Wednesday, December 13, 2017

FCC and Net-Neutrality

"Lies, lies, you're telling
 Me that you'll be true
 Tears, tears, I she'd
 A million tears for you

 Someday, I'm gonna be happy
 But I don't know when just now
 Lies, lies, breaking my heart"
- Knickerbockers

The one hit wonder from the vaults of rock should get a second release, especially in any reference to our government and in this article, its so-called independent agency, the FCC.
 Net neutrality 
The agency like so many other ideas like the EPA and many others, gets contaminated by our election process. When one party does not like the rules and regulations that are enacted, they put their people on the board to get their views back in favor. This happens when our government goes back-and-forth from one of the two political parties that control our government. In fact, the FCC was a New Deal idea. FDR knew the system turned corrupt from the original Federal Radio Commission. At the time, the FCC also received control over wire communications from the Interstate Commerce Commission. It got its funding from the fees it imposed. This was all good until television appeared.
Back to politics 
New party, new appointments. By the way, I think that they are both corrupt. Basically, this kills the reason for any agency in the first place. These so-called watchdogs should be dominated by independent focused individuals and not party spoils. This is why I'm against the Supreme Court. It is nothing more than a power struggle to control our society by the different views of the two parties. In my unpublished work, I address this issue with a democratic solution. In my view they are both out of touch with our people and their views, to which they label, "Populism."
Anyway, the FCC's new leader is a Republican, Ajit Pai. He doesn't seek or care about public input or the poled data that says 81% of us favor net neutrality. He is planning to dismantle "net-neutrality." The agency is acting just like my complaint. The Republicans are sellouts to big business. They are picking the winners and losers. Among the real losers are us, the consumers.
For those that don't understand the issue, it is allowing all networks in all locations equal access on a local line. The whole concept goes back over 100 years. The first battle was among the many new phone companies after the invention of the telephone. Cities were blighted by numerous phone lines and no company would allow a competitor access to their lines. The compromise ended with AT&T allowing competitors access or sharing of wire lines in exchange for control of long distance communication. This is how AT&T gained a monopoly on long distance calls. This ended with the breakup of Ma Bell. This gave way to our modern cell phone service. However, big business only looks out for itself. It doesn't care about you and me and what is good and fair for America. Comcast became the focal point in internet and cable with the issue of equal access. They placed any competitor using their lines to the rear. As a result customers using service other than Comcast, received very slow and poor service. Comcast was looking for a monopoly on their lines. The battle resulted in a return to equal sharing of lines or net-neutrality. I believe there is some truth to a companies position on their lines. They spent the money to build and service these lines. Now, their competitors gains access with no cost. To me, the fair solution is instead of giving the FCC fees, that money should be returned to the company that built the line. This will give equal money to every company that invested with fees on their local lines. However, nobody seeks or seems to resolve issues fairly.
History
We look around today and we see less diversity of opinion or no opinion as local newspapers go the way of the Dodo bird. Vidme shut down its video service because it cannot compete with Facebook or Google's of the world. How about DuMont? I bet that you never heard of them? They were one of the first commercial television pioneers. They began in 1946. They were killed by FCC regulations and no equal access of wire lines. AT&T ripped them off and they died. People forget or don't know that in the early days of television, multiple broadcasters used the same television station at different times of the day. It took years to resolve. Net-neutrality allowed television to grow. How soon they forget.
1996 Communication Act
This act loosened restrictions. The FCC said no prices would rise due to it. Companies would play fair even if now, they could own multiple stations in a local market. Guess what? See song, either above or below.
We have seen this time-after-time. Companies will seek for themselves and screw the public. Prepare for higher prices and if you have internet service by a company that is not the local yokel, poor service and higher fees.

"Lies, lies, I can't believe
 A word you say.

 Lies, lies, you're
 Breaking my heart."