AT&T's 'Support' Of Net Neutrality is Blistering Hypocrisy Today's major protest opposing the Trump FCC attack on net neutrality has been joined by a decidedly odd ally: AT&T. Outside of perhaps Verizon and Comcast, there hasn't been a bigger enemy of net neutrality over the years than AT&T, which alongside Verizon and Comcast has spent $572 million to kill net neutrality protections since 2008. Whether talking about AT&T's decision to block Facetime to drive users to more expensive plans, or its use of zero rating to hamstring streaming competitors, AT&T's frontal assault on a healthy, open internet is utterly indisputable.

huge, incredible fan of net neutrality, apparently: quote: Tomorrow, AT&T will join the “Day of Action” for preserving and advancing an open internet. This may seem like an anomaly to many people who might question why AT&T is joining with those who have differing viewpoints on how to ensure an open and free internet. But that’s exactly the point -- we all agree that an open internet is critical for ensuring freedom of expression and a free flow of ideas and commerce in the United States and around the world. We agree that no company should be allowed to block content or throttle the download speeds of content in a discriminatory manner. So, we are joining this effort because it’s consistent with AT&T’s proud history of championing our customers’ right to an open internet and access to the internet content, applications and devices of their choosing. So obviously there's a few problems here. One being that AT&T claiming it has a "proud history of championing our customers’ right to an open internet" is simply comical. AT&T technically got the entire debate rolling touch the AT&T network. The goal was to use a lack of broadband competition to force other companies to pay for AT&T network upgrades, and it was met with obvious and sustained criticism. So it's incredible to see a blog post pop up by AT&T's top policy man Bob Quinn, who proudly announced that the company would be participating in today's protest. Why? AT&T's just a, apparently:So obviously there's a few problems here. One being that AT&T claiming it has a "proud history of championing our customers’ right to an open internet" is simply comical. AT&T technically got the entire debate rolling when in 2005 , former AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre proudly proclaimed he was going to start charging content companies an entirely arbitrary toll just tothe AT&T network. The goal was to use a lack of broadband competition to force other companies to pay for AT&T network upgrades, and it was met with obvious and sustained criticism. The push to create net neutrality rules was in large part driven by a fear of AT&T's threat of anti-competitive behavior. Fears that, as noted above, wound up being very well founded. But given its political influence, AT&T injected itself into the writing of the FCC's original 2010 net neutrality rules alongside Verizon and Google -- ensuring they were the internet policy equivelent of wet garbage. Those initial guidelines were so filled with intentional loopholes as to be largely useless, and were also crafted to completely avoid covering wireless networks. When efforts emerged in 2015 to try and craft legally-defensible rules that actually meant something, AT&T again spearheaded the legal assault on those efforts as well. So AT&T professing, in any context, that it actually supports net neutrality might just be the most incredible bullshit to ever emerge from the Dallas-based telecommunications conglomerate. So what is AT&T really up to here? Quinn gets to the real point a little further down in AT&T's missive: quote: The debate around an open internet has been going on for nearly 15 years. In the end, the issue is never really about what the rules should be or whether we should have an open internet. Rather, the debate focuses on whether open internet rules should derive from the 80-year-old Communications Act or some other theory of Congressional authority because the current law predates the internet. Instead of having this debate again, Congress should act now to provide the clear statutory authority that guarantees an open internet for all consumers. So in an ideal world, Congress would craft a net neutrality law that was meaningful and had teeth, putting the whole debate to bed. But you may have noticed that Congress suffers from a dash of partisan dysfunction, and the idea that it could ever craft real consumer protections in the wake of major ISP campaign contributions is absurd. Even if such a law could get written, AT&T is well aware that So in an ideal world, Congress would craft athat was meaningful and had teeth, putting the whole debate to bed. But you may have noticed that Congress suffers from a, and the idea that it could ever craft real consumer protections in the wake of major ISP campaign contributions is absurd. Even if such a law could get written, AT&T is well aware that its lawyers would likely be the ones writing it . Quinn is apparently hoping you don't watch the news, have no idea about the government's corruption issues, and apparently have the IQ of a walnut. So yes, AT&T supports net neutrality in much the way a serial drunk driver supports tougher DUI laws, or a bank robber supports tougher locks. As in: they don't.







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