Cable co's: "Trust us"

Cable operators don’t want to be required to offer impartial access. They say they “have no intention of blocking access to content”, despite existing contracts which permit forcing pop-up ads on users and permit differential access to preferred sites. In an unintentionally chilling statement, they continue:

“Regulation of the sort proposed by Amazon.com that purports to prohibit restrictions on such access would inevitably be used to thwart legitimate business practices and arrangements [emphasis added. Implications: alarming] that have nothing to do with blocking access to content. These efforts would deter investment and innovation [emphasis added. Interpretation: figleaf for doing nothing] in the provision of high-speed Internet services.”

Access monopolies must be treated as common carriers.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.