Why the FCC Is Likely To Ignore Net Neutrality Comments and Listen To ISPs 140
Jason Koebler writes: Time and time again, federal agencies like the FCC ignore what the public says it wants and side with the parties actually being regulated — the ISPs, in this case. Research and past example prove that there's not much that can be considered democratic about the public comment period or its aftermath. "Typically, there are a score or so of lengthy comments that include extensive data, analysis, and arguments. Courts require agencies to respond to comments of that type, and they sometimes persuade an agency to take an action that differs from its proposal," Richard Pierce, a George Washington University regulatory law professor said. "Those comments invariably come from companies with hundreds of millions or billions of dollars at stake or the lawyers and trade associations that represent them. Those are the only comments that have any chance of persuading an agency."
This just in... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Of, For, and By the People (Score:4, Informative)
"I'll Believe Corporations Are People When Texas Executes One"
http://www.corporatesecretary.... [corporatesecretary.com]
"In January 2005, Texas revoked TA’s certificate of authority for failure to pay its annual franchise tax...Sometime thereafter, one of the loans that First Community had purchased went into default. Subsequently, First Community was unable to recover on the loan due to TA’s breach of the dealer agreement. In 2007, First Community brought suit on TA’s breach of the dealer agreement and won a judgment against TA and against TA’s president individually...The judgment against the company’s president was upheld on appeal because Texas statutes provide that if a corporation loses its certificate of authority, the directors and officers are liable for any debts on the part of the corporation thereafter.
Your comment apples both to Dem and Rep (Score:5, Informative)
Herein lies the kicker. Yep, Wheeler was placed there specifically for that purpose. It's an old Scientologist trick. They couldn't get the OK as far as their tax exempt status so they got their own people hired into those positions in order to make the decision in their favor. And, you know what? You can't do anything about it other than try to show proof that they did so with that intent, the intent to subvert the democratic process. It is a subversion of it but they know you can't do anything about it, so all they have to do is feign the desire to have the public concern heard even if they never intended to listen, and then make the decision in the ISP's favor. Wheeler, and his masters, knows that once the decision is made it will take Congress to counteract it. Then of course you have the President and the Vice President both of which favor the big corps that pay for this lobbying.
The amusing thing is that if you remove mention of a specific agency or actor, the above tactic is what all the big corporations and industry groups are using to subvert the public interest to serve their profit interest and this infestation of governmental agencies works regardless of who is in power (as long as you contribute to both parties - or at least the party in power).
There's even a term for it: Regulatory Capture [wikipedia.org]
Re: They aren't looking for public comments (Score:5, Informative)
Re:This just in... (Score:4, Informative)
No, the US is an oligarchy.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/d... [talkingpointsmemo.com]
http://www.washingtontimes.com... [washingtontimes.com]