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Monday, May 03, 2010
Will Obama FCC Break Network Neutrality Promise—Undermine 21st Century Public Sphere?
Marvin Ammori
A somewhat obtuse Washington Post article today says that the FCC Chairman is considering a “deregulatory” framework for Internet access.
Comments:
While I'm a firm believer in enumerated powers doctrine, I note that one of the enumerated powers is the power to run a 'postal' service. The government could, if it wished, provide nation wide broadband as a government service, without usurping any power.
And some kind of network neutrality would be constitutionally mandated for THAT ISP. The first amendment working rather differently when it applies to government actions, than when it applies to private. Of course, constitutionally permissible or no, I suspect you'd find in practice that such a system made you long for the days of AOL, when it came to neutrality, transparency of administration, and privacy concerns...
From postal roads, with the pony express, to broadband might be a stretch for originalists. Keep in mind that Lysander Spooner pre-Civil War challenged exclusivity of the federal government with mail; although unsuccessful with his business venture, postal rates came down significantly as a result of his short competition. Now we have UPS, FedEx, etc, competing effectively with the mails. And the Internet is virtually universal, such that there is ever more competition with the Constitution's postal provision. Can we expect the federal government to "go postal" with broadband?
Marvin,
Good piece. It's apparently too bad you're not one of the voices of reason at the FCC on this issue. What are we going to do now when so many seem apathetic about this issue? Joe Margolis
Tom Toles' political cartoon in today's (5/5/10) WaPo "The supreme law of the land" regarding entrances to the U.S. Supreme Court brings into question "Equal Justice Under Law" neutrality and what we can expect from the Court on net neutrality. Are the "Umpires" asleep?
"Keep in mind that Lysander Spooner pre-Civil War challenged exclusivity of the federal government with mail; "
And rightly so: It's quite a jump from, "The Constitution says the government can do X" to "The Constitution permits the government to forbid anybody else from doing X. The former doesn't even imply the latter.
Further with respect to Lysander Spooner, it should be noted that in the 1840s he had published a paper claiming that the Constitution was an anti-slavery document. This was hotly contested by my hero, the abolitionist Wendell Phillips.
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