Matt Wood: New Trump FCC Chairman Aims to Scrap Net Neutrality, Consumer Protections

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

You can also listen to full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which are generally available some time the day following broadcast.

Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.

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New Trump FCC Chairman Aims to End Net Neutrality, Consumer Protections

Posted Feb. 22, 2017

Interview with Matt Wood, policy director with the media democracy group Free Press, conducted by Scott Harris

On Feb. 26, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission voted in favor of new regulations that reclassified broadband Internet as a public utility under Title II of the Communications Act. The new rules that went into effect in June 2015, prohibited Internet service providers, including cellular carriers from blocking, slowing down or speeding up online traffic or giving priority to Web services in exchange for payment. This regulatory doctrine, commonly known as Net Neutrality, had been at the heart of political battles since the 1990s.

Now, just 21 months after Net Neutrality rules came into force, President Trump's newly-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission, former Verizon attorney Ajit Pai, has taken quick action to reverse consumer protections initiated during President Obama's eight years in office. A Republican appointee serving on the FCC for the past three years, Pai has long been an opponent of Net Neutrality. Upon being elevated to chairman, he released a blizzard of actions that included halting nine companies from providing discounted high-speed broadband Internet service to low-income households, revoking a program to keep prison phone rates low, and discarding a proposal to require pay-TV providers to make video programming available to the makers of third-party devices and software, saving consumers monthly cable box rental fees.

Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Matt Wood, policy director with the media democracy group Free Press.net, who examines the new direction of Donald Trump’s FCC and the future of Net Neutrality under his chairman Ajit Pai.

MATT WOOD: In the FCC, there are five commissioners, but it is very much a top-down organization from the chair. The chair controls all of the other offices and bureaus within the commission. So it's probably fairest to think of it as a really steep pyramid with a chairman at the top of it, and other four commissioners get votes, but they don't get to set the agenda. There also – in addition to political pressure, though – are administrative law and court decisions and the legal framework within which the FCC has to act, and the statutes that it's bound by that are passed by Congress. So I guess I would say we're optimistic about beating back these attack. But we're not naive about how hard it's going to be. And as chairman, Chairman Pai has, I wouldn't say unlimited power, but lots of power to set the agenda. He has to then try to complete these tasks within the framework of the rulemaking and other formal proceedings they have at the FCC and those have to survive appellate review as the Net Neutrality rules themselves did just last year when they went up and won in the D.C. Court of Appeals. So there are a lot of things constraining his ability to do all these bad things, including the people listening to this program who can make their views known at the FCC once again. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have a lot of ways to try to undo them over the coming weeks and months.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Just to review the mechanism for undoing Net Neutrality, for instance. Is it a simple vote of the FCC? Or does this have to go through a court for any kind of review as I think you just indicated?

MATT WOOD: Well, both. So any federal agency can take a vote and try to make a rule or undo a rule. But to get there they have to have reasons for their decision-making. So it's not like they can just go in there tomorrow and say, "We've changed our mind and this is voting day." They have to ask questions. They have to take input from the public. Typically, if you look at the administrative laws that govern all these agencies – it's called "Notice and Comment" rulemaking. So the agency provides all of us with notice of what they intend to do, and we get a chance to comment. And there are other ways he can try to chip away at it. They could issue some orders without really seeking comment, but that's not a very good way to survive a court challenge. They could simply ignore the rules and not try to take them off the books, but refuse to enforce them. They could drop their defense of the rules that are still in court, because there's a small chance that the rules that are in place now will continue on their way through the appellate process and wind up in the Supreme Court, as a predecessor version of them did about a decade ago. So, Chairman Pai will have lots of opportunities to either undo or chip away at the rules. We're not sure exactly which one of those he'll take. Personally, I don't think any of them are particularly appealing to him because even though he has a strong ideology against these rules, they're very popular. What has become a partisan issue inside of D.C. and inside the Beltway here where I am, is not really all that political outside of it. You know, most people – Democrat or Republican alike – don't want Comcast or AT&T telling them what they can do on the Internet. So I think he'll face a lot of opposition if he tries to really dismantle the rules. As I was saying earlier, whatever he does can be taken to a higher court and we've seen that happen time again with the FCC. They haven't always won and in fact, sometimes we've beaten them. But, this last time around, we agreed with them about how they finally got to good Net Neutrality rules and those did stand up in court just last June.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Well, Matt, just to wrap up here before we conclude. What are some of the strategies that your group Free Press and other allies will be looking into to mobilize opposition to some of these very major changes that this new FCC chair, with the support of Donald Trump, are going to be pushing.

MATT WOOD: Yeah, he's appointed by the president, and Donald Trump who supposedly has a populist veneer – I have yet to really see it outside of Twitter rants – but in theory he's not supposed to be just doing what big corporations want. I don't think his Cabinet has gotten the memo. Pai is also from a corporate background and we're worried that he will try to basically do what's good for cable and phone companies and not for real people. All that said, he does have to do things within the law at the FCC and then that has to pass muster in appellate court. And so we have legal filings we can make at the FCC to try to slow them down or convince them that the conclusions they might come to are wrong. We can sue them in court if we don't like the final decision.

And then Congress is yet another playing field, here, where there might be people trying to change the law for the worse and taking power away from the FCC or I guess in this context, giving Pai more power to do bad things. We'll fight them there as well. The key ingredient, for all that, other than the courts, which are a little more impervious to political pressure, we hope, but both in Congress and at the FCC, it's not just a matter of the filings that Free Press and other groups make.

It really is public comment and has been for the last decade-and-a-half or so a key component of everything we do – helping real people to make their voices heard in these FCC proceedings because they're something of a dry legal setting in some ways, but I think, as we've seen over the past few weeks, people calling their members of Congress and resisting a lot of the bad things coming out of this administration, that really matters. People on the phone and sometimes even people on the streets, coupled with the lawyers' filings that we hope we can make pretty well down here from our offices in Washington.

So it's really an all-of-the-above strategy. And as I said, we're not naive about how hard it's going to be. But we are optimistic the people can win despite the power that this new administration is trying to exercise right out of the gate.

Find more information by visiting freepress.net and savetheinternet.com.