FCC commissioner says Internet at risk



WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- A U.S. federal official warned Friday the
Internet is at risk because entrenched interests are positioning
themselves to control the network's chokepoints.

Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Copps also warned those
entrenched are lobbying the FCC to aid and abet them.

Speaking in Washington to the New American Foundation, Copps said the
Internet was designed to prevent government or a corporation or anyone
else from controlling it.

"But this original vision of the Internet may soon be lost," he said.
"In its place a warped view that open networks should be replaced by
closed networks and that accessibility can be superceded by a new
power to discriminate is emerging."

He said, "Our ill-advised Internet policy is only one piece of a
tectonic shift across the whole range of FCC issues. From media to
telecom to the Internet, we appear to be rushing toward breathtaking
regulatory alterations."