Tauzin-Dingell (was ICANN)

Tue Mar 5 20:21:06 UTC 2002

Last week, I told you about the bill allowing ILECs to stop selling us 
lines for "high speed" networks, HR 1542.

http://www.newnetworks.com/TauzinDingellisevil.htm

Unfortunately, it passed the House, and now we have to kill it in the 
Senate.

Well, here's what Dingell said about CLECs and ISPs on the House floor:

"There has been a great deal of whining and complaining by a group of
monopolists, would-be monopolists and parasites who do not want the 
legislation. "  [Congressional Record, Page: H573, Time: 11:45]

There is a chance to defeat this joker in the August Michigan primary.  
Lynn Rivers is redistricted together with him, and she has a small 
lead in the polling (at this time).  Lynn lives near Merit in Ann Arbor, 
and has been supportive of ISP and Internet issues for as long as I've 
known her.  (I'm very biased, I first met her when she invited 
Honeyman and I to participate in an Internet privacy roundtable 7+ years 
ago.)

However, Dingell has gotten a lot of money from the big 4 ILECs -- 
they are his biggest contributors, even bigger than auto companies. 
Most of his contributions are from PACs (merely 9 individual 
contributions from people that could vote for him last reporting 
period).  He'll be spending big bucks on TV time.  That could turn 
things around for him.

Lynn actually has taken very little PAC money over the years.  Most of 
her donations are from thousands of individuals from her district.

ISPs are going to have to step up to the plate and help.  I know that 
ISPs in Michigan are working on this, but we need some sort of 
national effort to defeat a national problem.

It's time again for us "parasites" to swarm together.

http://www.rivers4congress.com/

-- 
William Allen Simpson
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