[kictanet] Net Neutrality under Trump Presidency

Sat Nov 12 00:27:47 EAT 2016

Here is an article on how we expect the Trump government to approach policy
regulation and Net Neutrality:
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/trump-transition-team-jeffrey-eisenach-229276

Trump transition team picks regulation foe as telecom point man

By TONY ROMM <http://www.politico.com/staff/tony-romm>

10/07/16 10:48 AM EDT

Updated 10/07/16 01:50 PM EDT
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NEW YORK — Donald Trump's presidential transition team is turning to a
crusader against regulation as it seeks to craft a strategy on issues like
net neutrality and the future of the Federal Communications Commission,
according to three sources familiar with the effort.

The newly tapped aide, Jeffrey Eisenach, is a known commodity in Washington
tech and telecom circles. Dating back to his time as leader of the
now-defunct Progress and Freedom Foundation, he's argued vigorously in
favor of the FCC taking a hands-off approach to digital issues. While there
in the 1990s, he also called for robust penalties against Microsoft during
the U.S. government's antitrust investigation of the software giant.

In 2012 Eisenach arrived as a fellow at the conservative American
Enterprise Institute — and in that role, he’s been an outspoken antagonist
of FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and his policies. In his research and advocacy,
often backed by tech and telecom interests, he's slammed the Obama
administration's efforts on net neutrality, broadband investment and more.

Eisenach declined to confirm or deny his role with the campaign when
reached by phone late Thursday. The Trump campaign did not respond to a
request for comment. But the transition team's nascent telecom effort comes
as the Republican nominee scrambles to catch up with his Democratic
opponent, Hillary Clinton, who released a full tech policy roadmap in June.

It also marks a shift for Eisenach, who earlier this election cycle had
criticized Trump. In March, he tweeted that he wouldn’t “apologize for
pulling out all stops to defeat Trump,” citing the stakes in the election.
But that tweet, and others critical of the GOP candidate, have since been
deleted from his timeline.

He's also been the source of controversy: The New York Times
<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/09/us/politics/think-tank-scholars-corporate-consultants.html>
in
August needled Eisenach for his research and writing on issues like net
neutrality, some of which has been funded by companies like Verizon and
other telecom interests that oppose the FCC's rules.

News of Eisenach's role came as Trump’s senior transition advisers briefed
key leaders in the tech sector today about their next steps. Attending the
private, Friday morning session were groups like the Internet Association,
the Information Technology Industry Council and BSA | The Software Alliance
— advocacy groups that represent companies including Apple, Facebook,
Google, Microsoft and Twitter. Representatives from specific companies like
Amazon, Facebook, Google, Lyft and Uber also attended, three sources who
attended the meeting said.

They heard from Rich Bagger, the executive director of the Trump transition
effort; Bill Palatucci, its general counsel; Ado Machida; who heads up
policy implementation; and Cam Henderson, finance director for the
transition. But Christie, who had initially been billed as taking part,
didn't join the meeting because he’s on the trail with Trump, according to
an updated invite sent Thursday.

The sources who attended the session, which was off the record, later told
POLITICO that Trump's team made clear it did not expect to craft a full,
new tech platform. But the GOP candidate's aides urged the industry to
submit their recommendations for potential federal agency appointments — as
well as regulations they'd like to see shredded if Trump is elected
president, the sources said.

The meeting also came with a fundraising pitch. In its initial invite, the
Trump transition team asked tech participants to consider opening their
wallets to help the GOP candidate. Some Silicon Valley giants, like Apple,
refused to donate to the GOP convention in July because of Trump’s
incendiary comments about women, immigrants and minorities.
[image: 161006_christie_trump_1_gty_1160.jpg]
<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/chris-christie-donald-trump-transition-administration-229265>

2016 <http://www.politico.com/news/2016-elections>
Conservatives try to undercut Christie's role in Trump land
<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/chris-christie-donald-trump-transition-administration-229265>

By NANCY COOK <http://www.politico.com/staff/nancy-cook> and ANDREW
RESTUCCIA <http://www.politico.com/staff/andrew-restuccia>

Eisenach did not attend the session, according to participants. But those
familiar with his work say he’s playing an early role in advising Trump's
transition effort on telecom issues — a topic Trump has rarely mentioned on
the campaign trail.

Eisenach is an economist and held key advisory roles at the Federal Trade
Commission from 1983 to 1985. He served as an aide at the Office of
Management and Budget in the 1980s and landed in 1993 at the Progress and
Freedom Foundation, staying there for a decade.

Among his writings as president of the organization, Eisenach and one of
his colleagues endorsed one of the most aggressive options available to
investigators of the Microsoft case — splitting the tech giant into “four
companies from the current one and so restore competition to the market for
operating systems.” That, he wrote, would be “clearly preferable to other
alternatives.”

Eisenach departed the group in 2003 and since then has held key roles at
firms like NERA Economic Consulting, where he remains a senior vice
president. There, he has produced industry-backed research arguing for
deregulation of companies.

In 2015, he authored a paper
<http://www.nera.com/publications/archive/2015/the-economics-of-zero-rating.html>
—
supported by Internet.org, the internet access project backed by Facebook —
that touted the benefits of zero rating, the idea that internet service
providers subsidize data charges from particular websites and services.
Public interest groups have called on the FCC to stop the practice, which
they say violates net neutrality, the principle that all web traffic should
be treated equally.

Eisenach has also testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee
<http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/why-net-neutrality-matters-protecting-consumers-and-competition-through-meaningful-open-internet-rules>
in
recent years in opposition to the FCC net neutrality rules, which remain
the subject of a court battle with telecom firms.

*Nancy Scola contributed to this report.*

______________________
Mwendwa Kivuva, Nairobi, Kenya
twitter.com/lordmwesh

On 11 November 2016 at 15:57, Ali Hussein via kictanet <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> Barrack
>
> Unfortunately recent events has shown us unequivocally that politics and
> Internet Governance are inseparable.. Sad but true.
>
> *Ali Hussein*
> *Principal*
> *Hussein & Associates*
> +254 0713 601113
>
> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>
> Skype: abu-jomo
>
> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
>
>
> "Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking
> what no one else has thought".  ~ Albert Szent-Györgyi
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On 11 Nov 2016, at 12:56 PM, Barrack Otieno <otieno.barrack at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> @ Boniface and Ali
>
> I think it is too early to Judge his Excellency D. Trump, time to
> separate politics from actual governance.
>
> Regards
>
> On 11/10/16, Ali Hussein via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> wrote:
>
> Boniface
>
>
> Thanks for sharing. This particular part of the story caught my eye:-
>
>
> Trump has proclaimed he opposes net neutrality, despite making it
> abundantly
>
> clear he doesn't appear to actually know what it is (he appears to falsely
>
> believe it has something to do with the fairness doctrine). As such most
>
> people believe he'll work to gut the current FCC, which as we've noted has,
>
> for the first time in arguably twenty years or so, actually been doing a
> few
>
> things to actually help broadband consumers and sector competition.
>
>
> My take on this is simple. As much as we are interested on what the US will
>
> do going forward let's clean our house first. Net Neutrality is a very low
>
> priority item in the scheme of things in Kenya and Africa in general. We
> are
>
> hoping that the new ICT Policy 2016 will eventually address this issue.
>
>
> Where the US is concerned I think we need to look at how the new
>
> administration will treat the IANA transition seeing as it is that the
>
> Republicans now have control of both houses. I dare say that how they
> engage
>
> going forward will have a dramatic effect on how Global Internet Governance
>
> will shape up. And the question we must ask ourselves is this:-
>
>
> Will the Trump Presidency enhance Internet Governance as we know it or will
>
> it weaken it and give China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and their ilk the excuse
>
> they need to Balkanize the World Wide Web?
>
>
> Ali Hussein
>
> Principal
>
> Hussein & Associates
>
> +254 0713 601113
>
>
> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>
> Skype: abu-jomo
>
> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
>
>
>
> "Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what
>
> no one else has thought".  ~ Albert Szent-Györgyi
>
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
>
> On 10 Nov 2016, at 1:00 PM, Bonface Witaba via kictanet
>
> <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
>
> Sharing this link following the Net Neutrality debate on the list.
>
> In Wake Of Trump Win, ISPs Are Already Laying The Groundwork For Gutting
>
> Net Neutrality
>
> In Wake Of Trump Win, ISPs Are Already Laying The Groundwork For Gutting
>
> Net Neutrality
>
> With Donald Trump now the President elect, all eyes in telecom have turned
>
> to what happens now in regards to FCC telecom enforcement generally, and
>
> our shiny new net neutrality rules specifically. Trump has proclaimed he
>
> opposes net neutrality...
>
>
>
> Bonface Witaba
>
>
> Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
>
>
> On Thu, 10 Nov, 2016 at 12:00, kictanet-request at lists.kictanet.or.ke
>
> <kictanet-request at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
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> Today's Topics:
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>
>  1. Re: The Internet under President Trump... (Mallory Knodel)
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> Message: 1
>
> Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2016 20:23:58 +0300
>
> From: Mallory Knodel <mallory at apc.org>
>
> To: "Grace Mutung'u (Bomu)" <nmutungu at gmail.com>, KICTAnet ICT Policy
>
>    Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] The Internet under President Trump...
>
> Message-ID: <58235BAE.70402 at apc.org>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
>
> Thanks! I live in Nairobi for personal reasons (my partner is from
>
> Mombasa and we live nearby to look after his mum) and I work remotely
>
> for APC. But looking forward to connecting with you all any chance I get!
>
>
> -Mallory
>
>
> On 09/11/16 07:04 PM, Grace Mutung'u (Bomu) wrote:
>
> Welcome to KICTANet and to Nairobi Mallory. We are glad to have you
>
> here.
>
> Are you working on any Kenyan related projects or are you just based
>
> here?
>
> Again, Karibu!
>
>
> 2016-11-09 18:15 GMT+03:00 Mallory Knodel via kictanet
>
> <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke <mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>>>:
>
>
>   Surveillance is a huge concern. Policy change at the top level is
>
>   nearly impossible now. Bottom up solutions are needed.
>
>
>   -Mallory
>
>
>   PS -- My first time posting on Kictanet. Hello! I'm staff at APC
>
>   (apc.org <http://apc.org>) living in Nairobi as of July.
>
>
>
>   On 09/11/16 04:14 PM, Ronald Ojino via kictanet wrote:
>
>
>   I believe it may be a little bit too early to judge.America has
>
>   institutions and accountability is key, so i believe it may not
>
>   be that bad and freedoms such as net neutrality will still be
>
> upheld.
>
>
>
>   On 09-Nov-2016 3:32 PM, "Michael Bullut via kictanet"
>
>   <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
>
>   <mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>>>
> wrote:
>
>
>       Greetings Team,
>
>
>       How will it fair for the rest of the world? I see Net
>
>       Neutrality going & big business getting priority etc. Any
>
>       other thoughts?
>
>
>       Warm regards,
>
>
>       Michael Bullut.
>
>
>       ---
>
>
>       *Cell:* /+254 723 393 114.
>
>       /*Skype Name:* /Michael Bullut./
>
>       //*Twitter:*//**@Kipsang <http://twitter.com/Kipsang/>
>
>       //
>
>       */*Blog: *//http://www.kipsang.com//*
>
>       *E-mail:* /main at kipsang.com <mailto:main at kipsang.com
> <main at kipsang.com>>/
>
>       *
>
>       *
>
>       /---/
>
>
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> <https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mallory%40apc.org
> >The
>
>   Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder
>
>   platform for people and institutions interested and involved in
>
>   ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst
>
>   for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of
>
>   ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to
>
>   the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow
>
>   in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share
>
>   knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy,
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>   do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
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> nmutungu%40gmail.com>
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>   The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder
>
>   platform for people and institutions interested and involved in
>
>   ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst
>
>   for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT
>
>   enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the
>
>   same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in
>
>   real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge,
>
>   don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam,
>
>   do not market your wares or qualifications.
>
>
> --
>
> Grace L.N. Mutung'u Nairobi Kenya Skype: gracebomu Twitter: @Bomu
>
> <http://www.diplointernetgovernance.org/profile/GraceMutungu>
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> PGP ID : 0x33A3450F
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> -- Mallory Knodel Association for Progressive Communications :: apc.org
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> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and
>
> development.
>
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>
>
>
>
> --
> Barrack O. Otieno
> +254721325277
> +254733206359
> Skype: barrack.otieno
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> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>
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