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Trump's FCC Gives Big Telecom "Free Reign" With Vote for Major Handouts

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TheDemSocialist

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[FONT=&quot]At its April open meeting on Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to give [/FONT]yet more handouts[FONT=&quot] to the telecommunications industry, lifting a price cap on broadband services and reinstating a loophole that lets broadcasters monopolize airwaves.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]The vote lifting the cap on Business Data Services (BDS) fees means that carriers like AT&T and Comcast will now be allowed to charge exorbitant rates on small businesses and community banks to connect to the internet. The other proceeding, to reinstate the "UHF [ultra high frequency] discount," will open the door to unprecedented levels of media consolidation.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The vote shows the dangers of money in politics and the influence of the FCC's new Republican chair, Ajit Pai, advocacy groups said Thursday.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"Once again, chairman Pai is putting his thumb on the scale to favor monopoly [internet service providers, or ISPs] over the interests of internet users and small businesses," said Jessica J. González, deputy director and senior counsel at the open internet group Free Press.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Net neutrality foe Pai and commissioner Michael O'Rielly, also a Republican, argued that there was enough competition in the $45 billion BDS marketplace to justify deregulation, even though the FCC itself found that in most areas there is only one provider of BDS services.
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https://www.commondreams.org/news/2...es-big-telecom-free-reign-vote-major-handouts

Just more handouts to big business while screwing the people and the "little guy". [/FONT]
 
Anyone that looks at the telecom and television industries in the US and says there's "enough competition" is a corrupt sack of ****. You can count on one hand how many companies own 99% of all media transmissions. If you seriously thought Trump and his administration would be looking out for the needs of the average blue collar American, you're just as stupid as they are corrupt.
 
Government endorsed monopolies! How do people not see the issue here?
 
Carjosse said:
Government endorsed monopolies! How do people not see the issue here?
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"Net neutrality" is an issue ONLY because of the gov't enforced monopolies, but many people seem to want to open things up rather than imposing rule after rule after rule.
 
Harshaw said:
"Net neutrality" is an issue ONLY because of the gov't enforced monopolies, but many people seem to want to open things up rather than imposing rule after rule after rule.
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We needs to rule to open up the market, net neutrality would not need to exist if companies respected it without regulation. The government needs to be stopping and breaking up these monopolies not supporting them further.
 
Carjosse said:
We needs to rule to open up the market, net neutrality would not need to exist if companies respected it without regulation. The government needs to be stopping and breaking up these monopolies not supporting them further.
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Monopolies don't need to respect much, so ending them would take care of the problem.
 
Harshaw said:
Monopolies don't need to respect much, so ending them would take care of the problem.
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But Republicans would never allow that. They are pumping money into keeping the monopolies alive and removing any protections the government tried to give consumers. I think we are the same side here.
 
Carjosse said:
But Republicans would never allow that. They are pumping money into keeping the monopolies alive and removing any protections the government tried to give consumers. I think we are the same side here.
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I think we are, but it's not just Republicans. No one has any interest in breaking them up. I've been saying for years that net neutrality rules aren't necessary if there aren't the monopolies, but proponents of the rules don't want to go for breaking them up.
 
TheDemSocialist said:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2...es-big-telecom-free-reign-vote-major-handouts

Just more handouts to big business while screwing the people and the "little guy". [/FONT][/COLOR]
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First of all, I completely disagree with what the FCC did here.

That said, how is this a "handout" to big business? Allowing someone to earn more money by reducing government restrictions isn't a handout, it's reducing government restrictions on economic capitalism. You see, if the government didn't have the money in the first place, they didn't "give" or "handout" anything. They just took pressure off a portion of a market, that allows business to expand their profit earning potential.

For this to be a handout, the government would first have to have ownership over every dollar floating around the economy, and then decide who will and who will not have access to those dollars as well as who can and who cannot keep those dollars once someone possesses them. That's not the way this country works; other countries, sure, but not the US.

However, to reiterate, I completely disagree with this move. Also, before anyone says it, the government does own the airwaves, by Congressional decree, but access to those airwaves has always been open for anyone that could utilize them with certain restrictions to protect the people. But that's not what the OP article means by "handout."
 
AT&T donated $2,000,000 to Trumps inaugural committee. Comcast and Charter Communications donated $250,000 each. Verizon and Qualcomm donated $100,000 each.

Trump's gotta keep the donating corporation-swamp happy.

rss.tribunecontentagency.com20170419edwas-a.tifampp-b4c244cec8845dfdca66aa019cb706ec23cc36cf
 
TheDemSocialist said:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2...es-big-telecom-free-reign-vote-major-handouts

Just more handouts to big business while screwing the people and the "little guy". [/FONT][/COLOR]
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Socialist upset government regulations are being rolled back, "private entities" to have more freedom to operate in a the market place. In other news the sun has been determined by top scientist to rise again tomorrow in the eat! this has been your "Predictible as if it were exciting news flash!
 
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