"Congressman AOL" holds Court on Net Policy
But even if you did require open access, AT&T
could still charge what it wants to any ISP who
wants access, thereby self-regulating the ISPs back
out of access by pricing them out of the market.
Well, then there ought to be some reasonable measure
as to what that carrier could charge for the use of its
platform.
One last question. Do you find it difficult to plead
your case and lead this charge, on the open access
issue in particular, when you're a Congressman
from Virginia? Some have even dubbed you
"Congressman AOL."
AOL (NYSE: AOL) is not in my Congressional
district. In fact, AOL is at the farthest end of the State
of Virginia from my district. I'm not AOL's
Congressman.
I do, however, have 25 ISPs in my district, and they
do care about this issue, because if they don't, they're
going to get killed.
EPILOGUE
Reuters has just reported that GTE (NYSE: GTE) and
America Online are expected to organize a high-profile
demonstration next week to prove that giving Internet
service providers access to cable networks is both
possible and practical.
This demonstration is intended to undercut arguments
by AT&T and other cable companies, which claim that
offering access to ISPs through the cable networks is
technically infeasible.
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