ISPs Trot Out Old Lies to Defend New Attack on Net Neutrality

AT&T, Verizon and Comcast are pleased as punch by the FCC's announcement that it plans to dramatically scale back regulatory oversight of some of the least competitive companies in America. As noted yesterday, FCC boss Ajit Pai intends to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) today that proposes reclassifying ISPs under Title I of the Communications Act, thereby killing the existing net neutrality rules -- and the FCC's authority to protect consumers. The FCC is then expected to approve the decision on May 18 (opening the door to a public comment period) before finalizing the vote later this year.

Needless to say, massive mono/duopolists with a well documented history of anti-competitive behavior were pretty excited by the idea of less oversight of their their ever-growing broadband, television, phone, and media empires.

It might go without saying the nation's biggest ISPs weren't entirely honest with their assessments of the situation, or their role in lobbying regulators to sell consumers out.

In a blog post, Comcast's top lobbyist David Cohen tried to insist that consumers have nothing to worry about.

"Title II and net neutrality are not the same," tried to claim Cohen. "Title II is a source of authority to impose enforceable net neutrality rules. Title II is not net neutrality. Getting rid of Title II does not mean that we are repealing net neutrality protections for American consumers."

Except that's a lie. Getting rid of Title II eliminates the FCC authority, making them incapable of defending the FCC's 2015 net neutrality rules. The remaining "cop on the beat," the FTC, lacks authority over broadband, and ISPs have exploited common carrier loopholes to avoid what little oversight the agency has.

The reason large ISPs loathe Title II and net neutrality isn't because it harms their ability to invest. They despise it because it prevents them from using their mono/duopolies over the last mile to engage in incredibly-profitable anti-competitive behavior.



Cohen similarly lied to readers about the impact net neutrality had on network investment, citing a debunked industry study to try and claim Title II and net neutrality crippled the broadband sector.

"Last month in Forbes, Hal Singer, citing data from 2016, noted "Domestic broadband capital expenditure ("capex") declined sharply in 2016 relative to 2014, the last year before reclassification as a common carrier," claims Cohen. "Relative to 2014 levels, the twelve largest ISPs invested $3.6 billion less in domestic broadband in 2016, a 5.5 percent decline."

The individual Cohen cites, Hal Singer, is paid by ISPs to cherry pick data that supports large ISP positions. But if you candidly asked most large ISPs over the last year, they were quick to note that net neutrality didn't hurt their investment in the slightest. Similarly, when you have someone not tangentially-employed by mega-ISPs -- the data shows investment is actually up.

The reason large ISPs loathe Title II and net neutrality isn't because it harms their ability to invest. They despise it because it prevents them from using their mono/duopolies over the uncompetitive broadband last mile to engage in incredibly-profitable but anti-competitive behavior. You know, like when AT&T prevented iPhone users from using Facetime just to force them to buy more expensive wireless data plans.

AT&T issued its own misleading missive supporting the FCC's giant middle finger to consumers.

“We applaud FCC Chairman Pai’s initiative to remove this stifling regulatory cloud over the internet," claims AT&T. "Businesses large and small will have a clearer path to invest more in our nation’s broadband infrastructure under Chairman Pai’s leadership. And we are hopeful that bipartisan agreement can be reached on principles that protect internet openness, consumer choice and vibrant competition."

Now most of you know AT&T (and the company's behavior) if you're a regular reader. You've probably watched as they've ghost-written protectionist state laws that hamstring competition or sued to prevent competitors like Google Fiber from coming to market.

If you honestly believe AT&T supports "vibrant competition" you live under a rock. What they support is no government oversight protecting your wallet, your privacy, and a functioning internet free of anti-competitive gatekeepers that have proven time and time and time again they aren't ethical, and will never stop finding "creative" new ways to abuse their market power.

Like its compatriots, Verizon issued a statement also falsely implying net neutrality had hampered investment.

"Verizon supports net neutrality policies that protect an open internet without discouraging competition and slowing job-generating investments," said Verizon. We continue to believe that the right answer is for Congress to move forward on legislation that once and for all adopts clear, enforceable, and strong net neutrality protections."

Except again, objective studies show Title II and net neutrality didn't harm investment in the slightest. Even Verizon's own executives have candidly admitted as much.

Of course Pai's plan may run into a few obstacles. Consumers, activists, startups, and others may have a few things to say once the FCC's public comment period opens on May 18. The courts will also have something to say about Pai's plan to reverse a massive FCC undertaking. He'll need to justify to the court that the shift is necessary by proving that the market has changed monumentally since the last year's major FCC legal win.

Pai, a lawyer, knows he may have trouble here. That's why it appears the ISPs and Pai have constructed a game of "good cop, bad cop." First comes Pai as the bad cop, threatening to kill net neutrality for a few months. Then will likely come the GOP, with proposed "compromise" legislation they will insist will put the issue to bed. Of course, given that ISP lobbyists will undoubtedly write said legislation, you can be fairly certain the proposal will contain so many loopholes as to be effectively useless.

If you care about net neutrality, your role in this ongoing battle begins May 18, when you'll get to let Ajit Pai know you see precisely what he -- and his friends in the broadband industry -- are up to.