Free Press

The Federal Communications Commission has announced an enhanced review of the new access fees that Internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon have recently demanded from sites and services such as Netflix.

Chairman Tom Wheeler announced at the monthly open meeting that the agency would gather information from ISPs about all such access-fee arrangements, but said the Commission would provide no further guidance or written notice of this inquiry.

Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood made the following statement: "Demanding more transparency from Internet service providers is a step in the right direction. But it's not enough. The FCC also needs to protect Internet users from abuse and arm them with any information it finds in this investigation. By slowing down content from some of their video competitors, phone and cable companies have duped untold numbers of consumers into purchasing faster and pricier tiers of service. But selling users more expensive services won't fix a problem that the ISPs create elsewhere in the network.”

[Commentary] AT&T just announced that it is buying DirecTV, the nation’s top satellite-TV company, for a total transaction value of $67.1 billion (that’s $48.5 billion in cash and equity, plus $18.6 billion in debt).

For this kingly sum AT&T gets a satellite-only company with declining profits and no physical assets located here on planet Earth. This is by far the dumbest, most wasteful deal ever. (Well, at least since Comcast announced its plans to buy Time Warner Cable.)

These two takeovers are a perfect illustration of everything that’s wrong with America’s telecommunications market. Case in point: For the total price of these two mega-deals, $67 billion, AT&T and Comcast could collectively deploy super-fast gigabit-fiber broadband service to every single home in America.

[Commentary] In many markets, Comcast and other big telecommunications companies don’t directly compete with each other, meaning consumers don’t have other options to turn to. The companies prefer to control their respective domains -- and our pocketbooks.

And this is all about to get worse. Much, much worse.

Comcast, the nation’s No. 1 cable and Internet company, wants to take over Time Warner Cable, the No. 2 cable provider. Put them together and you get one media giant controlling the vast majority of pay-TV and Internet access in America.

A bloated Comcast will likely engage in all kinds of shenanigans that hurt consumers -- everything from instituting totally unnecessary data caps to restricting what kinds of devices customers attach to the network to forcing folks to purchase expensive equipment. And though Comcast is obliged to adhere to the FCC’s now-overturned (and loophole-ridden) open Internet rules, this condition will expire in January 2018.

All of this will result in higher prices. This much power in the hands of one company is bad news for all US residents, including those who live in communities Comcast and Time Warner Cable don’t serve. Comcast would be able to use its market power to dictate the terms of broadband openness, cost and access at a time when the US is falling behind other nations on each of these measures. With Comcast in charge we’ll continue to sink in the ratings.

Tom Wheeler still doesn’t get it. People aren’t flooding his phone lines and filling his in-box because they’re confused about his proposal. They understand all too well that his plan would create a pay-to-prioritize Internet with fast lanes for the few.

There’s a better way to protect the public, and Chairman Wheeler’s excuses for not taking that path aren’t convincing anyone. If the chairman truly wants to do right by the Internet and avoid losing another costly court battle, he should follow the letter of the Communications Act, exercise the FCC’s clear authority and reclassify Internet service providers as common carriers. It’s not only the most sensible and courageous approach, it’s also the quickest way to bring a final resolution to this issue. And it’s the only approach that puts the needs of Internet users first.

The future of the open Internet can’t rest on the supposed good intentions of one chairman. Internet users and innovators need the certainty that comes with common carriage, not Wheeler’s ‘just trust me’ approach to stopping harmful behavior from providers. Chairman Wheeler needs to realize that the push for reclassification is about much more than Net Neutrality. Title II isn’t something that he holds in his back pocket to use at a later date. It’s the law Congress intended to apply to these vital services, so that users would be free to communicate without unjust online discrimination.

[Commentary] Press reports indicate that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler will propose new Open Internet rules that would allow Internet service providers to implement so-called paid-priority schemes.

These would allow Internet service providers (ISPs) to charge extra fees to content companies to guarantee their content reaches end-users ahead of those that don’t pay. The proposal would also allow ISPs to favor their own content. Chairman Wheeler insists his proposal would “restore the concepts of Net Neutrality.”

He stated that the court “made it clear that the FCC could stop harmful conduct if it were found to not be ‘commercially reasonable.’ Acting within the constraints of the Court’s decision, the Notice will propose rules that establish a high bar for what is ‘commercially reasonable.’” But the judges were pretty clear here: Unless the FCC reclassifies ISPs as common carriers, it can’t impose any rules that stop ISPs from discriminating against content or favoring their own content.

Chairman Wheeler’s post ends with a promise that his rules will not permit ISPs to favor their own content. But nowhere in the legal history is there any suggestion that such moves would run afoul of the “commercially reasonable” standard. What’s more commercially reasonable than a company looking out for its own best interests? Nowhere in his post does Chairman Wheeler suggest that his rules will bar paid prioritization.

And unless the FCC reclassifies ISPs as common carriers, it can’t legally prohibit this practice. So instead of fighting for real Net Neutrality, the FCC instead has chosen to bless online discrimination.

Comcast filed documents at the Federal Communications Commission asking the agency to approve its proposed merger with Time Warner Cable.

If the deal is approved, Comcast will become the dominant cable company for two-thirds of the country and it will control over half of the nation’s next-generation broadband customers. More than 50 public interest groups submitted a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler calling a market takeover of this scale “unthinkable” and urging the agency to block the deal. The coalition delivered the same letter to Attorney General Eric Holder at the Department of Justice, which is also charged with reviewing the merger.

The groups signing the letter include leading consumer rights, arts, free speech, and open Internet organizations, including Consumers Union, CREDO, Demand Progress, Free Press, the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture, the National Organization for Women, the Parents Television Council, Public Knowledge and the Writers Guild of America East and West.

Given “the complete lack of any tangible benefits, it’s clear that the union of the nation’s No. 1 and No. 2 cable companies is not good for competition or in the public interest,” the letter reads.

Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron made the following statement: “The question before the FCC is whether this deal serves the public interest. The answer is clear: A bigger Comcast is bad for America. Merging the nation’s two biggest cable-Internet providers would turn Comcast into our communications gatekeeper, able to dictate the cost and content of news, information and entertainment. We need an Internet and video marketplace that offers people high-quality options at prices they can afford -- not a near-national monopoly determining what we can watch and download.”

[Commentary] If the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger goes through, one company will control way too much of what we see and how we see it online and on cable.

A bigger Comcast will also have the power and reach to determine the prices we all pay for cable and Internet service. Indeed, you’re not off the hook even if Comcast doesn’t serve your community; the company will be so huge that it’ll set the agenda for the entire industry. And its vision for the future of cable and the Internet could become the new normal.

Comcast doesn’t need to get any bigger: It already owns NBCUniversal, which includes local broadcast stations around the country and some of our nation’s oldest newsrooms and entertainment studios.

Free Press and 41 freedom of speech, open government, journalism and public interest groups sent a letter urging Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler to reclassify broadband access services to protect freedom of expression online.

Released during Sunshine Week, the letter outlines the critical role Net Neutrality plays in guaranteeing that Americans can speak and publish freely: “The open Internet is our main conduit for freedom of expression and information. It is our library, our printing press, our delivery truck and our town square,” the letter reads. “Free speech depends on access to open and nondiscriminatory platforms for that speech. Without such principles governing online networks, we cannot guarantee the exercise of this most fundamental right.”

Representing millions of Americans, the groups include the American Civil Liberties Union, Free Press, the Government Accountability Project, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, PEN American Center, the Project on Government Oversight, Reporters Without Borders, the Society for Professional Journalists, the Sunlight Foundation and the Writers Guild of America East.

Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron said: “We can’t separate Internet freedom from press freedom. Our rights to connect and communicate are inextricably linked. So the fight for freedom of expression must include fighting for a future where no gatekeeper -- corporation or government — can block or discriminate online. For FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, the path forward is clear.

"We can’t settle for anything less than reclassifying broadband services. As more and more of our journalism, civic information and democratic participation move online, we have to ensure that Internet service providers can’t meddle with the networks that enable the freedoms we hold so dear.”

[Commentary] The proposed Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger is all about the future of the Internet. The stakes are high, especially in light of the court decision that struck down the Federal Communications Commission’s network neutrality rules.

Comcast has taken advantage of the very real public concerns about the loss of net neutrality and tried to paint itself and the merger as saviors of the open Internet -- but this couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s precisely because Comcast has such a long history of bad behavior that federal regulators included net neutrality as a condition of Comcast’s 2011 merger with NBCUniversal. Worried about the enormous incentive Comcast would have to prioritize its own content and discriminate against others, regulators decided that the company would have to adhere to net neutrality principles until 2018.

Comcast has tried to assuage fears and sell its merger by promising to extend its net neutrality commitments to all Time Warner Cable customers. But like most merger requirements, this commitment comes with an expiration date. In 2018, Comcast will no longer have to abide by net neutrality, making this an empty promise.

[March 7]