A collaborative commentary on The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which proposes a new economic foundation for the USA through "job
preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy
efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed," and the FCC's creation of a a
"National Broadband Plan" for Congress by February 17, 2010.
There's risk in confusing broadband and Internet. If the National
Broadband Plan starts from the premise that the U.S. needs the
innovation, increased productivity, new ideas and freedoms of
expression that the Internet affords, then the Plan will be shaped
around the Internet. If, instead, the Plan is premised on a need for
broadband, it fails to address the ARRA's mandated objectives
directly. More importantly, the premise that broadband is the primary
goal entertains the remaking of the Internet in ways that could put
its benefits at risk. The primary goal of the Plan should be broadband
connections to the Internet.The FCC's Internet Policy Statement of 2005 is a first attempt to
codify important aspects of the Internet independent of access
technology. It advocates end-user access to content, and end-user
choice of applications, services and devices. It says that Internet
users are, "entitled to competition," but it does not spell out the
entitlement to the benefits of competition, such as increased choice,
lower price and diversity of offers. It fails to provide for
information about whether advertised services perform as specified. It
doesn't address packet inspection, packet discrimination, data
collection or end-user privacy. It is not clear that all of these are
within the FCC's purview, but it is abundantly clear that all of these
factors should be critical to a National Broadband Plan that addresses
broadband connections to the Internet.Therefore, we urge that the FCC's National Broadband Plan emphasize
that broadband connection to the Internet is the primary goal.
itstheinternetstupid.com (via Seth Johnson).
* As an aside — in light of the immediately prior 2 posts, I keep hearing Dr. Steve Brule's voice when I read this post's headline.
