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  • From: "Christian Stalberg" <cstalberg AT web-analysts.net>
  • To: <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [internetworkers] Tech Interests Seek Obama's Sympathetic Ear
  • Date: Sun, 7 Dec 2008 08:09:49 -0500

Tech Interests Seek Obama's Sympathetic Ear

By Frank Davies Mercury News Washington Bureau
San Jose Mercury-News - Silicon Valley.com
December 3, 2008

http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_11130712?nclick_check=1

WASHINGTON

Advocacy groups promoting network neutrality and tech
leaders seeking a national broadband strategy are not
wasting time in pushing their agendas, trying to get
the ear of President-elect Barack Obama, who was
sympathetic to many of their issues during the
campaign.

Obama said last year that he would "take a back seat to
no one in my commitment to Net neutrality," which
refers to the concept of barring service providers from
treating Web content differently based on its source.
He co-sponsored legislation that would have prohibited
ISPs from charging different fees for access to some
content and applications.

Telecom and cable companies, the nation's largest
providers of Internet access, have sought deregulation
and flexibility so they could eventually charge
additional fees to Web sites that generate huge
traffic, arguing that the money was needed to pay for
the bandwidth that additional traffic requires.

The Open Internet Coalition, a broad array of groups
ranging from digital-rights advocates to Google and
Amazon, announced Wednesday that it is urging the Obama
transition team to back net neutrality legislation and
appoint federal officials who endorse the principle.

As soon as he takes office, Obama will be able to
appoint a new member of the Federal Communications
Commission, which regulates networks. That appointment
will give the FCC three Democrats and two Republicans.

"This is an exciting time, because Obama ran on an
open-Internet platform and he has always supported an
Internet that is accessible," said Markham Erickson,
director of the coalition.

The group also urged the incoming Obama administration
to appoint members of the Federal Trade Commission and
Justice Department who support consumer protection on
the Internet.

One issue that has united big Internet companies,
service providers, labor unions and many advocacy
groups is the need for a national effort, boosted by
federal dollars, to expand broadband access, and even
make it part of the economic stimulus package the new
Congress plans to take up quickly in January.

Obama has talked about the need to improve the nation's
digital infrastructure, and many groups say extending
broadband to underserved areas would boost regional
economies with greater access to jobs, online education
and medical care.

Giant telecoms joined with Google and several think
tanks and advocacy groups - a total of 57 organizations
and firms - Tuesday to announce a "call to action" to
make a national broadband strategy a top priority.

One goal is to make sure that every U.S. home, business
and organization has access to affordable high-speed
broadband connections.

The Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank,
estimated that each percentage increase in broadband
deployment would result in 293,000 jobs.

Contact Frank Davies at fdavies AT mercurynews.com or
(202) 662-8921.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

www.openinternetcoalition.com has background on the
coalition"s positions and membership. www.itif.org has
the Information Technology and Information Foundation"s
position papers on many issues. www.bb4us.net has
details on the "call to action" for a national
broadband strategy.
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