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Scott, Scott, Scott…

by Mark on September 27th, 2007

There is a long list of Blogs which have made reference to this change of heart you’ve had since 1999.

To Scott Cleland, an analyst with Legg Mason Precursor Group, the special treatment that allows cable operators to shut out other providers follows neither history nor logic.

“Cable is the fifth wire into America’s homes,” Cleland says. “The principle of nondiscrimination applies to the other four. The electric company cannot tell you what kind of brand of appliance to buy, the gas company can’t tell you what kind of furnace or stove to buy. The water company can’t tell you what kind of faucet or sink to buy. The telephone company can’t tell you what kind of or brand of phone to buy or who to do business with over your phone. Why should cable?”

I guess it had something to do with the level of competition that broadband has developed in these past eight years eh? And… to think, now you’re a really big, Big Shot once again on Capitol Hill huh?

[edit: Yep. Had something to do with competition! “But since about 2002, broadband competition has exploded.” Time for a consensus of the people, not claims, Scott. Here’s a good thought, or is it fact? “The US has the only national broadband overbuilder in the world, cable, which reaches 94% of the country.” Really??? Oh, and that “overbuilder” still owes us $200 Billion worth of infrastructure! That would bring the USA up to par with the rest of the world…]

So, without me having to look it up, were you still there when Blair came aboard? I’m interested because this is what Blair said last year;

“The important thing is that from the perspective of investing in Internet applications and content, knowing that such access will continue to be available would be a critical variable in the investment decision. Without some basic guarantee of an improving, not degrading, open lane, investors in Internet applications would be less willing to invest in new applications.”

Just trying to see if its a Legg Mason thing or what, you know? Or - perhaps, its just simply about money like so many other things in our world today…

This is what you’re advocating Scott;

“What has replaced a well-known legal standard is the much more amorphous, and much less public, rule of discretion. That is, the carriers do what they want and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.”

“Instead of a legal standard that could be applied by a regulatory body or a court in a public proceeding, we have the vaguest of terms applied by a private company in public.”

I truly hope you’re proud of yourself and your commitment to democracy. I believe I’d rather agree with Art Brodsky when he says;

“At some point, responsible leadership is going to have to wake up and realize that a private company’s discretion is no substitute for public standards. It might be a good idea for the FCC to spell out what rights they think consumers still have, and for Congress to make its own judgments. Discretion has its limits.”

Of course, then, the trick becomes “responsible leadership.”

[Image found at Legions Pictester (by Gandalf-in-a-boat)]

[one more edit: I’ve read your “Testimony” Scott. I think if you remove “Google,” substitute “AT&T and Verizon,” tweak it to the correct topic, and your argument might actually fly!]

Tags: consumers-choice, free-access, net-neutrality, save-the-internet, verizon-arrogance, wireless-spectrum-auction

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