[nfb-db] Fwd: [AADB-L] Verizon and Net Neutrality

[Marsha Drenth]

Marsha drenth  
email: marsha.drenth at gmail.com  
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Begin forwarded message:

> From: Bryen M Yunashko <hello at bryen.com>
> Date: June 16, 2014 at 1:37:19 PM EDT
> To: "aadb-l at googlegroups.com" <aadb-l at googlegroups.com>
> Subject: [AADB-L] Verizon and Net Neutrality
> Reply-To: aadb-l at googlegroups.com
> 
> Original article at:
> http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/verizon-comcast-net-neutrality-blind-deaf-disabled
> 
> 
> 
> Verizon Says It Wants to Kill Net Neutrality to Help Blind, Deaf, and
> Disabled People
> Lobbyists are telling Congress that the administration's plan to create
> internet fast lanes and slow lanes is important for Americans with
> disabilities.
> 
> —By Erika Eichelberger
> | Fri Jun. 13, 2014 6:00 AM EDT
> 
>    Email
>    68
> 
> Peter Morgan/AP
> 
> Verizon lobbyists are canvassing Capitol Hill with a curious new
> argument against net neutrality—it hurts disabled people. 
> 
> The odd pitch comes as the Obama administration is mulling a plan to
> scrap net neutrality—the idea that Internet service providers should
> treat all websites equally—and instead allow ISPs to create Internet
> "fast lanes" for companies that can afford to pay for speedier service.
> The proposal, which is under consideration by the Federal Communications
> Commission, has sparked a massive public outcry, including an "Occupy
> the FCC" protest and a letter signed by 150 tech companies, including
> Google, Amazon, and Netflix, opposing the plan. 
> 
> Three Hill sources tell Mother Jones that Verizon lobbyists have cited
> the needs of blind, deaf, and disabled people to try to convince
> congressional staffers and their bosses to get on board with the fast
> lane idea. But groups representing disabled Americans, including the
> National Association of the Deaf, the National Federation of the Blind,
> and the American Association of People with Disabilities are not
> advocating for this plan. Mark Perriello, the president and CEO of the
> AAPD, says that this is the "first time" he has heard "these specific
> talking points."
> 
> There's no doubt that blind and deaf people, who use special online
> services to communicate, need access to zippy Internet. Similarly,
> smartphone-based medical devices that are popular with disabled people
> require fast Internet service. Telecom industry lobbyists have argued
> that, without a fast lane, disabled Americans could get stuck with
> subpar service as Internet traffic increases. AAPD's Perriello says this
> rationale could be genuine but seems "convenient."
> 
> Defenders of net neutrality are more cynical. The Verizon lobbyists'
> argument is "disingenuous," says Matt Wood, a policy director at Free
> Press, an Internet freedom advocacy group. The FCC says that even if the
> agency doesn't go through with its fast lane proposal, companies that
> serve disabled people would still be able to pay internet service
> providers for faster service.
> 
> A spokesman for Verizon wouldn't confirm that Verizon lobbyists have
> used the disabled access pitch, but he says the company's position on
> the FCC's proposal is "not disingenuous." (Verizon has not taken a
> public stance on the FCC's proposed fast lane rule.) An FCC spokesman
> says the agency is evaluating the industry's disability argument.
> 
> The roots of the net neutrality fight go back more than a decade. In
> 2002, the George W. Bush-era FCC decided to classify the internet as an
> "information service" instead of a public utility, protecting internet
> services from the stringent regulations that land line phones fall
> under. For years, free Internet advocates urged the FCC to reclassify
> the internet, but the commission resisted. 
> 
> Last month, the FCC dealt a major blow to net neutrality by proposing
> new rules that would allow Internet service providers to charge online
> content providers such as Facebook and Netflix higher rates for faster
> service. The move caused a national outcry. Last week, the FCC's website
> crashed after comedian John Oliver urged Internet "trolls" to comment at
> the agency's website. In response to public ire, the FCC has said it
> will reconsider classifying the Internet as a common utility.
> 
> The telecom industry is striving to ensure that the agency doesn't do
> that. In 2014 alone, Internet service providers have spent close to $19
> million lobbying on net neutrality, according to Senate lobbying
> records:
> 
> Overall, ISP lobbying has exploded over the past decade:
> 
> This is not the first time the industry has cited the needs of disabled
> people as it sought to influence FCC rules. Verizon made this argument
> five years ago when the commission was drafting new regulations for
> ISPs. In a 2009 speech, former Verizon Communications CEO Ivan
> Seidenberg said that if his company was not allowed to prioritize
> certain medical data over internet traffic like email and spam, then
> people with health conditions might not benefit from life-saving
> technological advances.
> 
> The decision the FCC makes in the coming months could "change the course
> of the Internet for a long time to come," says Michael Copps, who served
> as an FCC commissioner from 2001 to 2011, "perhaps in ways that will be
> impossible to reverse."
> 
> 
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