The big telecoms and ISP's really do care for the common good? HA!

in an editorial dated 21 march, the wapo opined that...

"...it is curious that the FCC's newly released National Broadband Plan faults the market for failing to 'bring the power and promise of broadband to us all'..."

i responded that i didn't find it "curious" at all, given that the massive telecom and isp providers in the u.s. have been milking their customers for many years, charging higher and higher access fees with precious little increases in speed with the result that the u.s. ranks a humiliating #29 in the world in download speeds...

choosing to not cite such statistics, the wapo went on to make the false claim that...

[B]roadband networks have been built with billions of dollars from companies in the private sector with a legitimate right to extract profit from well-placed investments. These initiatives -- and yes, the profit motive -- have resulted in remarkable leaps in a few short years.

and then added this disclaimer...

It is useful to continue to mark America's standing in these matters in comparison to that of other nations. But it is hard to see in this field the signs of gross market failure.

now i notice that, since i read the editorial, the wapo has deigned to add a bit of disclosure to the piece...

(Disclosure: The Washington Post Co. has interests in broadcast and cable television and businesses that depend on the Internet, all of which could be affected by FCC action.)

woo-hoo...

i don't think the washington post has ever met a greedy corporation it didn't like... taking precious op-ed space to attempt to convince the citizenry that u.s. corporations have our best interests at heart, particularly with the slow-motion financial train wreck that's still in progress, is disingenuous at best...

fortunately, we now have this to show us just how much of a shit for the common good these large corporations really do give...

One of the nation's biggest telecommunications providers urged the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday not to assert its authority over Internet services, a challenge that comes as the agency embarks on a 10-year effort to greatly expand broadband access across the country.

Verizon Communications said that the FCC's power over high-speed Internet services is "at best murky" and offered recommendations to Congress that could take away much of the agency's power.

ya gotta love verizon... they don't want anybody tellin' 'em what to do or interfering in any way with their ability to suck the last dime out of their customers' pockets...

i can't speak for the advantages and disadvantages of re-classifying the internet as a common carrier... i do know that, for all practical purposes, at least where i'm concerned, it already is... i rarely use any other means of communication and that's not to mention the myriad other functions my laptop serves... in my view, the internet should be treated as the primary means of communication and as an inherent right, much as telephones and television are, both technologies that have already been largely subsumed by internet technology...

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