Open and Competitive Markets, . . Yeah, Sure.

No need for a long essay, since there shouldn’t be any problem at all- anyone who hasn’t spent thirty years in a cave understands that the internet is an essential utility on the order of electricity and water, and not some optional service like pet grooming or astrology reading.  Yet in Washington, D.C., where all too often it’s impossible to reach agreement that water is wet, the FCC under chairman Thomas Wheeler is still bent on regulating the internet as an “information service,” rather than a “telecommunication service.”  This makes about as much sense as attempting to regulate nuclear reactors as if they were household appliances, using product safety laws to craft the regulations needed to keep stuff from melting down and going BOOM.  My preference, though, would be for the FCC to stop screwing around, and correct its 2002 ruling before any more damage is done.

Oh, that’s right, we’re talking about Washington; what was I thinking?  Anyhow, here’s my reading list for getting deeper into the weeds.

John Nichols.  Net Neutrality Will Be Saved Only If Citizens Raise an Outcry. The Nation.  April 24, 2014

Lee Fang. Former Comcast and Verizon Attorneys Now Manage the FCC and Are About to Kill the Internet. VICE.  April 25 2014

Marvin Ammori. The FCC’s New Net Neutrality Proposal Is Even Worse Than You Think.  SLATE.  April 24, 2014

Mike Masnick. How The FCC Plans Neuter The Net, Even As The FCC Insists Everyone’s Got It All Wrong.  Techdirt.  April 25th 2014

April Glaser and Corynne McSherry. FCC’s New Rules Could Threaten Net Neutrality.  Electronic Frontier Foundation.  April 24, 2014

Bartees Cox Jr. FCC To Allow Commercial Discrimination on the Internet. PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE.  April 23, 2014

Editorial Board. Creating a Two-Speed Internet. New York Times. APRIL 24, 2014