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FCC Announces Open Internet Advisory Committee With No Consumer Representatives

Phillip Dampier

The Federal Communications Commission has announced the composition of its new Open Internet Advisory Committee to help track and evaluate the effects of the agency’s Net Neutrality policies, but has no member directly representing the interests of consumers.

The OIAC will focus on important Net Neutrality policies like transparency, reasonable network management practices, the differences governing policies for wired and wireless broadband, and issues like usage caps and speed throttling. But there are no voices on the committee that speak directly on behalf of end users — individual customers who use the Internet in their daily lives.

The FCC instead packed the panel with business, social policy and educational interests, many with direct financial ties to large telecommunications companies.

Selected members include:

  • Harvey Anderson, Vice President of Business Affairs & General Counsel, Mozilla
  • Brad Burnham, Founding Partner, Union Square Ventures
  • Alissa Cooper, Chief Computer Scientist, Center for Democracy & Technology
  • Leslie Daigle, Chief Internet Technology Officer, Internet Society
  • Jessica Gonzalez, Executive Board, Media and Democracy Coalition; Vice President for Policy & Legal Affairs, National Hispanic Media Coalition (representing NHMC)
  • Shane Greenstein, Professor and Kellogg Chair of Information Technology, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
  • Russell Housley, Chair, Internet Engineering Task Force; Founder of Vigil Security, LLC (representing Vigil Security, LLC)
  • Neil Hunt, Chief Product Officer, Netflix
  • Charles Kalmanek, Vice President of Research, AT&T
  • Matthew Larsen, CEO, Vistabeam
  • Kevin McElearney, Senior Vice President for Network Engineering, Comcast
  • Marc Morial, President & CEO, National Urban League
  • Elaine Paul, Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning, The Walt Disney Company
  • Jennifer Rexford, Professor of Computer Science, Princeton University
  • Dennis Roberson, Vice Provost & Research Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology (representing T-Mobile)
  • Chip Sharp, Director, Technology Policy and Internet Governance, Cisco Systems
  • Charles Slocum, Assistant Executive Director, Writers Guild of America, West
  • Marcus Weldon, Chief Technology Officer, Alcatel-Lucent
  • Michelle Zatlyn, Co-Founder & Head of User Experience, CloudFlare

Missing are the voices of consumers who want an open Internet and do not believe in Comcast and AT&T’s definitions of “reasonable network management” that include Internet Overcharging schemes like usage caps and overlimit fees.

Consumers will instead have to depend on Internet businesses and institutions that coincidentally share an active dislike of traffic control measures, primarily for their own business reasons.

By excluding the consumer’s voice in policy debates, it is no wonder FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski increasingly seems amenable to the companies he is supposed to independently oversee — spending a considerable amount of time opening industry conventions with keynote speeches, reviewing lobbyist briefs about various communications issues, and talking directly with the corporate leadership of the companies involved. It is disturbingly clear he is listening less and less to consumers. A clear sign of that was his vocal support for the kinds of usage-based Internet pricing schemes that consumers generally loathe.

Genachowski and his staff need to spend more time listening to individual Internet users and the customers of providers and less time attending industry-sponsored events.

The OIAC is a good place to start. Consumers deserve a seat at the table in a debate that will impact every American Internet user.

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Matt
12 years ago

I don’t always agree with your points, but I will keep your concerns in mind as I participate in the OIAC meetings. We have had our share of disagreements about UBB, but I am in agreement with many of your other concerns about broadband providers – especially deceptive billing, redlining and forced bundling.

Matt Larsen, Vistabeam

Gman
Gman
12 years ago

That is a very interesting list of people, and yes, I do see there is an absence of what we would call “average users.” Although the “average user” won’t come close to some of the caps, that is quickly changing with streaming service becoming more convenient, this “average consumer” will be nearing these caps, or as Comcast calls it, a tier. I know that I try to watch HD streaming whenever possible, and with my Blockbuster @Home, we stream more each time my employer, Dish, adds more titles to the lineup. Having an all I can watch plan makes this… Read more »

Scott
Scott
12 years ago
Reply to  Gman

I’d say we’re already there and have been some time for the “average” user. I was just talking to a co-worker yesterday and he was telling me how he had to cancel his 30 day trial of netflix awhile back because his family of 4 hit their Cable Internet’s 50GB limit after only a few weeks of normal usage plus some pandora music streaming by his daughters. He doesn’t understand what traffic = a GB, only that he was about to get a bill for double what he pays for his internet currently, something that his family can’t afford on… Read more »

Oscar@SA
Oscar@SA
12 years ago
Reply to  Gman

I had family this month and we hit 986GB of data according to TWC…. I have 4 gaming PCs and we were on them plus I reloaded my HTPC and my Server with Server 2008 R2… needless to say… i was over 300GB off my normal usage of 600GB a month… yes.. 600GB is the norm around here… And no, I’m not downloading the internet… why so much? Netflix, hulu plus, pandora, DI.fm, youtube and mostly gaming… Just like the TWC commercials say… more to do what you like… Too bad the stupid Origin update messed up my BF3, thanks… Read more »

Oscar@SA
Oscar@SA
12 years ago

We run lots of data intensive services…. I have been with OnLive since they started.. online backup… you name it, we probably have it… I even backup my smartphone to the house.. thanks Spring.. thinking about getting our own domain for the family and running mail service.. lol 🙂

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