December 20, 2017
Page 13
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O PINION
Corporate Interests Are Warping the Internet
Why should they
hold even more
power?
M ark l uskus
My
identity
was stolen this
year. The perpe-
trator didn’t open
credit cards in my
name or gain ac-
cess to my financ-
es. Instead, they used my name to
submit a comment to the Federal
Communications
Commission
(FCC) in support of repealing net
neutrality rules.
Those rules, enacted in 2015,
declared the internet to be a free
and open place. They prevent in-
ternet service providers, or ISPs,
like Comcast and AT&T from re-
stricting access to any websites
— either permanently or to charge
by
you more money to access them.
Imagine your water company
charging you more for the water
that comes out of your shower
than the water that comes out of
your sink. Or imagine not
being allowed to use your
shower at all, even though
you pay a water bill.
That’s what net neutrality
rules protect consumers from
when it comes to the internet.
But Ajit Pai, the current
FCC chairman and a former
lawyer for Verizon, scheduled a
vote to repeal net neutrality. To
do this, he had to solicit public to
comment on the matter.
In the past, this has resulted in
millions of pro-net neutrality com-
ments — which makes sense, be-
cause most Americans support it.
But this time, an unusual number
of anti-net neutrality comments
showed up.
Why? Because of the 22 mil-
lion comments received, half or
more of them appear to be fake,
likely posted by bots or special
interest organizations attempting
to sway the FCC’s opinion. When
I checked the FCC’s website, I
learned that one of those fake
comments used my own name and
address.
Someone had stolen my identi-
ty to advocate for a position that I
didn’t agree with.
Several people and organiza-
tions, including the New York at-
torney general, have petitioned the
FCC for information on the scale
and origin of fake comments.
However, the FCC has rejected
these petitions.
As a federal agency, the FCC
should be far more concerned
about the identity theft of the cit-
izens they’re tasked to represent.
Internet providers like Verizon,
the former employer of the FCC
chairman, complain that net neu-
trality rules slow their investments
in internet technology. Howev-
er, ISPs exist in a shockingly
non-competitive market.
More than 50 million house-
holds in the United States have
only one choice of provider, and
those providers score the lowest
customer satisfaction rates of
all 43 industries tracked by the
American Consumer Satisfaction
Index. Personally, I’ve never had
an ISP that offers reasonable cus-
tomer service or internet speeds
and reliability at the levels I pay
for.
This isn’t an industry that con-
sumers are satisfied with, so why
should they hold even more power
than they already do? No wonder
they have to rely on sleazy tactics
like stealing identities and posting
fake comments.
The internet has become an
essential tool in the 21st centu-
ry. A small handful of companies
shouldn’t have the power to de-
cide which parts of it people can
access.
Corporate-funded lies and iden-
tity theft highlight a major threat
to the benefits of increased com-
munication. How can we prevent
special interest groups from warp-
ing the internet to spread misinfor-
mation and further their political
goals?
That’s a question we must
answer, because misinforma-
tion campaigns are rampant, and
they’re being used to restrict your
rights and freedoms. But at the
very least, a former Verizon em-
ployee shouldn’t hold the power
to give ISPs a major win at the ex-
pense of consumers — and a free
and open internet.
Mark Luskus is a med student
at Emory University. He’s inter-
ested in infectious diseases and
public policy. Distributed by Oth-
erWords.org.
Journalist was a Fearless Civil Rights Legend
Honoring a
legacy and
press freedom
M arC h. M orial
“Glaring
down
at us from the truck
were five white men,
armed to the teeth
with shotguns. All
five sprang from the
truck and surrounded
the car. ‘Get out,’
the huskiest one snapped. ‘Who
are you n*****s and where are
you going?’ I couldn’t think of
anything but the truth so I told
them, ‘We’re reporters down here
to cover the [Emmett Till] murder
trial. We took the wrong road and
got lost.’ ‘You n*****s have no
business around here,’ he sneered.
‘You’re just stirring up trouble.’
Directing us to keep our hands
above our heads, they frisked
both of us then searched the car.
After what seemed like a lifetime,
the ‘hunters’ were satisfied with
having scared the hell out of us
and having ended their search
ordered us to ‘get the hell out”
of there.” – Simeon Booker,
Shocking the Conscience, A
Reporter’s Account of the Civil
Rights Movement.
For many decades, including
during my years as mayor of New
Orleans, Jet magazine ran a col-
umn of happenings from around
by
the country, called Ticker Tape. I
was honored that my work often
attracted the notice of the colum-
nist, Washington Bureau Chief
Simeon Booker. Memorably, it
was through Booker’s column
that my engagement to my
wife, Michelle Miller, was
announced to the nation. By
then, he was a civil rights
legend, having chronicled
far more momentous events.
We join the nation in
mourning his passing last
wet with tears, she leaned over the
body, just removed from a rubber
bag in a Chicago funeral home,
and cried out, ‘Darling, you have
not died in vain. Your life has been
sacrificed for something.’”
Perhaps more than any oth-
er journalist of his time, Booker
most comprehensively chronicled
the impact of the Urban League
Movement on civil rights and
racial equality in the nation. He
covered President Dwight D. Ei-
senhower’s historic 1958 meeting
and the National Council of Negro
Women – but also the frustration
that followed and led to the 1963
March on Washington.
To create a realistic picture of
the economic status of blacks in
1960 for the 5th anniversary edi-
tion of Jet’s sister publication, Eb-
ony, Booker relied on the National
Urban League’s research “to tell
black audiences what they already
suspected: that the masses of Ne-
gro citizens were actually farther
removed, relatively speaking,
He rode a bus with the Freedom Riders in 1961. He
covered not only President John F. Kennedy’s 1962 summit
with the “Big Six” – having expanded to include the leaders of
the Congress of Racial Equality and the National Council of
Negro Women – but also the frustration that followed and led
to the 1963 March on Washington.
week at the age of 99. In per-
son, Simeon Booker appeared
the epitome of a bookish word-
smith, with his heavy eyeglass
frames and natty bowtie. But his
mild-mannered looks belied his
ferocity as a journalist and a civil
rights warrior.
He gained fame as “the man
from Jet” during his coverage of
Emmett Till’s murder, funeral and
his murderers’ trial. His descrip-
tion of Emmett’s mother, Mamie
Till-Mobley, at the funeral be-
came instantly iconic: “Her face
with the “Big Four” civil rights
leaders, Rev. Martin Luther King.,
Jr., of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference, A. Phillip
Randolph of the Brotherhood of
Sleeping Car Porters, Roy Wilkins
of the NAACP, and my predeces-
sor as head of the National Urban
League, Lester Granger. He rode
a bus with the Freedom Riders in
1961. He covered not only Presi-
dent John F. Kennedy’s 1962 sum-
mit with the “Big Six” – having
expanded to include the leaders
of the Congress of Racial Equality
from the mainstream of American
life than they were 20 years ear-
lier.”
Before he found his own of-
fice space in Washington, Booker
often worked out of the Greater
Washington Urban League – and
even hired away a staffer, E. Fan-
nie Granton, as his first employee
when he opened Jet’s Washington
Bureau.
In his autobiography, Shock-
ing the Conscience, A Report-
er’s Account of the Civil Rights
Movement, Booker wrote about
the tragic death of National Urban
League Executive Director Whit-
ney M. Young, who drowned in
Nigeria in 1971. A friend, Brig-
adier General Daniel “Chappie”
James, then the highest ranking
black officer in the Air Force, tear-
fully confirmed the news.
“He’s my hero,” he choked.
“He’s my kind of guy because he
gets in there and proves what a
black cat can do – with his head
instead of a brick.” Chappie could
probably write a list as long as both
of his massive arms of the people
who might not be where they were
in their careers if it weren’t for the
work of the Urban League, whose
focus was jobs, jobs, jobs. While
other civil rights organizations
hammered away at school deseg-
regation, voting rights and public
accommodations – all of which
were important – the Urban
League had its own niche – and
it was economics – the econom-
ics of having a job, and after that
a better job, until a black man or
woman reached his or her fullest
potential.
We are grateful now, as then, for
Booker’s clear-eyed and fearless
reporting. At a time when reckless
accusations of “fake news” threat-
en to undermine the vital role of
the Fourth Estate, we should hon-
or his legacy by defending free-
dom of the press.
Marc H. Morial is president
and chief executive officer of the
National Urban League.