Say Anything Blog

And he’s doing it under the guise of offering “free” pornography-free internet:

Outgoing Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is pushing for action in December on a plan to offer free, pornography-free wireless Internet service to all Americans, despite objections from the wireless industry and some consumer groups. . . .

The proposal to allow a no-smut, free wireless Internet service is part of a proposal to auction off a chunk of airwaves. The winning bidder would be required to set aside a quarter of the airwaves for a free Internet service. The winner could establish a paid service that would have a fast wireless Internet connection. The free service could be slower and would be required to filter out pornography and other material not suitable for children.

First off, let’s remember that this would hardly be a “free” service.  The company with the winning bid on these airwaves is simply going to fold the cost of running the “free” network into running the fee-based network.  We’ll still pay for it.

Second, what this is really about is bringing the internet under FCC control.  Currently the FCC can’t touch any of the content on the internet.  Not the radio broadcasts.  Not the television broadcasts.  Nothing.  But if millions of Americans begin using a “free” internet service to access that content, and if that service is delivered on airwaves regulated by the FCC, suddenly the bureaucracy has its foot in the door for regulating online content.

The whole “porn free” thing is just a gambit to distract from what’s really going on.  If you argue against porn-free internet well then you must be some pervert in the pockets of the rich telecoms.  Plus the porn-free thing gets the socially conservative crowd on board as they’re probably not likely to care much about the larger implications here if one of their pet peeves is pandered to.

Ultimately this is about opening a back door to government regulatory control over the internet.  Period.  The powers-that-be have had enough of citizens being able to do and say and read and watch whatever they want on the internet, and they’re looking to end it.