So this is good in a way that he recognizes the goals (in the first paragraph) that we are calling for. We share these goals with him. However, he fails to recognize that the only way to protect them is to reinstate the policy (that the FCC had in place until just recently) that led to the internet being what it has become - net neutrality.

McCain fails to understand that net neutrality only regulates the internet in the same way the First Amendment to the US Constitution regulates speech!! There are many different kinds of regulation, and this is one that protects the rights of individuals and an entire public good from being victimized by giant corporations.

On the issue of broadband, McCain's plan does come out in support of community broadband, which we commend him for. The plan states:

"As President, John McCain would continue to encourage private investment to facilitate the build-out of infrastructure to provide high-speed Internet connectivity all over America. However, where private industry does not answer the call because of market failures or other obstacles, John McCain believes that people acting through their local governments should be able to invest in their own future by building out infrastructure to provide high-speed Internet services. For this reason, Senator McCain introduced the "Community Broadband Bill," which would allow local governments to offer such services, particularly when private industry fails to do so. "

While he couches this in terms of where there is market failure, it should be noted that many consider open and free access to the internet to be a public good, and thus there will ALWAYS be a market failure for that since the market wants money. so the point isn't just whether or not there is availability of broadband, it's a more complicated question of who can access and at what price and does the community want to offer it for free.

In part to address this, he states "John McCain will establish a "People Connect Program" that rewards companies that offer high-speed Internet access services to low income customers by allowing these companies offset their tax liability for the cost of this service." However, that still puts the power of who gets access into the hands of the big corporations, NOT the community.

To summarize, on broadband, McCain is close to getting it right in our eyes, but not quite there yet.

If you are interested in further analysis, I would recommend reading Harold Feld's always entertaining blog. However, his opinions are his alone.