Net Neutrality and The Fairness Doctrine

My blood is still boiling over the FCC's Net Neutrality Vote. I haven't felt this grifted since Obamacare was voted into law. At least Obamacare was an act of Congress. Obama's royal court believes they only need Congress for the power of the purse. Everything else can be done by royal decree.

They still haven't released the contents of the new regulations. That this fact annoys me, makes me some kind of paranoid conspiracy theorist, according to the Washington Post. Blogger Brian Fung said yesterday that conservatives ought to calm down, because it's "been less than 24 hours" since the vote. Fung felt it necessary to put the word "secrecy" in scare quotes, and called demands for transparency "nonsense."

I might be able to defer to the judgement of a career bureaucrat like FCC spokesperson Kim Hart, who said, "the final document is not available until staff makes final edits." I refuse to grant deference to a rule-making process born in secrecy and opacity.

So Net Neutrality will remain a tabula rasa for awhile longer. That allows everyone to project their own desires upon the regulations. The motivations for the architects of Net Neutrality could not be clearer.

Many organizations are gloating over the FCC vote. Like Fight for the Future, who believes that "copyright and patent laws are outdated." I don't disagree, but don't think that justifies piracy.

Demand Progress is also exulting in its "victory." Demand Progress is an organization that opposes mass surveillance. Giving the federal government complete regulatory control over the internet is going to end mass surveillance how, exactly?

The incongruously named organization Free Press also did a victory lap. They flew a banner towed behind a plane around Comcast's Philadelphia headquarters Thursday. The banner's message "Comcast: Don’t Mess With the Internet. #SorryNotSorry."

Free Press was founded by an avowed Marxist named Robert McChesney, who has said that the ultimate goal of Net Neutrality is to get rid of the media capitalists in the phone and cable companies and to divest them from control.

This is why I have come to the conclusion that many of the supporters of Net Neutrality believe that the rules will enable a sort of backdoor Fairness Doctrine over internet content. Free Press advocates that "diverse voices" are represented in the media. That is Progressive signalling for stifling of conservative opinions.

The Fairness Doctrine was FCC policy from 1949 to 1987. It required licensed broadcasters who presented controversial public matters to do so in a way that was equitable and balanced. It is no small coincidence that Rush Limbaugh's radio show began national syndication a year after the FCC rescinded the Fairness Doctrine. Progressives have never given up the fight, one that ultimately stifles free speech.