Behold the visage of the man who’s complicit in handing the big telco and cable cartel the power to create a 2-tiered internet and hastening the onslaught of a have/have-not online experience.
The Congress voted 269-152 last Thursday against codifying the priciples of Net Neutrality into law – siding with the likes of Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, et al. – all while devoting a whopping 20 minutes to ‘debate’, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Tauke and his ilk.
Still screwing us after all these years, Tauke, former Republican Congressman from Iowa’s 2nd district, currently serves as Verizon’s Executive Vice President for Public Affairs, Policy and Communications. That’s Orwellian double-speak for propaganda minister, kids. Let’s watch him spin, shall we?
Via C|Net News: Newsmaker: Net neutrality: Meet the winner
Thomas Tauke must be one of the most ecstatic lobbyists in Washington right about now.As Verizon Communications’ executive vice president for public affairs, policy and communications, Tauke has spent the last few months embroiled in a fiery debate over Net neutrality, the concept that broadband providers must be legally required to treat all content equally.
And now he’s won. Thursday evening, in a testament to Verizon’s lobbying prowess, the U.S. House of Representatives definitively rejected extensive Net neutrality regulations in a 269-152 vote.
Now the telecommunications bill approved by the House heads to the Senate, where Sen. Ted Stevens, the Alaska Republican who heads a key committee, has been an ally so far. But in an apparent nod to companies like Amazon.com, eBay and Google that are pressing for Net neutrality rules, Stevens did say last week that he might be willing to bend and consider more regulations.
Tauke, a lawyer, is a former member of Congress from Iowa and former chairman of the United States Telecom Association, a telecommunications trade association.
CNET News.com spoke with Tauke about Net neutrality and Verizon’s view of what Washington, D.C., might do next.
You can read the Q/A with Tauke here – or bone up on the history of the net neutrality debate via Wikipedia here. Pay special attention to how Tauke disingenuously dangles ‘video content services’ as a primary reason for justifying increasing big carrier’s control over the internet. That’s a red herring. The fact of the matter is the telco’s simply want more control and the ability to charge you even more than you already pay, while squeezing smaller providers completely out of business. Period. Their goal is to exert the type of stranglehold and control upon the internet that Clear Channel has achieved over the radio spectrum.
On the Senate side, via TPM, I’m truly surprised to see DINO emeritus Joe Lieberman landing on the right side of the vote while Russ Feingold is still twisting in the wind a bit. The hell, Russ? Take a stand, willya? And what’s up with the 57! other Democrats selling out on this one?
Clicky clicky: Send a letter to Congress in support of Net Neutrality and the Markey ammendment to HR5252.
- pdx
