Press Release
Free Press: Phone and Cable Companies Present a False Choice
Contact: Timothy Karr, 201-533-8838
Free Press filed a letter with the Federal Communications Commission today urging the agency to protect consumers and promote competition. Ben Scott, policy director for Free Press, made the following statement:
“Years of lobbying and litigation by industry have undermined the intent of Congress to make the FCC the cop on the beat in communications markets. The Commission cannot and should not be prevented from protecting consumers and promoting competition.
“One way or another, the FCC must have the statutory authority to implement the national broadband plan and enact policies that can make broadband better -- like enabling universal broadband service, adopting truth-in-billing requirements, requiring wireless data roaming, encouraging broadband adoption by Americans with disabilities, and preserving openness on the Internet.
“The phone and cable industries present a false choice between the current environment of extreme uncertainty and total government control of the Internet. Our position has always been that there are options in the middle -- clear places where the FCC can act to protect consumers and promote competition, without the doomsday scenarios portrayed by the ISPs.”
Read Free Press' letter here: http://www.freepress.net/files/FCC_Jurisdiction_Letter.pdf
“Years of lobbying and litigation by industry have undermined the intent of Congress to make the FCC the cop on the beat in communications markets. The Commission cannot and should not be prevented from protecting consumers and promoting competition.
“One way or another, the FCC must have the statutory authority to implement the national broadband plan and enact policies that can make broadband better -- like enabling universal broadband service, adopting truth-in-billing requirements, requiring wireless data roaming, encouraging broadband adoption by Americans with disabilities, and preserving openness on the Internet.
“The phone and cable industries present a false choice between the current environment of extreme uncertainty and total government control of the Internet. Our position has always been that there are options in the middle -- clear places where the FCC can act to protect consumers and promote competition, without the doomsday scenarios portrayed by the ISPs.”
Read Free Press' letter here: http://www.freepress.net/files/FCC_Jurisdiction_Letter.pdf
