6 years ago
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FCC Commissioner Says the Agency Is a Shill for ISPs as She Slams the Door on Her Way Out
In an interview just prior to leaving the FCC this month, former Commissioner Mignon Clyburn took aim at the agency where she worked for nearly nine years, saying it has abandoned its mission to safeguard consumers and protect their privacy and speech. Clyburn, a net neutrality proponent who served as interim FCC chief in 2013, equated the FCC’s mission to the Starfleet Prime Directive, saying the agency’s top priority is to ensure “affordable, efficient, and effective” access to communications—a directive it has effectively deserted under the new administration, working instead to advance the causes of “last-mile monopolies.”
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She is brave to do what she is doing. I'm thrilled she is taking a stand. I totally agree about the monopolies - what a lot of people don't realize is that having options for access in the US to internet lags far behind other countries. Even some small and mid-sized CITIES (not towns!) are under a single-provider monopoly here, which means that repealing net neutrality is indeed a problem for consumers.
If there was more than one provider in a city then the resulting competition (on a net neutrality repeal) would at least be helpful in some way (e.g. one provider might have a net neutrality policy vs another provider who doesn't). But with just one provider, removing net neutrality is a huge disservice to consumers because there is no choice and no competition.
I applaud Mignon Clyburn.