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For Immediate Release June 4, 2003 Bruce Kushnick, 212-777-5418 Joe Plotkin, 212-982-9800 To Read the Letter to Senate Commerce Teletruth Urges Senate Commerce Committee to Investigate FCC’s Failure to Comply with Small Business Law and Bush Executive Order 13272. Customer Alliance Applauds Small Business Administration's Office Of Advocacy's Opposition to FCC’s Media Consolidation And Broadband Proceedings. New York --- Teletruth, a national customer alliance dealing with broadband, telecom, and mass media issues, today urged the Senate Commerce Committee to conduct immediate hearings on the FCC's failure to comply with laws that require small business interests to be considered in developing agency rules and regulations. Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) , the FCC is required, by law, to examine how any proposed law will affect small telecom, broadband, or media providers, as well as the small businesses that will use any of these services. It is also required, by law, to include these various small companies and users in the entire rule making process. Executive Order 13272 which President Bush signed in August 2002, further requires federal agencies to implement policies protecting small businesses when writing new rules and regulations. "Unfortunately, the entire process used by the FCC today for ALL of its current rulemakings is seriously flawed and needs immediate investigation," said Bruce Kushnick, president of Teletruth. "The FCC apparently believes it is above the laws written by Congress and the President, and it can arbitrarily ignore other government agencies, such as the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy and create laws without due process." Kushnick continued. "While there are many voices who have taken up the call to block the FCC's media consolidation plans, the entire discussion over the consolidation of broadband, the Internet and telecom, has been left out of the media spotlight. Unfortunately, if the proposed laws go through, competition, localism and diversity, not to mention the health of the US economy will also be dramatically impacted. Having only two monopolies, the cable and telephone companies controlling broadband and the Internet will spell disaster for innovation and growth as well. " states Joe Plotkin, DSL Marketing Director of Bway.net, and Teletruth board member. Broadband and Internet Diversity, Localism and Competition are at Stake. In 2002, Teletruth filed Comments in 6 of the Broadband proceedings that clearly demonstrated that the FCC had failed in at least 13 different ways to fulfill the basic obligations imposed on all agencies imposed by the Regulatory Flexibility Act. These included creating a detailed impact study on how their rules would affect the thousands of Internet service providers (ISPs),competitive local phone companies, (CLECs) not to mention the millions of small business and residential customers of these companies. The FCC also had neglected to develop any alternatives to its proposals, failed to reach out to small companies for comments on how the proposed rules would affect their business, or how it would impact their customers. Media Diversity, Localism and Competition are at stake---- Precisely the same lack of due process for small business and failure to consider how its proposed rules would impact small media businesses and their customers marred the FCC's recent Media Ownership proposals. According to SBA, the FCC did not analyze the impact that the proposed rule would have on small businesses. SBA also pointed out that the FCC has demonstrated a long-standing failure in dealing with the small business sector. Teletruth has also filed a Petition with the FCC requesting they investigate the current problems independent ISPs and their customers face when ordering and installation broadband and have recommended "The Broadband Bill of Rights" be adopted.
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