August, 11 2010, 04:45pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
Would Google-Verizon Deal Hurt Innovation and Independent Voices?
WASHINGTON
SUSAN CRAWFORD
Available for a limited number of interviews, Crawford is former
special assistant to the president for science, technology, and
innovation policy (2009). She now teaches at the Cardozo Law School and
is a visiting researcher at Princeton University's Center for
Information Technology Policy. She is quoted in Time Magazine: "It's the
next Google in a garage in Palo Alto that will be hurt by this [the
planned Google-Verizon deal]. ... This allows for the cable-ization of
an Internet access provider."
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LAURA FLANDERS
Flanders is founder and host of GRITtv, a independent daily program
distributed via the internet and on Free Speech TV (Dish Network and
DirecTV.) She said today: "We learned years ago that separate's not
equal. While Google/Verizon present their deal as a re-commitment to
equal treatment, in fact, the purported equality would exist only in a
fast expiring hard-wired universe. An enormous opt-out would permit
money to control traffic in the wireless Internet world. It's tantamount
to telling independent producers we are free to communicate and do
business -- but only by tin-can on a mobile planet."
More Information
JACK WALSH
Walsh is co-director of the National Alliance for Media Arts and
Culture. He said today: "The most crucial thing is that the Internet
remain free and open. The FCC should see broadband as part of
telecommunications policy; there needs to be a regulatory body to ensure
that certain places on the Internet do not get preferential treatment
so many voices can be heard. In NAMAC's recently completed national
poll, over 400 public media organizations told us that the web is now
their number one way of reaching the public."
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A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.
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"The sources told Reuters that Trump's transition team is now reviewing how it can unwind the Postal Service's multibillion-dollar contracts, including with Oshkosh and Ford for tens of thousands of battery-driven delivery trucks and charging stations," according to the news agency.
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Ford did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment on Friday, while Oshkosh said that it "is fully committed to our strong partnership with the USPS and looks forward to continuing to provide our postal carriers with reliable, safe, and sustainable modern delivery vehicles, even as USPS' needs continue to evolve."
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Even under Biden, U.S. plans to limit planet-heating pollution did not align with the country's contributions to the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency—but climate scientists and advocates widely backed his and later Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign leading up to last month's election, recognizing the threat posed by Trump.
John Hanger, a Democrat who previously held various envirnomental and energy positions in Pennsylvania's government, responded to the Reuters reporting on social media: "Ugh! Canceling contracts to electrify transportation of USPS would be dirty and dumb!"
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