NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Addams Family or Ned Flanders? The FCC Internet Censorship Battle Heats Up
Addams Family or Ned Flanders? The FCC Internet Censorship Battle Heats Up
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000442.html
Greetings. The FCC appears poised to push ahead with plans to
auction off spectrum to provide "free" nationwide wireless Internet
service, but wants to make sure that the Internet you access this
way is thoroughly culturally shackled. Even search engines could be
forbidden
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/27/fcc_may_auction_aws_iii_band ).
At issue is a chunk of unused spectrum that a former FCC official
has had his eyes on for quite some time. John Muleta was head of
the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, then co-founder of M2Z
Networks, Inc. M2Z wanted the spectrum to set up an Internet
service that would be free and ad-supported at low speeds like 384
Kbs, and a paid service at higher speeds. And they promised to
filter everything to make the service "family friendly" (so warm and
cuddly that phrase).
When the Commission didn't move fast enough for M2Z's liking, M2Z
sued. The FCC decided that they wanted to auction off the spectrum,
but auction rules to many observers appear to favor M2Z. The
Commission also bought into M2Z's concept that the service must be
"family friendly" content filtered (that is, content censored).
Today we learn that the FCC has determined that use of the spectrum
won't interfere with T-Mobile's adjacent 3G services -- a point of
strong disagreement with T-Mobile -- and that the Commission plans
to go ahead with their auction and Internet censorship
requirements ( http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122385228422827027.html ).
There are more than a few interesting and important issues relating
to all this. Obviously, if the FCC is wrong about the lack of
interference, there are going to be a whole lot of very upset
T-Mobile customers -- not to mention T-Mobile themselves who paid
something like $4B for their nearby spectrum just a few years ago.
Another question we might ask -- does it make sense to hand off the
entire nationwide control of this unused spectrum to a single
entity? Why not make it available on reasonable terms to the
various smaller spectrum-starved regional and local wireless
entities -- we might actually see some vibrant Internet access
competition enabled that way. But of course money talks and
spectrum walks.
Of even broader significance is the whole concept of the FCC
mandating a censored Internet. This is a repugnant and unrealistic
concept, and likely to land the Commission in endless
resource-wasting battles.
Any attempt at selective filtering is doomed to failure. Myriad
ways around typical filters will be possible via proxies and other
means. To really nail down Internet content, you'd probably have to
move from a "prohibited" list to a "permitted" list. That is, only
allow access to a walled garden of sites that have been pre-cleared
and "sanitized for your protection" -- and no access to anything
else.
Otherwise, escapes around the block filters will always be easy.
Even general purpose search engines and archives would seem possible
targets for blocking, since their descriptions and caches might
provide the Web surfer with all manner of officially "unapproved"
materials.
And what the blazes does "family friendly" mean anyway? Just whose
family are we talking about? I'll admit that seeing the filter list
from Gomez Addams or Grandpa Munster might be intriguing, but my
suspicion is that we'd get something much closer to the political
sensibilities of Homer Simpson's neighbor Ned Flanders.
Whoever might end up in the role of grand exalted censorship god,
this whole scheme is not an appropriate concept for the FCC to be
mandating. Auctioning off the available spectrum for more Internet
access is one thing. If it's going to be auctioned to a single
party, the winner should have to abide by content neutral rules just
as everyone else in the ISP business should be doing.
Trying to force feed the public with a pablum of so-called "family
friendly" Internet content in auctioned spectrum is a bad joke, an
impractical abomination, and an idea worthy of filing only deep in
Grandpa Munster's dungeon.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com or lauren@pfir.org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
- People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, NNSquad
- Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com