The other issue, as Stanford Professor Barbara Van Schewick points out in a blog post, is that usage caps are bullshit constructs in the first place. If usage caps are pointless constructs that don't actually do anything, exempting a service from those caps is rather meaningless. Instead, there's any number of alternatives you could explore that could subsidize veteran access to these services, including giving vets a flat discount on their monthly broadband or wireless bill:"Carriers can also lower the cost of unlimited plans for everyone so people can use the internet in the way that’s best for them. That’s the real solution, not allowing ISPs to pick and choose what apps and what segment of the population gets relief from low data caps.Congress understands that, which is why it recently passed the Emergency Broadband Benefit that provides $50 a month to households with low incomes so they can do all the things they need to do online."The broadband industry and Brendan Carr know this. They know California regulators won't bring the hammer down on the VA. They also know there's ample workarounds that can be struck so this will never become an actual problem. But they're on the hunt to try and find ways to demonize popular, pro-consumer, pro-competition rules of the road. So "somebody" leaked the VA's questions to Politico, Carr hops on board with a helpful quote designed to mislead, and Politico runs with it. Without providing any context by actual subject experts like Van Schewick who would have quickly explained that this was all a non-issue.
- Date Published:03/26/2021
- Original Publication:Tech Dirt