November 4, 2004
BellSouth has asked FCC Chairman Michael Powell to overturn critical commission safeguards that have been important to the Internet's role as a democratic medium. In a 27 October 2004 letter (PDF below) to Powell, BellSouth's chief lobbyist petitioned to have the agency set aside two critical rules. First, giant "Baby Bell" phone companies would be given full control over the "last-mile" of broadband Internet delivery, permitting them to favor their own Internet content. Since they would no longer be "common carriers" under BellSouth's plan, they could effectively discriminate against all competing and unaffiliated content. In addition, these phone networks would no longer offer ISP choice, permitting companies like BellSouth or Verizon to extend their monopolies into the broadband market.
BellSouth suggests that these longstanding guarantees of open access and common carriage should be "quickly swept aside." The company promises that it will use its additional monopoly profits to make broadband available to more consumers. Quoting President Bush, who claims that the "proper role for the government is to clear regulatory hurdles," BellSouth fails to acknowledge how these FCC policies have played a vital role in supporting the Internet's ability to foster all kinds of unfettered content and competition.
Powell has already awarded the cable industry a policy for broadband that permits it to cut off ISP competition and bring to broadband the monopoly power cable operators have long wielded in the multichannel video arena. For cable, control over Internet content to the home is also key. But the FCC faces a serious legal battle over its cable ruling, from companies such as Earthlink, Brand X (a small ISP), and groups including the ACLU, Consumer Federation, Consumers Union, Media Access Project, and CDD. BellSouth is clearly pushing for quick FCC action that would help undermine any favorable court decision that sought to protect the Internet.
The phone lobby has also embarked on a campaign to undermine policies that now safeguard the Internet's "open" architecture, as evidenced in its latest deregulatory-minded website, disingenuously named The Future … Faster.
Tell the chairman of the FCC and the CEO of BellSouth that you oppose their plans to permit broadband monopolies! Call Michael Powell at 202-418-1000 and BellSouth CEO F. Duane Ackerman at 404-249-2000. Tell your pension plan not to invest in BellSouth or in any other company lobbying to undermine the Internet.