from the what-open-internet? dept
Update: Well, look at that. A few hours after this post went live, OpenInternet.gov magically got redirected to some actual content...
Want to know what the current FCC thinks of an open internet? The FCC
used to run a website at
OpenInternet.gov, in which it talked up the importance of an open internet. Here's what the page used to look like:
In that blank blue spot, I believe there was this video of former FCC chair Julius Genachowski
highlighting the importance of an open internet.
Of course, as pointed out by
Ryan Singel, if you visit OpenInternet.gov right now, it looks like this:
Yes, that's right: the FCC is sorry, but OpenInternet.gov cannot be found. To be fair, it's not as if Genachowski ever really did that much to preserve an open internet, preferring to work out a bogus "deal" on open internet principles with Verizon and AT&T, with loopholes large enough to drive much of the internet through -- and which were put together so poorly that Verizon (yes, the same Verzion that helped create them in the first place) successfully sued to get the rules thrown out as the FCC going too far. Similarly, new FCC boss Tom Wheeler has a blog post insisting that he too is
really committed to an open internet, but we've heard that song and dance before.
In the end, it's more symbolic than anything else. The fact that the FCC has basically shuttered OpenInternet.gov with no forwarding address just kind of highlights how seriously the FCC really seems to take these issues.
Filed Under: fcc, julius genachowski, net neutrality, open internet, openinternet.gov, tom wheeler
