Broadband Fail: Two of Many

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Promised on 10/25/17:

I set up this account [broadbandfail@fcc.gov] to take in the public’s stories and ideas. And I will share everything that comes in with the Chairman and with my colleagues, because I think it’s time to turn every one of those ‘broadband fails’ into something better – broadband success.

Folks, Take Advantage of this offer today. Let’s hold Commissioner Rosenworcel to her promise. The next FCC vote is on 12/14/17 See what others have already written here, here and here.


On 11/28/17, Lauren Allred wrote to FCC Commissioner Jessic Rosenworcel at broadbandfail@fcc.gov

November 28, 2017

Dear Honorable Commissioner Rosenworcel,

I am writing today regarding your desire to hear about the broadband failures from the American public. From the early-1990’s to the present, landline telephone customers already paid billions of dollars to their Title-II-regulated Telecom Utilities to upgrade their Title-II-regulated copper Wireline network to a Title-II-regulated Fiber-Optic Wireline network, but these customers never received the benefits of this promised upgrade in many states across America.

Continue reading “Broadband Fail: Two of Many”

Broadband Fail: One of Many

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Promised on 10/25/17:

I set up this account [broadbandfail@fcc.gov] to take in the public’s stories and ideas. And I will share everything that comes in with the Chairman and with my colleagues, because I think it’s time to turn every one of those ‘broadband fails’ into something better – broadband success.

Folks, Take Advantage of this offer today. Let’s hold Commissioner Rosenworcel to her promise. The next FCC vote is on 12/14/17 See what others have already written here, here and here.


A grieving mother emailed Jessica Rosenworcel at: broadbandfail@fcc.gov on 11/25/17:

November 25, 2017

Dear FCC Commissioners,

Raise your hand if your child has died before you. Hug your child if he or she is healthy. I write today to share that the choices you make about the environment we call home are far reaching, and that our precious homes must be protected.

Radiofrequency microwave radiation has never been proven safe for anyone, let alone children. Ever. And the FCC wants to break down local barriers to deploy more of it?

Continue reading “Broadband Fail: One of Many”

The FCC Aids and Abets Copper Wireline Shut Off

First, read about November 16, 2017, the day that will live in infamy. Then read about the results from that day. The copper Wireline shut off was planned by AT&T, Verizon and the FCC over the last seven years and is now being executed in the Trump era.


Are You in a Verizon or AT&T Shut Off Zone?

Will you be one of the disconnected?
By Bruce Kushnik 08/13/2013 04:07 pm ET Updated Oct 13, 2013; Link to original article

It’s about time we did the math — how many households and small businesses have the potential of being shut off or abandoned by Verizon and AT&T? How many will be forced to use Verizon’s Wireless services, even when they are not a substitute? How many copper lines are in service today in America today?

Trust me . . . there is a plan. Lowell Mac Adams, Verizon Chairman & CEO and former CEO of Verizon Wireless spoke on June 21, 2012:

But the vision that I have is we are going into the copper plant areas and every place we have FiOS, we are going to kill the copper. We are going to just take it out of service and we are going to move those services onto FiOS. We have got parallel networks in way too many places now, so that is a pot of gold in my view.

And then in other areas that are more rural and more sparsely populated, we have got LTE built that will handle all of those services and so we are going to cut the copper off there. We are going to do it over wireless. So I am going to be really shrinking the amount of copper we have out there …

Continue reading “The FCC Aids and Abets Copper Wireline Shut Off”

WikiLeaks CABLE About RF Microwave Radiation

In a 1976 classified memo, written by Ambassador Walter Stoessel to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and marked NODIS — No Distribution (other than to persons indicated) — the U.S. Government said that Radiofrequency Microwave (RF/MW) Radiation exposures of 1,000 to 15,000 microwattts per square meter (µW/m²) is a health hazard and is unacceptable.


Sun Apr 7, 2013 21:00 EST

WIKILEAKS SPECIAL PROJECT K: THE KISSINGER CABLES
https://wikileaks.org/plusd/pressrelease/#1976

The Kissinger Cables are part of today’s launch of the WikiLeaks Public Library of US Diplomacy (PlusD), which holds the world’s largest searchable collection of United States confidential, or formerly confidential, diplomatic communications. As of its launch on April 8, 2013 it holds two million records comprising approximately 1 billion words.

WikiLeaks’ publisher Julian Assange stated:

"The collection covers US involvements in, and diplomatic or intelligence reporting on, every country on Earth. It is the single most significant body of geopolitical material ever published."

Continue reading “WikiLeaks CABLE About RF Microwave Radiation”

November 16, 2017: A Day That Will Live in Infamy

November 16, 2017 Open Commission Meeting

Watch the ALEC/Verizon/AT&T-Controlled FCC In Action at the Open Meeting held on 11/16/17 @ 10:30 am ET / 7:30 am PT.

The Agenda Items were voted through — every item — despite strong dissent from Commissioners Clyburn and Rosenworcel (read their excellent statements of dissent, below). The voting-block of Chairman Pai and Commissioners O’Reilly and Carr are marching together to enact the ALEC-agenda.

Continue reading “November 16, 2017: A Day That Will Live in Infamy”

Snapshot of FCC Majority Assault on Pro-Consumer Policies

Media Contact:
David Grossman
(202) 418-2100 david.grossman@fcc.gov

http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2017/db1115/DOC-347775A1.pdf

For Immediate Release

STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER CLYBURN:
FCC MAJORITY’S ASSAULT ON PRO-CONSUMER POLICIES CONTINUES

WASHINGTON, November 15, 2017 – The following statement can be attributed to FCC Commissioner Mignon L. Clyburn:

"Tomorrow, the FCC majority will continue down its destructive path of adopting a series of actions that fail to put consumers first:

The FCC majority (Chairman Pai and Commissioners Rielly and Carr) will

  • make it more difficult for low-income Americans to access affordable communications services;
  • adopt a new, so-called ‘voluntary’ television standard that has even more outstanding and unanswered questions than the February Notice of Proposed Rulemaking;
  • shred consumer and competition protections in times of technology transitions; and
  • open the door to massive media consolidation at the expense of localism, competition, and viewpoint diversity.

During the first 10 months of 2017, the FCC majority has given the green light to more than a dozen actions [see enclosure] that are a direct attack on consumers and small businesses, and most Americans are unaware that the agency established to protect the public interest has traded in that role for the chance to grant the wish lists of billion dollar companies.

What consumers want is fast, affordable broadband access. What consumers want is access to a free and open internet without fear of being throttled or assessed a toll by their broadband service provider. What consumers desire is programming options that reflect the diversity of their community. Sadly, what they have is an FCC majority that feels otherwise which is why I remain committed to fighting for policies that give voice to those who far too often go unheard."

Continue reading “Snapshot of FCC Majority Assault on Pro-Consumer Policies”

NASA Engineer Opposes Small Cells in Piedmont, CA

Watch CBS-KPIX, Channel 5 news coverage: Nov 15, 2017 @ 6:00 pm
re: Dangerous Crown Castle/Verizon Cell Towers in Piedmont, CA

See Related Posts

Nasa Engineer, Peter Harvey Being Interviewed by CBS-KPIX News, SF Bay Area

Continue reading “NASA Engineer Opposes Small Cells in Piedmont, CA”

The Insidious Wheel of Misfortune

The Trump-FCC-AT&T-Et Al. Plan

By Bruce Kushnik 11/10/2017 03:10 am ET; Link to original article

Note: In Part I laid out how the FCC, which has oversight over most of the phone and cable companies’ business, has been captured by AT&T, Verizon et al. Chairman Pai is a former Verizon attorney; Commissioner Carr worked with Verizon, AT&T, and the wireless and phone associations as a lawyer for Wiley Rein, and Commissioner O’Reilly is a friend of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which creates model legislation designed and funded, in large part, by Verizon and AT&T. Since the companies helped to position this FCC takeover, they have also helped to create a voting-block that gives this Gang of 3 the ability to control, not only the agenda, but also the outcome and make it biased towards the companies’ wishes and against the Public’s interests.

The “Wheel of Mis-Fortune” is Insidious and Harmful

We uncovered that the FCC et al. have created a series of interconnected proposed rules, regulations and actions. Unfortunately, we, the public, are now facing at least 10-20+ different cuts into the public interest, (depending on how you count). Killing off net neutrality is just one of the many planned harms. While none of this is new, it is now a concealed, heavily-funded and very well coordinated plan, aided by the ability of the companies to control the FCC’s votes.

Primary Goals: AT&T and Verizon plan to be wireless-only entertainment companies. To get there the plan is to:

  1. Shut off the retail to-the-home Wireline networks and force customers onto more expensive wireless networks to their homes.

  2. Privatize the majority of the publicly owned Wireline networks as “Business Data Services” so the Telecoms are free to charge whatever prices they wish for access by their competitors.

  3. Get rid of all regulator obligations and constraints, from Title II duties: from financial accounting, to net neutrality, customer privacy and many others.

  4. Use the FCC, not market forces, to push through this plan.

Each of these goals have specific FCC proceedings that are designed to move a slice of the agenda forward. The Telecom companies aim to get their way with little or no consideration of the customers, municipalities or the public good.

The Trump-FCC-AT&T Et Al. Wheel of Misfortune

Before we detail the current FCC proceedings, let’s do a summary and go around the Wheel of Mis-Fortune clockwise. The Telcos use (and the FCC allows them to use) manipulated accounting to make the Wireline networks "look" unprofitable and the Wireless networks to "look" much more profitable than they are. We will connect the dots to the actual FCC dockets in a moment.

Continue reading “The Insidious Wheel of Misfortune”

Verizon Asks FCC to Prohibit States from Protecting Privacy

By Ernesto Falcon, November 3, 2017; Link to original article.

After lobbying Congress to repeal consumer privacy protections over ISPs, Verizon wants the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to do it a favor and preempt states from restoring their privacy rights. While Congress repealed the previous FCC’s privacy rule, it left the underlying Section 222 intact. As a result, dozens of state bills were then introduced to restore broadband privacy, mirroring Section 222 of the Communications Act.

Verizon’s two-pronged attack on privacy protections for Internet users would require the FCC to not only abandon federal privacy protections (which is part of their Title II common carrier obligations), but to also prohibit states from protecting the privacy of their residents.

The states, however, have a vital role to play in protecting Internet subscribers, particularly given the rollback of federal protections. It would be unwise for the FCC to attempt to block such protections at Verizon’s behest, and it would be on shaky legal footing if it tried to do so.

Legally, Congress has the power to override state laws that interfere with federal regulation, subject to important limits set forth in the Constitution. This power is called "preemption" – Congress can "preempt" state law. Since preemption interferes with states’ ability to govern conduct within their borders, courts do not simply assume that all action by federal regulators can overturn state laws. Contrary to Verizon’s claims that the FCC has clear authority to preempt on privacy, it would be legally unwise and potentially unlawful for the FCC to preempt the states.

Continue reading “Verizon Asks FCC to Prohibit States from Protecting Privacy”