Tim Cook: Hateful views 'have no place' on tech platforms [More]They're also controlling what gets categorized as "hate."
I've seen (and made myself) observations about subjecting "progressives" to the same antitrust restrictions they would impose on the rest of us, about exemptins from "public utilities" rules they enjoy, about how phone companies don't impose their politics on the conversations they route, etc., and yet see no movement from the legislature to address the discrimination with even less chance anything will happen come January.
So what to do? I haven't heard the following suggested by anyone else:
The poles and cable lines they use to go through neighborhoods are dependent on easements approved by local governments crossing private property via rights-of-way. Could an individual sue, or alternatively, could a "conservative" municipality require the companies to not discriminate against lawful communications before authorizing THEIR unrestricted lawful use? Any potential for class action? Others following suit and a cascading effect...?
Admittedly, this is blue-skying. I elaborated on how the idea could work some years back:
A key component of information delivery is establishing cable franchise agreements with municipalities, such as this representative renewal between Comcast and the City of Pittsburgh. In such agreements, a provider such as Comcast requests “that the City renew [their] franchise to maintain, construct, operate, and upgrade its Cable System over, under and along the aforesaid rights-of-ways for use by the City’s residents."
That’s because “the aforesaid rights-of-way used … are public properties held in trust on behalf of the citizens by the City and the right to use said rights-of-way is a valuable property right [and] the City … has determined that the public interest would be served by renewing Comcast’s franchise.”
Is such blatant censorship of supposedly traditional American rights in the public interest?Cell towers require approvals, too.
Without the carriers, Google, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter got nothin'. Anybody with the legal credentials want to weigh in on if there is anything at all that can be used from this, or else propose a better way to address the problem?
4 comments:
Sounds a lot like gun control -- further punishing the innocent because you're powerless to affect the behavior of the guilty. The people who deliver last-mile service have no more pull with the FAANG miscreants than you do. It's like punishing Safeway and Kroger for having sold California romaine.
I guess you missed the part in my archived link about "“Comcast is slowly but surely erasing guns from all its advertising ...”
We're not talking Mom and Pop here. We're talking about giant conglomerates working to maintain information monopolies through exclusive franchises with municipalities, and setting precedent with one of those would defintitely have influence on their partners in discrimination.
But hey, I'll listen: Give me your better idea that I can support and promote.
Comcast doesn't operate out in cattle country, it operates in large blue municipalities. Suggesting that these municipalities regulate large carriers like Comcast to stop infringing rights that they themselves are more than happy to infringe at every opportunity is as silly as right-wing podcasters expecting totalitarian content services like Google and YouTube to continue carrying their content, and even paying them for it. These carriers are taking actions that their municipal masters approve of, and a way will be found to allow them to continue to do so despite regulation (see "sanctuary cities"). Any regulation you can devise will fall heavily on the small rural independents, while the large corporations with big legal teams will skate right past them (see "net neutrality").
Sorry, but explaining why this idea is bad puts no burden on me to provide a better idea, any more than asserting that a singer is flat compels me to prove my voice is better. Any better idea would be entirely unrelated to this theatre of operations.
This is war. These are supply lines.
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