Internet access is not a “civil right”
Meet the new Internet traffic cops
Internet access is not a “civil right”
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2010
When bureaucrats talk about increasing your “access” to X, Y, or Z, what they’re really talking about is increasing their control over your lives exponentially. As it is with the government health care takeover, so it is with the newly-approved government plan to “increase” Internet “access.” Call it Webcare.
By a vote of 3-2, the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday adopted a controversial scheme to ensure “net neutrality” by turning unaccountable Democrat appointees into meddling online traffic cops. The panel will devise convoluted rules governing Internet service providers, bandwidth use, content, prices, and even disclosure details on Internet speeds. The “neutrality” is brazenly undermined by preferential treatment toward wireless broadband networks. Moreover, the FCC’s scheme is widely opposed by Congress – and has already been rejected once in the courts. Demonized industry critics have warned that the regulations will stifle innovation and result in less access, not more.
Sound familiar?
The parallels with health care are striking. The architects of Obamacare promised to provide Americans more access to health insurance – and cast their agenda as a fundamental universal entitlement. In fact, it was a pretext for creating a gargantuan federal bureaucracy with the power to tax, redistribute, and regulate
the private health insurance market to death – and replace it with a centrally-planned government system overseen by politically-driven code enforcers dictating everything from annual coverage limits, to administrative expenditures, to the make-up of the medical workforce. The costly, onerous, and selectively-applied law has resulted in less access, not more.
Undaunted promoters of Obama FCC chairman Julius Genachowski’s “open Internet” plan to expand regulatory authority over the Internet have couched their online power grab in the rhetoric of civil rights. On Monday, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps proclaimed: “Universal access to broadband needs to be seen as a civil right…[though] not many people have talked about it that way.” Opposing the government Internet takeover blueprint, in other words, is tantamount to supporting segregation. Cunning propaganda, that.
“Broadband is becoming a basic necessity,” civil rights activist Benjamin Hooks added. And earlier this month, fellow FCC panelist Mignon Clyburn, daughter of Congressional Black Caucus leader and Number Three House Democrat James Clyburn of South Carolina, declared that free (read: taxpayer-subsidized) access to the Internet is not only a civil right for every “nappy-headed child” in America, but essential to their self-esteem. Every minority child, she said, “deserves to be not only connected, but to be proud of who he or she is.”
Calling them “nappy-headed” is a rather questionable way of boosting their pride, but never mind that.
Face it: A high-speed connection is no more an essential civil right than 3G cell phone service or a Netflix account. Increasing competition and restoring academic excellence in abysmal public schools is far more of an imperative to minority children than handing them iPads. Once again, Democrats are using children as human shields who provide useful cover for not-so-noble political goals.
The “net neutrality” mob – funded by billionaire George Soros and other left-wing think tanks and non-profits — has openly advertised its radical, speech-squelching agenda to crusade for “media justice.” Social justice is the redistribution of wealth and economic “rights.” Media justice is the redistribution of speech and First Amendment rights. The meetings of the universal broadband set are littered with Marxist-tinged rants about “disenfranchisement” and “empowerment.” They’ve targeted conservative opponents on talk radio, cable TV, and on the web as purveyors of “hate” who need to be managed or censored. Democrat FCC panelists’ have dutifully echoed their concerns about concentration of corporate media power. As the Ford Foundation-funded Media Justice Fund, which lobbied for universal broadband, put it: This is a movement “grounded in the belief that social and economic justice will not be realized without the equitable redistribution and control of media and communication technologies.”
For progressives who cloak their ambitions in the mantle of “fairness,” it’s all about control. It’s always about control.
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
 |
Subscribe to the Michelle Malkin newsletter
February 22, 2012 12:44 PM by Michelle Malkin
33 CommentsSurprise: UK’s Version of ‘Buffett Rule’ Failing to Bring in Expected Revenue
February 22, 2012 11:05 AM by Doug Powers
47 Comments
The high priests of eco-destruction
February 22, 2012 07:50 AM by Michelle Malkin
118 Comments
Gallup: Unemployment Climbing Back to 9% for February
February 21, 2012 02:56 PM by Doug Powers
70 Comments
Overnight Open Thread: Dems Try to Manufacture New Voting Bloc
February 20, 2012 10:24 PM by Doug Powers
55 CommentsDisability Claims Up As Unemployment Benefits Run Out
February 19, 2012 11:16 PM by Doug Powers
70 Comments
It Wouldn’t Be Saturday Morning Without Another Friday Night Solyndra Document Dump to Sift Through
February 18, 2012 09:52 AM by Doug Powers
41 Comments
Sister Toldjah
» Quote of the Day: “There is no male equivalent for abortion”Redstate
» Obama the Tax Cutter? Think AgainHot Air
» Poll: Romney on the rise in Arizona?Redstate
» Daily Links – February 22, 2012Redstate
» Dahlia Lithwick Hates Medical Research
Dude, change your password – a Socialist is using your screen name.
On December 22nd, 2010 at 2:48 pm, plymouthacclaim said:
Just having a little fun with you, plymouthacclaim…
… you sound like Michelle Malkin’s echo…
On December 22nd, 2010 at 10:00 AM, Michelle Malkin said:
What is the Matrix? Control.
The Matrix is a Marxist-generated world built to keep us under control in order to change human beings into slaves whose only purpose is to provide more power to the politburo.
Alohaguy,
If we didn’t send so much money to Pakistan, we could have it already. Broadband access would cost less than the highway system. . . and it helps us be productive.
Put it this way. The government wastes money on a lot of things that don’t help anyone. Broadband access would help everyone regardless of their socio-economic background.
There is an interstate highway system not because driving is a right, but because it helps society grow. If you have a car, you can use it. . . doesn’t make it a ‘right’.
Broadband would be less than the high speed rail they’ve already dedicated the money to.
The benefit for this project would outweigh the costs by miles. It would be the best government program since the interstate highway system. Accessible by all. The problem is whether they use the information illegally. . . but the ability to be online coast to coast is a good goal.
Look at it as a modern day moon shot mission. . . was that socialist? We all paid for it.
This issue is cloudy.
On the one hand, you have monopoly or duopoly power in almost every city which allows ISPs to collude and create a false scarcity, raise the price of your connection, and they’re talking about/researching nickel and dime-ing you for access to the content you currently get for a flat rate.
OTOH, the only people concerned about monopolies’ iron fists around the neck of your access to content are democrats, who historically screw up anything they touch by trying to use it as a way to squelch free speech.
We the people can’t win. Prepare to go back to the stone age.
Traveling, health care, education, internet education are not rights.
Like chemotherapy, the Interstate Highway system had terrible side effects.
It killed railroads, since trucking became more long-distance instead of local.
Thousands of towns dried up when the Interstate by-passed their towns.
Drive along Rt. 66 or old US 60 or 67. Diners, motels, hotels, filling stations…..decaying monuments to small businesses.
The Bates Motel gave way to Howard Johnson’s.
The Wayside BBQ gave way to “McDonalds…next Exit.”
Wilson Brother’s Skelly Station gave way to Union 76 truck stop.
The dark clouds of fascism are darkening the shining light that America was, and we need to get people with courage into office to stem this liberty destroying trend.
it didn’t kill railroads because you can still ship or travel by rail. Now you have another option that you did not have before.
Did video kill the radio star? Maybe so. . . but we still have music on the radio and on video.
The horseless carriage scared all the horses and was a noisy messy nuissance. But fortunately now we can still ride horses or choose to ride in a car.
The airlines killed the automobile. . . and now the internet will make the need to be mobile obsolete. I write policies all over the world without burning a drop of gas.
I used to burn through a tank of gas a day making and meeting appointments all over the state. I guess I should lament that I don’t spend time driving anymore and wasting gas because I can make sales in minutes online without getting dressed/much less leaving the house and driving somewhere.
I roger that, Thacker Agency.
The internet has made my life easier, too.
It has given me more time to …
…spend time on the internet.
My fault, I’m afraid.
Because the military needed an efficient way of moving soldiers and equipment around to defend the country not to expand society. Tolls and gas taxes get to maintain that system.
Anybody else think this is another step in the planned coup? The more I watch this happen the more I believe this is the case. The FCC went against a Court Order as well as a determination from Congress and they just thumbed their nose at those bodies and said, we will do what we want.
On December 22nd, 2010 at 3:40 pm, stillontheroad said:
Yes.
On December 22nd, 2010 at 3:29 pm, Hangfire said:
Ouch. I resemble that remark!
And today we can’t go to the moon, but NASA is helping the Muslim world instead and publishing bogus data about Global Warming. That is how things work with Government in charge of anything. Things continue to go down hill.
Well, it’s the children I’m concerned about. I think every child should be allowed to access the internet.
The internet helps people grow and learn. It also helps people with social problems and gives people something to do.
Sure, make it come out of their welfare rather than some “entitlement” scheme.
However, imagine you are some abused and neglected young person, I think they deserve the ability to at least be able to access the internet. It’s the least that can be done for them. And it’s only a very tiny percentage who would be in such a situation, but those people are worth looking out for, and would make more use of it than anyone else who lived a better life.
It is called the public library. You might visit one sometime.
conservoman…you’re not really a conservative, are you?
For the children?
Welfare, rather than some “entitlement” scheme? (Um, where does the money for welfare originate?)
Everyone already has the ability to access the internet, if they desire.
You are also judging who is more deserving of internet access.
So, really? Conservative?
#117 On December 22nd, 2010 at 3:26 pm, ThackerAgency said:
The vision of purchasing something from a salesman sitting at a keyboard wearing only briefs or less just floated through my mind. That is a very disturbing vision.
More proof that dems are all little dictators inside who dont give a rats azz about freedom of speech, or democracy. Dems are 100% form and no substance, empty skin suits. So afraid are they of the utter failure of their ideas, that they must rig the game at all costs. I would be angrier at this, but I know that they will never be able to enforce their censorship. Freedom and independence flows in the blood of Americans. Push this fascist horse crap on people too hard, and see what happens. The tree of liberty…etc etc…
The Queens Library here is the largest library systen in the U.S., and I dare admit that almost every black child and teen who has managed to own or “appropriate” a wide screen (rarely ever small) laptop from their parents or the luckless, use the Queens branches for the primary great scholastic purpose of downloading rap videos and movies and games. It’d be exactly the same if they just handed “free” laptops to the poor kids here, like the Facebook feely-good fool with Newark. It’s one total embarassment outside the greater black community here in southern Queens because the Asian children in Flushing and northern Queens have the least recreational downloads in the branches there as well as some of the top academic scores in NYC. It’s NEVER been an issue of lack of access to a good-old basic library or the web; it’s an issue of instilling your young with the work-study ethos from day one, and no “Head Start” or other such cheats to self-incentive and self-esteem can replace plain old parental and community involvement in their kid’s sense of worth and values and motivation.
Merry Christmas All
James Greenidge
Queens NY
right_on, what can I say? I do think that all children should be able to have easy access to it.
However I would agree that my name might be annoying and seem like trolling when I am (allegedly) not taking a conservative viewpoint on a specific thing.
Had to read this at home since the Air Force is now blocking access to Michelle’s home page at least at the bases here in her home state of Colorado. Funny how that piece of crap site huffington post is still unblocked.
Nothing is a civil right when you don’t have civility. When your rulers can decide on a whim what they wish to do…that is why the leadership is more worried about Freedom loving Americans talking among themselves than terrorists that are plotting to kill Americans
Congress enact a law “If a government employee, including the FCC, congress, and president (or any other person receiving a paycheck from the government) makes, enacts, and or supports a rule, law, and or regulation that violates the constitution of the united states will immediately forfeit all personal assets (those assets will go into the social security fund) be removed from office, employment, and or public position and immediately report to Gitmo with a life sentence without parole and clemency from the president via a presidential pardon.”
That should take care of all future congresses and presidents. They would finally have skin in the game.
So true, yet you are branded a racist for speaking the truth, by demagogues and race hustlers. This is the life we Americans live in 2010; being politically corrected into oblivion and failure.
(BTW, I grew up in Flushing NY, about a million years ago, or so it seems).
I swear I thought michelle’s blog story was a hoax until I read through most of these comments. Net Neutrality? Please tell me this is a joke.
What else is there to control?
They passed the food control bill. I guess “Energy Neutrality” is next.
If you want a Internet where the provider of information (Web Site) pays and you pay for access to web sites and Internet products then you will agree with Ms. Malkin.
This will create a huge toll road Internet where on top of your monthly ISP fees you could start paying .50 cent per web page view or the supplier of that information will pay the fee. Keeping the Internet so that we all have equal access to any web site or service is in the best interest of you the consumer.
If you want to know what happens to toll road online services just look at Compuserve, AOL Online or GEnie online services. They would charge a monthly fee and charge you per minute and add surcharges if you wanted to read a online news item or forum.
All the FCC is trying to keep is a level playing field for all users of the Internet.
The decaying highway system? The one with bridges falling down everywhere? And a Federal government that wants to reward it’s union goons with your tax money at rates higher than market, and huge cost overruns to “rebuild” it – at a pace that suits them? You want that government
“providing broadband access”? Seriously? Before or after they take care of your health care?
You familiar with MCI and their battle with AT&T? Michael Milkin (that Michael Milkin) helped them get financing – private money – to build out the infrastructure you use every day to write your policies all over the world – and competition is adding capacity. The phone companies are killing themselves right now to get 4G everywhere ahead of their competitors. Competition – not Obama Mobile has made the Internet practically free. Ok at places like your local coffee shop, it probably is free – because PelosiPhone is bringing it, or because competitors in the free market are providing it?
If people understood the minimum overpass height, they would know this to be true.
Obama and Big Brother have finally done it! They have sunk their claws into the internet – the greatest flow of information in history is now in the hands of Washington bureaucrats!
I hope all those silicon valley libs who voted for this Hitler-esques monster are happy now.
kwrxxx said:
And these companies are today’s Internet success stories? They are the footnotes of failure in the history of the Internet.
The FCC might actually be well intentioned. This might be someone’s sincere move to insure that everyone has an opportunity to
waste timegain knowledge and add to the global conversation on the Internet.But the problem the FCC is “addressing” doesn’t exist.
The Internet is a constantly changing mix of technology creation and destruction. Who knows what the next decade, year, month, or week will bring? It’s as if the government (and the social engineers of whatever stripe) can’t stand the messiness, the disorderliness of it all. Who cares?
The moment the Internet falls under a regulatory body, is the moment the ossification sets in. Investment and creative forces will move elsewhere or waste resources circumventing the rules.
Comcast, Verizon, Cablevision, AT&T, et al, will become ensconced as the only valid providers of ANY content delivered over broadband. Regulation might have the unintended consequence of allowing the ISPs to do things they would never dream of doing in a open market.
Can you imagine, say, Comcast attempting to exert “ownership” over content without the sanction of a government regulatory agency? The response from consumers and technologists would be overwhelmingly hostile. Comcast would change their ways or suffer the consequences. These sorts of battles are OK. We don’t need busybody bureaucrats inserting unwelcome “help”.
Thing is Leftist are NEVER happy over time-they seem to enjoy living in bitterness and contempt.
Sorry, its not and the great thing is that patriots are standing watch making sure this story gets out.
Now I would love to see court who previously ruled against the FCC come back on Monday with some sort of contempt of court ruling to these clowns.
GSP
I said
This, of course, happened in 2007 with Comcast’s efforts to throttle BitTorrent. Despite the FCC handwringing, and Comcast’s appeals through the courts, BitTorrent encrypted its traffic and bypassed the throttle. Comcast was lambasted by its competitors and its customers and ultimately they were forced to reach a working agreement with BitTorrent. All the other activity by the government was too little, too late.
Now, imagine the FCC Five trying to create rules for the Internet? If it weren’t such a serious matter, the absurdity should be overwhelming. Millions of people make or break changes and innovation in the Internet every day. Five regulators in Washington cannot possibly overcome this with ham-fisted rules, no matter how well intentioned.
On December 22nd, 2010 at 9:03 pm, cwbois said:
Those who can’t handle the truth,
try to silence those who speak it.
Interesting how this adminstration is censoring their opponents, isn’t it?
…and that’s exactly what they want to use the FCC to do, too…
Communism at work. Next, regulate across the back fence talking. Lastly comes what they think you are thinking.
Learn from the past or we will be next on their list.
Not to worry, Oprah will fix it!!!
I mean with statements like this: Asked whether the thought of Palin’s running for office scares her, Oprah said:
“It does not scare me because I believe in the intelligence of the American public.”
Well, Oprah…they elected the Obamination. How does that fit in with their intelligence??? With a little luck, your network will get a lower rating than MSNBC and you will be reduced to a mere mortal.
As for me, I don’t believe in the intelligence of the American public. They are too easily fooled by slick talkers and the lure of money for nothing. They need a good swift kick to get their attention, then we need to re-evaluate our positions world wide, see who are friends are, who is not our friend, and start to fix the wrongs that have put us in the crappy position we are in.
Some people won’t like us. Big whoop. They don’t now and if they take up arms – including economic arms – against us, we need to crush them.
No surrender. No retreat. No compromise. To do so only shows weakness, and weakness invites attack and abuse.
YMMV
KP
Thacker Agency, I have to say I respectfully disagree.
A car is a good thing to have. But it’s not taxpayers responsibility to provide everyone that can’t buy one, a car.
And if someone can afford an $800 laptop, they should also be able to afford a $25 per month 3G USB account. Or a $29 per month cable modem.
Or if they have that laptop, then can visit a plethora of places where free wifi is available like Panera, Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, Borders, McDonalds….. the list is quite long.
Not to mention the fact that most people who set up their own wifi are clueless about it and leave it open for the whole neighborhood.
And Internet technology has been driven just fine without the government’s involvement. Were it not for free market demand, DARPA net would still be DARPA net. And we wouldn’t be here…. having this “web” conversation.
So I understand that it would nice for everyone to be able to reap whatever benefit the net offers. But there are many things out there that provide a benefit. A gym to work out in for example. But it’s not governments’ job to give us all one.
Sounds like a good subject for a segment on Hannity if accurate.
Michelle?
This is a formula to screw up the internet. These three bureaucrats and I’ll include their staff… are no where near smart enough or diligent enough to even begin to create “rules” for the internet.
people don’t care because the info I give them is gold. I save them money and help them understand their options. I’m embarrassed to have so much knowledge about such crap. most suits wouldn’t waste their time providing the personalized info I give my clients whether they buy from me or not.
Exactly. Michelle posted an excellent video on the subject back in April.
Bottom line message from it: Wait until there’s an actual problem before calling for the government to step in and regulate things.
Haven’t had much time to read much this week so apologies if redundant. Been pretty preoccupied (another WW2 Vet has gone ‘home’). RIP Dad.
Topic:
I’m not sure I see enough uproar from the very people who have greatly benefited from the internet and who likely voted largely for bho’s ‘new order’.
College kids, web page and e-commerce designers, app makers…lots of those folks are lib (not all, I know)… are they griping??
Here’s an idea, VOUCHERS, for internet in every welfare home, just not for private schools. Because a better education is not as important as accessing facebook.
Don’t
tazeme Bro!Don’t nuetralize me Bro!
Someday all these brilliant libs will wake up and ask; “What happened?” Then,”This really sucks being told what I can or cannot do in all aspects in my life… like a child. Who will they turn to to “help them” then?
Do not lose track of the desire of the large internet players of today to monopolize the internet. As individual companies, they simply cannot make this happen. These companies will need the Federal government to regulate at a minimum, and nationalize if necessairy, the internet.
Of course, the Democrats on this FCC board have their own goals as well. These include taxing the more fortunate people that use the internet in order to redistribute access to their political base.
Notice how all of the troll comments on this thread revolve around a continuous class war. These trolls, like ThackerAgency, are clueless as to how transparent they have become over the last few years.
Here, here, Freddy. Companies, once regulated, will work the regulators to slice us up like a Christmas goose, protecting their portion with every dollar of influence they can muster.
I’m not willing to classify ThackerAgency as a troll, though. We can disagree in our opinions, for sure. But I’ve found ThackerAgency’s posts to be thoughtful and civil. And, most of the time, I agree with those posts. A difference of opinion and experience is a good thing. The alternative, groupthink, almost invariably leads to bad outcomes. (Which is exactly what most regulation aims for: groupthink and groupact, if there is such a word.)
Hope you and yours have a Merry Christmas this weekend.
What this boils down to is this… It OPENS a door for the United Nations to jump through, and get involved. The U.N. has been talking about an “Internet Tax” for years, Now they get thier wish.
People, the United States of America IS GONE! Daily I think about my Father and his service during WW2. And I think about ALL who gave ALL so these Scum can ruin everything they Died for.
Merry Christmas everyone, and God Bless Us All.