Why would people kill one set of laws only to struggle for the creation of another? These ISPs know the present cash-compromised Congress is so dysfunctional that such a law unless won’t happen, or if it effects will be written by ISP lobbyists committed to making it as poor as possible.
The goal here is easy: ISPs like Comcast need to pretend we can “put this whole debate to bed” with a new rule their lawyers write that’s so loaded with loopholes to be definitely worse than no rules at all.
However, this work is proving more complex than many of these organizations hoped. Back in July, ISP-cozy administrators put out a call to all major Silicon Valley and telecom CEOs to come show in a net neutrality discussion in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The goal of this hearing, these administrators claimed, was to “rethink the modern regulatory model and build new practices from the ground up” in Congress, just as ISPs have been asking.
But not a particular ISP or giant Silicon Valley firm CEO was ready to testify on the subject.
Why not? While Verizon or Comcast lobbyists and attorneys are more than the right to lie about net neutrality in misleading videos or dishonest blog posts, having your CEO own these anti-consumer stands in front of Congress is something else completely. Similarly, Silicon Valley CEOs at Google and Facebook possible don’t want to own the experience they haven’t cared about net neutrality since about 2010 or so, and in various parts of the world have actively served to undermine the concept.
Of course lawmakers like Greg Walden state with CEOs declining to testify, work can now continue on this new law in the way major ISPs prefer it: after closed doors and outdoors any real transparency or public input.
“As negotiations process on a permanent solvent for net neutrality that guarantees a free and open internet, the court will postpone the new hearing in order to allow communications between stakeholders to advance,” said Walden’s office in a statement.
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