A month ago, we covered the news that a long-simmering municipal broadband bill had been taken off North Carolina's legislative stove and (to continue the metaphor) jammed back into Raleigh's government deep freeze. The bill targeted North Carolina communities who thought that broadband ought to be a public utility, and it sought to make such community-owned networks much more difficult.
"An Act to Ensure That A Local Government That Competes with Private Companies in Providing Communication Services Has The Support Of Its Citizens" was sponsored by a prominent state lawmaker and backed by incumbent ISPs, including the cable lobby. But it's not like those ISPs actually wrote the now-discarded bill, right?
Local TV station WCNC almost single-handedly makes me want to take back every bit of whinging I've ever done about the idiocy of local news, because they approached bill sponsor David Hoyle this week and came back with the sort of quotes journalists would trample their mothers for:
In the last legislative session Sen. Hoyle tried to put a moratorium on any more local governments expanding into municipal broadband.
When the I-Team asked him if the cable industry drew up the bill, Senator Hoyle responded, "Yes, along with my help."
When asked about criticism that he was "carrying water" for the cable companies, Hoyle replied, "I've carried more water than Gunga Din for the business community—the people who pay the taxes."
Yikes. In Hoyle's defense, this sort of practice is not uncommon—legislators often work with interest groups on particular pieces of legislation or on letters that go out under their name. But letting those who stand to benefit financially sit down and actually draft the bill protecting their interests, then bragging about how you carry more water for them "than Gunga Din"—well, you don't see that nearly as much.
The whole process echoes similar bill-writing exercises across the countries, where the cable and telecommunications companies boast powerful influence in state capitols. When AT&T got furious at local Illinois communities who were demanding build-out requirements on its U-Verse IPTV/Internet service, the company helped rewrite state law to bypass these local communities.
In 2007, wireless expert and New America think tanker Sascha Meinrath wrote, "I've just learned that AT&T lobbyists are holed up in state legislators' offices and are rewriting state laws that they will attempt to get passed in the dead of night. One might think that this is some sort of nefarious plot to some Gotham City corruption scandal, but it's happening right now in the State of Illinois... This late-night switcheroo is a blatant attempt to change State laws without public comment or input—it's a power-play by a telecom incumbent whose purpose is to maximize corporate profit margins at the literal expense of Illinois residents. As I've been warning for several months, AT&T is hellbent on having its way with the Illinois legislature."
The bill passed.
The issues are complex (the AT&T-backed franchise laws, passed in numerous states, may bring more competition to the local cable providers, though at the expense of tough build-out rules and local control), but it's not hard to see the dangers in letting lobbyists go so far beyond just offering information and perspective that they actually draft the bills that regulate their behavior.
Perhaps it's worth taking the long view, though. Hoyle identifies with Gunga Din, but where did Gunga Din end up?
So I'll meet 'im later on
At the place where 'e is gone --
Where it's always double drill and no canteen;
'E'll be squattin' on the coals
Givin' drink to poor damned souls,
An' I'll get a swig in hell from Gunga Din!
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