Commissioner Michael Copps give the opening keynote speech today at the Freedom to Connect conference. Copps is that rare high-ranking government who places the interests of the average person over the country’s wealthy elite (such as the phone, cable, and broadcast lobby). Copps has continually been in the forefront defending the public interest on both the media consolidation and broadband communications issues. His full speech won’t be online today, but here’s an excerpt (thanks to business2blogs.com):
“I think this is one of the most important dialogues taking place in the country. We view the Internet as a place of freedom and openness, a place where anyone with a good idea can develop a business plan with global reach. But news reports have sounded the warning bell where new broadband toll bridges may restrict services like VOIP or your ability to watch videos over the Web. The more concentrated that network providers get, the easier it will be for them to become gatekeepers. We cannot let that happen. If that occurs history will not forgive us, nor should it.
We still have a long way to go to secure the future of the Internet. Network providers are saying Websites should pay for broadband. This misses the mark because Website content is what makes network providers’ services valuable in the first place. It seems to me they want to double dip [by charging both consumers and Websites for the same content]. If providers with bottleneck control can erect tolls that inverts the entire democratic network of the Internet. It makes the pipe intelligent and the end-user dumb. It artificially constrains the supply of bandwidth.
Braodband is going be one of the drivers of our economy, so we need to get our national policy right. More I important we need to get a national policy. It is not just about a better Internet, this is about a better America.”
