate the Internet. A self-regulating Internet which was developed without FCC input and which develops its own standards (IETF - Internet Engineering Task Force) and assigns its own addresses (ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). No government assistance needed, required or desired.
So how does the FCC gain their enormous power? By Congressional mandate – a mandate which sees democrats now obsessed with gaining and maintaining power at any cost. A far-left Congressional mandate which will fly in the face of public opinion as it has done with healthcare and cap-and-trade: both efforts to exert central planning and a command and control structure upon the American people.
Wait until we see the democrat ploys at work …
Its for the children. Its to prevent pornography. Its to improve the delivery of medical assistance to rural areas. Its to allow us to pursue a green future by wiring our homes for two-way communications. To better control the energy being used by our appliances in order to prevent a bogus planetary meltdown. The democrats will demagogue this subject to death as they try to exert control over the Internet.
Bottom line …
Internet or not, we need to re-exert control over those who act on our behalf. To throw the assclowns out of office before the subvert our government and bankrupt our nation. To send honest brokers to government at all levels, local, state and federal. To do our bidding in an honest and ethical manner – devoid of the special interests who have corrupted the system.
Keep the Internet free and demand network neutrality where all information packets; be they text, audio or video are charged equally. And throw the corrupt and complacent bums on both sides of the aisle out of office – and take the archaic, overblown FCC with you.
-- steve
Reference Links:
U.S. considers some free wireless broadband service - Yahoo! News
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