Legislative Affairs

Letter to Georgia Legislators outlining thoughts related to the proposed Communications Flat Tax proposal contained in HB 385.

This coalition letter was circulated by Americans for Tax Reform and filed with the Federal Communications Commissions in opposition to their persuit of regulations misleadingly called “Net Neutrality” that would permit the government to dictate how Internet service providers manage the data that is transferred on the Internet. To do so, the FCC would apply “Title II” laws to the Internet originally intended for monopoly telephone carriers in the 1930s. The regulation opens the door for Internet taxes, price setting, content monitoring and censorship, and is also guaranteed to stifle broadband expansion and adoption, which would have a devastating impact on jobs and the economy.

The assigning and transferring of licenses made necessary to facilitate the purchase of NBC Universal by Comcast should be permitted to proceed without attaching any special policy conditions or policy requirements. The merger is a logical consequence of the convergence of the media and communications industries, and it should be permitted to succeed or fail based on the response of consumers in the marketplace. Because merger conditions can become precedent, policy should be made through a deliberative policy process involving all participants in the marketplace and not through the exceptional circumstances and vulnerability of a merger review process.