More on Bill Clinton's 1996 Telecommunications Act…

 

The Hill had a story on the effects of the Act a few years ago.: (https://thehill.com/policy/technology/268459-bill-clintons-telecom-law-twenty-years-later)

 

And though the article is not entirely different than what you can find on Wikkipedia, the true impact can be seen in the Comments section after the article.

 

Bill Clinton’s telecom law: Twenty years later.

 

Here are some of the Comments which help clarify what Q might have been referring to:

 

Brett Glass • 4 years ago • edited

Unfortunately, this week's INCOMPAS event, which seems to have been INCOMPASitated by the influence of large corporations' lobbying money, will feature not a single small, competitive ISP nor a single practicing engineer as a speaker. Small, local, competitive ISPs such as WISPs are nowhere to be found on the agenda. Instead, it will have a slate of the "usual suspects:" DC corporate lobbyists from the largest firms, most especially large edge providers such as Netflix. Real world competition is such a foreign concept within the Beltway Reality Distortion Field that even an organization with the word "competition" in its name is in fact discouraging and attacking it.

 

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Richard Broderick • 4 years ago • edited

Bob Dole, of all people, had it right when running for President in '96. The act turned out to be a multi-billion dollar giveaway to the big names in the telecom business, turning the field into a network of royal charters. It ushered in the era where a company like Clear Channel could expand from a network of a few dozen stations in the Southwest into a company that, largely through unfair competitive practices, bought out hundreds of local and small chain radio stations while also expanding unchecked into other forms of media, and blanketed the country with hate-filled talk radio while at the same time encouraging the censoring of dissident voices there's evidence that the "spontaneous" record-smashing demonstrations against the Dixie Chicks in 2003-04 were engineered in CC's offices back in Texas. The act is also why Americans pay sky high rates for cable TV packages with little room to pick and choose channels a consumer wants to watch offered by Gorgon-like entities such as Comcast, which, like its locked in "competitors" in other markets offers us serfs some of the worst internet service in the developed and some parts of the developing – world.

 

In short, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 is a fine example of why we cannot trust the Clintons any further than we can throw them; whatever they say, whatever ideals they espouse, they are always in it for themselves and damn the consequences for the rest of us.

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Bullet2354 • 2 years ago • edited

And today…. the results speak for themselves…. the most CONCENTRATED Media ever… the fewest owners - the most power concentrated in the fewest hands….

 

"These 6 Corporations Control 90% Of The Media In America"

www.businessinsider.com/the…

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$

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just say'n • 4 years ago

The Clinton's got rich off bribes and our cable bills, and phone bills went up. That's just the way the Clinton's role. They make Boss Tweed look like a saint.

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Barbara Jean • 3 years ago

All Bill Clinton did was not veto it. With a majority Republicans in the House and Senate, he had to pick and choose his battles. That is not to say that I'm a fan of Clinton but let's give credit where credit is due. However I wish he would have fought that one.

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Rick Myers • 4 years ago

I was working in Telco IT in 96, and instead of bringing competition, the Telecommunications Act brought consolidation. Within 5 years, the number of Telcos dropped, and all those mergers brought about "synergies", which meant layoffs. Hundreds of thousands of Americans lost their jobs as a result, and with the race to offshore key work, about two hundred thousand more Americans (mainly in IT) lost their jobs.

 

If Donald Trump call the Telecommunications Act of 1996 a "Yuge Disaster", it would be the first time he was correct about anything.

 

Today, we really only have two choices for the carrier who will drop your calls. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

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Bill Smith2 • 4 years ago

Since you're here, Mr. Clinton.. Thanks for helping N. Korea get the guided missile technology, the world really didn't need them to have.. Good job buddy!!