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 NEWS  News  media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  TTY  202  /  418-  2555  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974). 
 -  FCC  - 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE:  News  Media  contact:  October  9,  2003  Jessica  Rosenworcel  at  (202)  418-  2000 
 FCC  POLICIES  THAT  DAMAGED  MEDIA  NOW  THREATENING  INTERNET 
 Commissioner  Copps  Asks  in  Speech  “Is  The  Internet  As  We  Know  It  Dying?” 
 Commissioner  Michael  J.  Copps,  in  a  speech  at  the  New  America  Foundation,  today  warned  that:  “The  Internet  as  we  know  it  is  at  risk.  Entrenched  interests  are  positioning 


 themselves  to  control  the  network’s  chokepoints  and  they  are  lobbying  the  FCC  to  aid  and  abet  them.  The  Internet  was  designed  to  prevent  government  or  a  corporation  or  anyone  else  from 
 controlling  it.  But  this  original  vision  of  the  Internet  may  soon  be  lost.  In  its  place  a  warped  view  that  open  networks  should  be  replaced  by  closed  networks  and  that  accessibility  can  be 
 superceded  by  a  new  power  to  discriminate  is  emerging.” 
 Copps  continued:  “Our  ill-  advised  Internet  policy  is  only  one  piece  of  a  tectonic  shift  across  the  whole  range  of  FCC  issues.  From  media  to  telecom  to  the  Internet,  we  appear  to  be 


 rushing  toward  breathtaking  regulatory  alterations.  The  Commission  is  permitting,  even  encouraging,  competition  to  wither  in  the  face  of  centralization.  It  is  short  changing  its 
 responsibility  to  protect  the  public  interest.” 
 The  FCC  may  soon  implement  fundamental  regulatory  changes  that  would  have  deep  and  lasting  effects  on  consumers,  innovators,  and  business  users.  Copps:  “Until  now  the  big 


 corporations  that  control  Internet  bottlenecks  have  been  unable  fully  to  capitalize  on  this  power.  But  now  we  face  scenarios  wherein  those  with  bottleneck  control  will  be  able  to  discriminate 
 against  both  users  and  content  providers  that  they  don’t  have  commercial  relationships  with,  don’t  share  the  same  politics  with,  or  just  don’t  want  to  offer  access  to  for  any  reason  at  all. 
 From  the  not  so  distant  shadows  of  the  past,  old  attitudes  favoring  industry  consolidation  and  limited  access  are  again  seeking  to  reestablish  themselves.” 


 At  issue  are  upcoming  decisions  at  the  FCC  that  will  determine  how  much  control  companies  will  have  over  Internet  access  and  their  ability  to  discriminate  against  users,  data, 
 websites,  or  technologies.  In  the  dial-  up  world,  current  protections  require  these  companies  to  treat  everyone  equally.  This  equal  treatment  has  contributed  to  enormous  growth  and  innovation 
 on  the  Internet.  These  decisions  come  on  the  heels  of  the  FCC  eliminating  related  media  concentration  protections.  A  federal  court  has  stayed  that  decision,  and  Congress  is  now 
 debating  reversing  it.  In  addition,  on  Monday,  another  federal  court  overturned  aspects  of  the  FCC's  cable  broadband  policy. 
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