Monty Solomon posted:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/11/charter-cant-use-1st-amendment-to-refuse-black-owned-tv-channels-court-rules/
As debatable as such questions might be as applied to MVPDs, it's truly
preposterous that they can even be considered, with respect to telecom
services. Unconscionable. The telecom company thinks it has a right to block my
conversations with Aunt Gertrude? Really? Because this ex-cable TV company
doesn't like her opinions about rice pilaf?
"The ruling against Comcast relied heavily upon the reasoning in the Charter
decision. 'For the reasons discussed at length in our opinion in Charter
Communications, we also conclude that the First Amendment does not bar
Plaintiffs' ยง 1981 claim [against Comcast],' judges wrote."
So, an MVPD thinks its supposed "rights to free speech" (or more precisely, its
rights to block free speech) trump the content owner's "right to free speech."
Only this monopolistic MVPD has the right to free speech. Well, okay, it's just
an entertainment service and a gatekeeper, so ultimately, caveat emptor. It's
like picking up some supermarket rag, at the checkout counter, after all. Who,
in his right mind, would expect neutrality of reporting? But broadband? Only in
the fevered mind of our corrupt FCC.
"The First Amendment is a tool for promoting free expression," Bergmayer wrote.
"Too often, though, courts have turned it into a tool for deregulation, arguing
that the purported free speech interests of billion-dollar companies outweigh
the rights of citizens to be informed, to communicate, and to participate in
the public sphere. Even now, broadband providers are arguing that they have a
First Amendment right to block websites or interfere with users' rights to use
lawful online services."
Wake the hell up, you formula-spouting extremist yahoos, and corrupt FCC
Commissioners. "The Internet," which is nothing comparable to *a* web site, or
a cable TV service, is instead a telecom service. As much as telephone service
is a telecom service. How ignorant can it be, for the agency entrusted with US
telecoms, not to understand this?
I can't fathom how this farcical FCC Chairman has been allowed to spout
nonsense for such a long time.
Bert
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