Communications

Now the Obama administration is turning its attention to one of our few remaining problems: solving the puzzle of why the Internet has been such a massive disappointment.

Congress shouldn't try to combine the MFA with the Internet Tax Fairness Act, which would ban Internet access taxes, said IPI's Bartlett Cleland. If that happens, the "recent protests in Hungary opposing similar attempts will look mild compared to the anger of an electorate full of online consumers that deserves much better," he said.

Cleland said it's "remarkable" that broadband deployment has become a campaign-worthy issue for Branstad, Cuomo and others. "It's exciting because these technology issues are finally getting some of the attention that they deserve."

Bartlett Cleland said Seattle should be cautious about pursuing municipal broadband given a "highly suspect" track history for such projects.

There is "every reason to believe" that the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions "will be consumed" by the ITU, said IPI's Bartlett Cleland.

"Its tendency to overreach its authority has been magnified by the Obama administration’s general contempt for limits on federal authority,” according to the Institute for Policy Innovation. “So we can most likely expect the FCC to once again divert time and effort to a quixotic and almost certainly futile legal battle.

The rent seekers have come running.

IPI comments opposed both petitions because a state has a constitutional right to use its prerogative as a state to restrict municipal broadband.

North Carolina and Tennessee are most likely to be the states where petitions could become a campaign issue because their laws are under FCC scrutiny, but there's not evidence it's a significant issue in state campaigns, said Bartlett Cleland.

IPI President Tom Giovanetti urged the FCC to reject the municipal broadband petitions filed by the Electric Power Board in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the city of Wilson, North Carolina.