FCC

Summary: The substantial evidence catalogued here provides proof of the Internet’s cartelization, extreme concentration, winner-take-all tendencies, and mythical competition. The public data shows that the tacit Internet cartel of Google, Amazon and Facebook is 7-8 times more concentrated than the top three offline companies and that the top ten Internet economy companies are >10 times more concentrated than the top ten offline economy companies.

Public data that Google, Amazon, and Facebook have acquired ~350 potential competitors and the Internet Association overall has acquired ~900 potential competitors, indicates that the apparent cartelization of Internet companies’ investment, acquisition, and innovation processes ensure no innovative “garage startup” has a plausible competitive opportunity to seriously threaten the Internet cartel’s dominance.

Public data also ironically shows that almost all the Internet Association’s members are anti-competitively threatened by one of more of the Google, Amazon, or Facebook, winner-take-all online onslaughts.

U.S. antitrust authorities have enabled a cartelized and extremely concentrated Internet by taking their eye off the purpose of antitrust law -- protecting the process of competition, by first protecting the process of innovation by dominant online platforms.

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Ironically, the world’s leading winner-take-all Internet platforms -- Google, Amazon, and Facebook -- are the leading voices of the July 12th “Internet-wide Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality.” They want to pressure the U.S. FCC to maximally regulate ISPs as Title II telephone utilities, even though they don’t believe in operating neutral networks themselves.

Even more ironic, is this 1 min. Google-YouTube video -- by the Internet Association, “the unified voice of the Internet economy.” It defines net neutrality and what it wants the FCC to ban ISPs from doing. However, those banned behaviors closely describe how Google, Facebook and Amazon often operate. Awkward.

In yet another video supporting this Day of Action, three U.S. Senators video message said: “We believe the Internet is the extraordinary opportunity that gives everybody in America the chance to get ahead. We have to make sure it is not controlled by a handful of powerful corporations.”

This piece has two tasks.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, June 29, 2017, Contact:  Scott Cleland 703-217-2407

FCC General Counsel Brendan Carr Is a Great Pick for FCC Commissioner by President Trump 

WASHINGTON D.C. – The following may be attributed to Scott Cleland, Chairman of NetCompetition:

“President Trump’s nomination of FCC General Counsel Brendan Carr to be an FCC Commissioner is a great selection. He is exceptionally skilled, knowledgeable, and experienced on FCC issues; and he has proven to be a highly productive and capable FCC General Counsel in managing the FCC’s very heavy workload transparently, effectively, and expeditiously.”

NETCompetition.org is a pro-competition e-forum representing broadband interests. 

Scott Cleland served as Deputy U.S. Coordinator for  International Communications and Information Policy in the George H. W. Bush Administration. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, May 18, 2017, Contact:  Scott Cleland 703-217-2407

What’s Wrong with This Picture? Pressure Groups and their Netopolies-Funders: Google, Facebook and Amazon, Hypocritically Demand Utility Regulation of Competitive Broadband ISPs to Prevent Commercial Discrimination or Blocking When the Netopolies are the Actual De Facto Utilities that Discriminate and Block as a Key Part their Business Models  

WASHINGTON D.C. – The following may be attributed to Scott Cleland, Chairman of NetCompetition:  

“Title II broadband regulation proponents sacrifice their credibility when they claim competitive companies are monopolies that require the strongest possible utility regulation, while simultaneously claiming Internet monopolies like Google, Facebook and Amazon, are competitive companies that should have no regulation at all.”

Please don’t miss my latest The Hill Op-ed: “HBO’s John Oliver needs a 'net neutrality' reality check.”

Please don’t miss my latest The Hill Op-ed: “Internet giants, not broadband providers, are the top threat to consumers”.

Net neutrality proponents who summarily dismiss any potential for Congress to resolve net neutrality with a legislative compromise, might want to rethink that heroic assumption after closely reading the Pai-FCC’s Title II NPRM.

Apparently, Chairman Pai has figured out a way that could overturn the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet order, and in addition, practically neuter the going-forward precedential value of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals’ USTelecom v. FCC decision that upheld the legality of the 2015 FCC order.

Importantly, it is the continuation of the legal validation and legitimacy of the USTelecom v. FCC decision that gives net neutrality proponents their long-term hope that they could restore a Title II net neutrality regime in the U.S. with just a simple FCC majority vote in 2021 or 2025, just like they did in 2015.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, April 26, 2017, Contact:  Scott Cleland 703-217-2407

In Openly Previewing His Plans for Overturning the FCC’s 2015 Title II Open Internet Order, FCC Chairman Pai FCC is Doing the Right Thing for the Right Reasons in the Right Way, in Contrast to the Wheeler FCC Doing the Wrong Thing, for the Wrong Reasons, in the Wrong Way 

WASHINGTON D.C. – The following may be attributed to Scott Cleland, Chairman of NetCompetition: 

“FCC Chairman Pai is giving a clinic in FCC and regulatory leadership: in doing the right thing, i.e. starting the process of returning the FCC to the bipartisan, light regulatory, Internet approach that worked exceptionally well from 1996-2015; for the right reasons, i.e. the 2015 order was unnecessary, unwarranted and uncertain, and repealing it will promote economic growth, jobs, broadband deployment and competition; and in the right way, i.e. openly stating what the FCC will be doing and why, and promising the UNPRECEDENTED FCC TRANSPARENCY OF SHOWING A DRAFT FCC PROPOSAL TO THE PUBLIC THREE WEEKS BEFORE A PUBLIC VOTE!”

“If the previous FCC had not acted for the wrong reasons, i.e. because of inappropriate White House pressure, in the wrong way, i.e. claiming to be all for openness but running a non-transparent decision-making process, they would never have done the wrong thing: i.e. hyper-regulating an economically productive and competitive industry that had done nothing to warrant any regulation, let alone the strongest possible monopoly/utility regulation.”

NETCompetition.org is a pro-competition e-forum representing broadband interests.

Please don’t miss my latest The Hill op-ed: “Six definitions that are preventing consensus on net neutrality.”

Please don’t miss my latest The Hill op-ed:   “Google’s ad blocking exposes the company’s hypocrisy on net neutrality” (& copyright).