TheQuartering [11/10/2023]
The Biden administration has asked the FCC to take complete control of the way internet service providers do business in America. Currently governed by the private sector, the FCC would take control and establish rules and regulations to strangle the free market by deep government policies and regulations.
This would include dictating broadband prices to consumers, tower and satellite locations, and expansion of services by your local internet provider. It would tightly regulate providers to the point that they would basically become an extension of the government itself.
Next week on November 15th, the five FCC commissioners will vote to put President Biden’s plan in place.
This policy is so bad that one FCC commissioner is speaking out publicly against it. Commissioner Brendan Carr is calling the Biden administration’s “digital equity” plan for all internet services and infrastructure an “unlawful power grab.” You can read Commissioner Carr’s warning here.
In particular, Carr says, “For the first time ever, those rules would give the federal government a roving mandate to micromanage nearly every aspect of how the internet functions—from how [internet service providers] allocate capital and where they build, to the services that consumers can purchase; from the profits that ISPs can realize and how they market and advertise services, to the discounts and promotions that consumers can receive.”
The text of Biden’s order expressly provides that the FCC would be empowered, for the first time, to regulate the following for every ISP:
- “network infrastructure deployment, network reliability, network upgrades, network maintenance, customer-premises equipment, and installation”
- “speeds, capacities, latency, data caps, throttling, pricing, promotional rates, imposition of late fees, opportunity for equipment rental, installation time, contract renewal terms, service termination terms, and use of customer credit and account history”
- “mandatory arbitration clauses, pricing, deposits, discounts, customer service, language options, credit checks, marketing or advertising, contract renewal, upgrades, account termination, transfers to another covered entity, and service suspension”
For an in-depth report of exactly how frightening this prospect is, listen to this podcast by Abraham Hamilton III. Abraham is general counsel for AFA and radio host of the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
A successful Biden administration takeover of the internet will result in poorer service, higher prices, and less privacy for every citizen in the country.