Media Access Point: Put First Amendment First In Broadband Plan
Organization Said Network Neutrality Should Be Incorporated Within Rollout
John Eggerton -- Multichannel News, 6/8/2009 1:38:50 PM
Media Access Project says the government should put First (Amendment) things first in its national broadband rollout plan, by which it means network neutrality.
In comments on the Federal Communication Commission's congressionally mandated plan Monday, MAP defined those First Amendment values as network management non-discrimination and interconnection, which it further defined as "network neutrality."
MAP argues that an "unbroken line" of Supreme Court precedent --Red Lion, the Turner cases-- allows and encourages the commission to further First Amendment goals when applying the laws of the land.
To fulfill that charter, according to MAP, the FCC should take an aggressive approach to building out and expanding broadband and making sure it is affordable, competitive and ubiquitous for the sake of political, social, artistic and philosophical expression. If it does not, MAP said ominously, "the digital divide will grow into a gaping chasm."
In that it was echoing the comments of numerous minority groups, who are telling the commission that broadband adoption is the ticket to full citizenship in a future where good jobs, good health care, civic participation, and overall quality of life will depend on it.
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