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For Immediate Release
July, 15 2010, 09:24am EDT
Contact:
Liz Rose, Communications Director, 202-265-1490 x 32
Free Press Urges FCC to Restore Broadband Oversight Authority
Agency Must Close Legal Loophole to Protect Consumers and Promote Innovation
WASHINGTON
In comments filed today with the Federal
Communications Commission, Free Press urges the agency to swiftly
implement Chairman Genachowski's proposal to re-establish a legal
framework that allows the Commission to set broadband policy, protect
consumers and promote innovation in the broadband marketplace.
S. Derek Turner,
research director of Free Press, said:
"Chairman Genachowski has
laid out the right plan to restore the Commission's authority over
broadband networks and provide a stable legal foundation for our
nation's most critical communications infrastructure. The agency needs
to move quickly to vote on the proposal, as any further delay leaves
millions of broadband customers without basic consumer protections and
threatens the future of the open Internet.
"The phone and cable
companies want the FCC to relinquish the agency's power to protect
consumers and to promote open, fast and affordable broadband Internet.
Without closing this legal loophole, broadband service providers will be
free to censor websites, stifle competition, and continue to ignore
underserved communities. The FCC can't build a national broadband policy
on a foundation of a failed legal experiment. If this FCC fails to act,
it will cause irrevocable harm to the public interest and jeopardize
America's long-term global economic prospects.
"Regardless of political
posturing and closed-door negotiations at the FCC, the Commission must
have the authority to enforce basic consumer protections. Chairman
Genachowski should move swiftly to end the debate over legal definitions
and start the hard work of crafting policy that brings faster, more
affordable broadband service to millions of underserved households.
"The Third Way framework
proposed in the Commission's Notice of Inquiry will preserve the
Commission's ability to uphold the widely supported principles of
universal service, competition, interconnection, non-discrimination,
consumer protection and reasoned deregulation - principles that led to
the Internet revolution. The time for action is now, and the future of
the Internet is in Chairman Genachowski's hands."
Free Press' comments in the
Notice of Inquiry on reclassification can be seen in full here:
https://www.freepress.net/files/Reclassification.pdf
Free Press was created to give people a voice in the crucial decisions that shape our media. We believe that positive social change, racial justice and meaningful engagement in public life require equitable access to technology, diverse and independent ownership of media platforms, and journalism that holds leaders accountable and tells people what's actually happening in their communities.
(202) 265-1490LATEST NEWS
'New Year's Eve Massacre': Trump Administration Makes Deep Cuts at FEMA as Climate Crisis Accelerates
A former FEMA official said that the agency "can't do disaster response and recovery without" the employees being terminated by the Trump administration.
Jan 02, 2026
The Trump administration this week made abrupt cuts to the top federal disaster response agency, even as US communities face increased threats from natural disasters caused by the global climate crisis.
Independent journalist Marisa Kabas reported on Wednesday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) "has begun issuing termination notices" to staff at the agency's Cadre of On-Call Response and Recovery (CORE) that are effective as of January 2.
A FEMA staffer who spoke with Kabas described the terminations as "The New Year's Eve Massacre," and explained that "the driving force behind all CORE employees is supporting and enacting the mission of preparing for, responding to, and recovering from disasters."
A Thursday report from CNN added some additional details to Kabas' reporting, including that the decision to issue the layoffs was made by Acting Administrator Karen Evans, who was appointed to the role after former Acting Administrator David Richardson resigned in November.
One former FEMA official bluntly told CNN that the agency "can't do disaster response and recovery without CORE employees" that are being laid off by the administration.
The former FEMA official added that regional agency offices throughout the US "are almost entirely CORE staff, so the first FEMA people who are usually onsite won’t be there," which will mean that "states are on their own" when it comes to disaster response.
CNN also reported that there is anxiety among remaining FEMA staffers that these cuts could just be the start "of a larger effort" by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem "to shrink FEMA, potentially axing thousands of workers in the coming months who deploy during hurricanes, wildfires and other national emergencies."
President Donald Trump has been targeting FEMA for potential termination for nearly a year now, and he said shortly after being inaugurated last January that a goal in his second term would be "fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA or maybe getting rid of FEMA," while emphasizing that individual states should bear the cost of responding to natural disasters.
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The Trump administration's deep cuts to FEMA come as the intensity of natural disasters is only projected to increase thanks to climate change.
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Trump's post came days after the president suggested, following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that he would support another round of military strikes against Iran after greenlighting the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities last year.
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The protests in Iran began last weekend in response to deteriorating economic conditions, specifically the collapse of the nation's currency. Analyst Sina Toossi noted on his Substack Dissident Foreign Policy that the demonstrations, which now include students, were "sparked by a group of mobile phone and technology merchants in Tehran going on strike."
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Bill Ackman, a billionaire hedge fund manager who lives in New York, similarly described the proposed tax as "an expropriation of private property."
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