Bernie Sanders
Related: About this forumBernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren Are Fighting for Cheaper Internet
Internet-loving Americans have been waiting way too long for a team of benevolent juggernauts in Washington to take on massive money-hungry cable companies. This week, four freedom-fighting senators took their first swing in the form of a strongly worded letter to the Federal Communications Commission. The message was clear: Bring down broadband prices.
Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Al Franken, and Ed Markey joined forces in asking the FCC to investigate companies that are charging ridiculous prices for cable and broadband services. The consumer advocatesquite correctlyargue that this countrys citizens are forced to buy internet from de facto monopolies. The letter reads:
As the telecommunications industry becomes increasingly concentrated, this lack of choice has resulted in huge price increases and often poor service customers for consumers.
Then, the internet advocates get specific:
In addition to steeply rising prices, consumers are often unaware of the various fees that are tacked onto their monthly bills because of the lack of transparency in pricing. To cite just one example, Time Warner Cable began charging a cable modem rental fee in 2012 of $3.95 a month. TWC then raised the price to $5.99 a month in 2013. Today it charges $8 a month, a 203 percent increase in three years time, in addition to monthly broadband charges.
Thats bullshit! But its familiar bullshit because these kinds of charges and terrible customer service have become commonplace, when dealing with big cable. Weve known for a while that Americas internet is awful, but now the nations top lawmakers are essentially the calling the monopolistic industry un-American.
Of course, a strongly worded letter to the FCC doesnt not quite constitute an all-out war on big cable. The FCC will have to cooperate, though it helps that this is an issue that President Obama has been pushing for months now.
Inevitably, with celebrity consumer advocates like Elizabeth Warren and Al Franken fighting the good fight, its certainly a good start. The fact that net neutrality pioneer Ed Markey and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders are backing them up bodes well for everyone. After all, we have to put up with this crappy internet. We might as well band together to fix it.
http://gizmodo.com/bernie-sanders-and-elizabeth-warren-are-fighting-for-ch-1717100787
Pharaoh
(8,209 posts)as well as cell phone rates. Unregulated monopolies who don't give a shit about you..........
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)Mnpaul
(3,655 posts)It was installed under the stimulus but we are still waiting for the private sector to run the last mile. Currently, the Post Office and city hall are the only ones using it. Two people.