We’ve been posting a lot this week about the FCC and this may seem
off-topic to some of our librarian readers. Trust us, it is on topic. If you have
any doubts, read this item by David S. Isenberg, which compares the philosophies of network access of past FCC chairman Powell (who “began the slow, steady squeezing off of competition”) to the new chariman Martin (who is “there to finish the job”). The changes that the FCC is making to the way network access is regulated threaten the open exchange of information on the Internet. These regulations help set up an Internet for commerce and deprecate an open Internet of free information freely exchanged and un-encumbered by commercial interests. Martin is taking off the gloves.

How Martin’s FCC is different from Powell’s, Isen blog, Sunday, August 07, 2005.

Powell: Freedom to access content.

Martin: Consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content of their choice.

As Susan Crawford notes,
“Entitled? Access? Lawful? Content? Who decides what’s lawful? As I’ve said in the past, providers’ terms of service may set the bounds of what’s lawful.”

Related posts:

1. Susan Crawford on FCC Network Neutrality
2. Powell to step down as FCC chair
3. Benton Covers FCC DSL Ruling
4. FCC deregulates DSL
5. How Congress and FCC can destroy the Internet