What is Reverse AT&T-ALEC
The Issues:
- The Dismantling of the Public Telecom Utilities and the Closing Down of Telecommunications Regulation in America.
- The “Cabal” – American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the telephone and cable companies have taken away your rights.
- The Failure to provide high speed, affordable broadband to everyone in America.
- The Solution: Reverse ALEC: Model Legislation, Legal Actions and Education to Oppose the ALEC-Phone-Cable Companies and Restructure Communications.
AT&T, Verizon and Centurylink, working with the American Legislative Exchange Council, ALEC, have been able to pass “model deregulatory legislation” in 23 states and there will be more attacks in the remaining states. While these bills vary, their target is to close down all major telecom regulations and obligations including ‘carrier of last resort’ –where the company no longer has to provide phone service, much less upgrade the networks. At the same time, on the federal level, AT&T has petitioned the FCC to use this ALEC-based approach to close down the networks nationwide and has got the FCC to set up a ‘task force’ to make this happen. Worse, next year, there will be proposed legislation in Congress to finish the job.
While couched as “Internet freedom”, in reality this is only freedom of regulation for the communications companies. 50% of the US will be pushed into ‘digital dead zones’ as AT&T and Verizon are not upgrading about half of their territories; even wireless services are impacted as most cell sites and Wi-Fi hot spots connect to a wire.
Giving the wired companies monopoly controls over their wires also impacts everything from competition and innovation to the price of service – or even who gets service, and customers will have no recourse. It also means no plans for major upgrades, thus no cable or even broadband competition. And it give control over all aspects of service, from Net Neutrality or bandwidth caps, to acting as a policeman of content or blocking innovative services.
The goals: Get your hands dirty and help Reverse ALEC.
- Bring together those who are fighting ALEC legislation and campaign finance harms with wireline, wireless, broadband, cable and Internet experts as well as a wide array of users of the networks, from “cloud” providers, tech and Internet experts, all forms of competitors from video content to service providers, and advocates for rural customers, minorities to consumer advocates and politicos.
- Create consensus on the issues, educational tools and a campaign to stop the AT&T-Verizon-ALEC-Cableco state and federal plans.
- Reverse ALEC: Create and implement model legislation and complaints to reverse the harms created by the ALEC-based telecommunications bills and use this as a model on how other industries can work to reverse ALEC bills.
- Create a leadership vision of a new, 21st century, very high speed, fully competitive future to drive economic growth, jobs and lower prices for customers.
Read More:
- View Reverse ALEC Legal Hackathan
- Join Reverse ALEC discussion Group
- File at the FCC to Deny the current AT&T-FCC Petition to Close down the Networks