On Wednesday, Mr. Yang dismissed the need for public policy in the U.S. to address the digital divide. As reported by Communications Daily, Yang told the Tech Net Innovation Summit that `the market will address the digital divide via creation of very inexpensive PCs and cellphones for poor people.’ [Tech Chiefs Slam Visa Rules, Communications Regulation Framework: Digital Divide `Myth.’ Com Daily, 11/16/06. Subscription required]. Yet just six years ago, Yang remarked, “Access to computers and the Internet are becoming increasingly unbalanced, with information haves pulling away from the have-nots.†If Mr. Yang’s solution to ensuring equitable broadband access in the U.S. is cheaper hardware, it doesn’t reflect well on his understanding of the relationship between democratic participation and broadband communications in the digital era. It’s time that the U.S. developed new policies designed to ensure that all low-income Americans have free access to digital communications. We shouldn’t just have one set of folks with full access to broadband over PCs, mobile devices, and Internet Protocol TV’s. Universal service policy in the U.S. should mean that everyone who wants to is online. If not, there will be millions of Americans who won’t be able to participate in the civic life of the country. Mr. Yang did suggest that in a few other countries “ a more proactive set of rules may be necessary†to address such concerns. Perhaps Mr. Yang and Yahoo! aren’t interested in low-income Americans because they don’t have the income to be suitable revenue targets for the company’s well-honed interactive advertising machine.
Bill Gates also makes an appearance this week for another inclusion in the public interest digital policy hall of shame. Gates, speaking at the same summit as Yang, told Charlie Rose that much of U.S. telecommunications regulation “actually holds us back.†He specifically pointed a finger at the 1996 Telecommunications Act rules requiring monopoly providers to open their networks to competitors. As for the U.S. lag in broadband penetration, it was reported that Gates noted that as `the Internet continues to absorb TV and landline voice, broadband penetration will improve.’ [Gates Touches on Broadband Policy, EU Antitrust, IP in China. Com Daily, 11/17/06]. That a boy, Bill. Look the other way with your foundation hat on addressing the health needs of the developing world. Meanwhile, it’s steely-eyed business monopoly hardball when it comes to public interest telecom policy in the EU and U.S.
Finally, the same issue of Communications Daily (sorry to be a one-source Jeffrey today!) tells us that incoming House Commerce Committee chair John Dingell has “hired 2 of his former staffers who were working in the private sector.†Gregg Rothschild will be chief counsel; Dennis Fitzgibbons the chief of staff. These two folks have been working as a Verizon VP of federal government relations and as a director of public policy for DaimlerChrysler, respectively. While we appreciate that the duo wished to return to public service, their current occupation as corporate lobbyists doesn’t bode that well for the public interest.
