In spite of objections from many cities and municipalities and individuals, the Michigan Legislature passed a cable reform bill yesterday that did not include any provision for net neutrality. And you’d think having a strong Democratic governor would be a barrier against such bills becoming law. No. Not at all.
Given that the large telecommunications industry was not successful in ending net neutrality in the U. S. Congress during this past session, they are going after their same goals on a state-by-state basis. These efforts are passing “under the radar”, as they do not attract the netroots attention to the degree that federal activities do. Michigan is now one of their first successes.
See what’s happened. It’ll be coming to a legislature near you very soon.
Governor Jennifer Granholm, Democrat, in spite of making various noises of concern about the importance of net neutrality, issued a statement today stating that she intends to sign the cable reform bill that omits any sort of net neutrality. Bill supporters claim that 2000 jobs will be created as a result of this bill being passed, and this appears to be the issue that is driving her support.
In reality, the bill allows the giant telco industry to pick and choose who it will serve and who it won’t, and puts the companies above local control and most state regulation. Granholm says that net neutrality must have its own bill. Fat chance.
In my own inner city neighborhood, cable and internet service is already terrible, with few or no choices available for internet, much less high speed services. This bill allows the big companies to reduce services to less lucrative areas even further, and to focus on the affluent areas of the state without any regulatory mandate to serve beyond what and where it is profitable.
Matt Stoller at MyDD had an excellent article on this yesterday – and the worst fears he cited there are coming to pass.
Governor Granholm’s office issued the following statement in response to the many calls she received expressing concerns about the absence of net neutrality in this bill:
I support net neutrality and will continue to fight for it on the state and federal level. HB 6456 creates over 2,000 jobs in Michigan, improves competition and services for Michigan residents, and it includes a number of provisions to safeguard consumers. The issue of net neutrality is far bigger than this one bill. I believe it is more desirable to pursue the protections necessary to maintain net neutrality as stand-alone legislation in the coming year rather than as an amendment to this year’s legislation. I am committed to ensuring that citizens are protected from greater expense or slower service because of the entry of phone companies into the video/internet space, and I look forward to working on securing continued open access to the Internet in the year ahead.
Google, which has just located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was one of the major objectors to the bill that the Michigan Senate and House approved.
Here is our governor’s statement to Larry Page, co-founder of Google:
Dear Larry:
Thank you for all of the expertise Google has brought to Michigan on the issue of net neutrality. I have certainly appreciated our conversation on this subject. While I am pleased we were able to extend some of the consumer protection provisions in HB 6456, I believe it may be more desirable to pursue stand-alone legislation to further extent consumer protections by enacting net neutrality next year, rather than as an amendment to this year’s legislation.
I strongly agree that consumers should not be charged extra for, or otherwise disadvantaged from, reaching certain sites on the internet that those providers wish to provide for free. Nor do I believe that service providers should be able to restrict access to sites that their consumers have always been able to access. I believe strong consumer protection is important for government to provide, as well as an effective tool to stimulate economic growth in Michigan and elsewhere.
In the interest of taking incremental steps towards improving competition and services for Michigan consumers, it’s best that the Legislature complete work on video franchising this year. I look forward to working with Google and others next year to ensure continued open access to the internet for all Michigan residents.
Sincerely,
Jennifer M. Granholm
Governor
I fear that Stoller is correct: there is little chance that the Michigan Lege will be able to pass any kind of net neutrality bill, especially in the face of increased power that this bill gives the telecommunications moguls.
And we see the political power of the netroots begin to be strangled, with the fine help of a DLC-approved Democratic governor.