opinion

Marsha Blackburn on wrong side of net neutrality debate

Americans have grown all too accustomed to political posturing and outright doublespeak from our current Congress, but the dance being done by Tennessee’s own Representative Marsha Blackburn on the issue of Net Neutrality is truly something to behold.

As chair of the House Communication and Technology Subcommittee, Rep. Blackburn applauded the Federal Communication Commission move to throw out its Net Neutrality rules.

Established in 2015, these rules basically required Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) to sell the same speed internet access to everyone at the same price. They barred ISP’s from charging different rates based on the user, the content, the website, or other criteria. ISP’s also could not intentionally block or slow down specific content or websites.

With the aid of Representative Blackburn, Big Telecom was recently able to get the FCC to toss out these rules. The public backlash was swift and loud – with numerous groups raising alarms about the potential for restricted internet access for schools, religious organizations, rural Americans, and many other groups.

Additionally, there is the very personal impact to many of us of charging more for streaming services, like movies into our homes.

Compounding this problem is the fact that in a multitude of rural markets, including many here in Tennessee, internet access is available from only one provider. Of course, it doesn’t take a crystal ball to see that ISP’s, given the free reign granted to them in this legislation, will raise the cost of internet access for all of us

At the behest of Big Telecom, Representative Blackburn has introduced a bill she calls “The Open Internet Preservation Act.”

Attempting to address the backlash against the FCC’s action, Representative Blackburn claims in a recent op-ed (“Americans Deserve Strong Internet Protections, Not Net Neutrality”) that her legislation will “ensure that the internet marketplace is stable” and that it will help to expand internet access to areas that are currently not served.

Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, Representative Blackburn’s bill is the latest attack from Big Telecom on federal and state oversight of their industry. Passage of this bill will allow the largest ISP’s to exploit the lack of competition they currently enjoy, and it will almost certainly lead to slower and more-expensive internet access for the vast majority of Tennesseans.

It’s not hard to see that Representative Blackburn’s bill was written by lobbyists for Big Telecom. Her bill bars outright blocking of websites – which is something that ISP’s have never intended to do – but it ignores other areas where net neutrality violations often occur, such as usage caps and zero rating.

Worst of all, though, Representative Blackburn’s bill expressly gives ISP’s the authority to create “Fast Lanes.” In other words, ISPs will be able to charge different amounts for different speeds of internet access, presumably charging more for faster internet.

Your average internet consumer will quickly be priced out of the market for the fastest internet. In fact, most consumers will be pushed toward the bottom of the scale.

All of this amounts to a money grab by Big Telecom, aided by their loyal soldier, Representative Blackburn, and her Congressional allies.

This is a quid pro quo piece of legislation and we shouldn’t be surprised. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Representative Blackburn has taken $270,000 in campaign contributions from Big Telecom since coming to Congress in 2003.

While we may have grown accustomed to members of Congress looking out for campaign contributors rather than their constituents, internet access is too integral to our daily lives for our schools, small and large businesses, and families.

Contact Representative Blackburn and demand that she look out for our best interests and work to ensure real net neutrality.

Dan Hogan founded Medialogix, a Nashville-based predictive modeling company, in 2009 to help home health providers deliver more efficient and effective patient care. He serves on the boards of Save Havens, TEDx Nashville, and the Nashville Technology Council.



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