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President Bush Releases US Broadband Policy
Ars Technica is reporting that while most people wouldn't know we have a national broadband policy in place, the president claims that not only do we have a plan, it's working spectacularly well. "That's the main conclusion of the just-released 'Network Nation: Broadband in America 2007' [PDF] report from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). What's shocking about the report isn't what it covers [...], but what it leaves out: it doesn't contain a single extended discussion of the fact that the US has been slipping in a worldwide broadband rankings throughout the decade."
Seriously, I cannot recall ever ever ever having an administration in office that was so intellectually dishonest.
Every administration uses "spin." Every administration puts its best foot forward. Every administration releases reports that give high marks to its own efforts, and it takes a skeptical and knowledgeable commentator to point out the flaws or jiggered priorities.
When Reagan said that trees cause pollution, or that all the radioactive waste from a reactor would fit under an ordinary office desk, these were misleading, but they were striking, and they were literally true, and made what were at least legitimate debating points.
But this administration's statements don't contain any facts in them at all. These guys just say whatever they think sounds good off the top of their heads, and hope that it will magically become true because they're saying it.
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
This report seems to concentrate on what the major corporations like Comcast and Verizon wants to hear (and it's not good).
Searching "network neutrality" in the PDF file returns 1 result, in the title of a source that was used. So nowhere in the policy does it say ANYTHING about network neutrality.
Nothing about domestic warrantless wiretapping of the Internet either!
Classic Bush Administration. Releases a big official policy, but leaves out every last thing we want to hear, substituting what Comcast and Verizon wants to hear. At least Barack Obama actually cares to mention this stuff.