Re: George Ford is getting booed and heckled

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: Brett Glass [brett () lariat net]
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 10:19 PM
To: David Farber; ip
Subject: Re: [IP] George Ford is getting booed and heckled

At 06:58 PM 4/17/2008, David Farber wrote:

> "It is pretty sad that the only economist here today could barely be heard over the heckling and boos.  This event is 
> really a farce."

I was there. And, yes, he was booed and heckled, basically for being pro-market and anti-regulation. It's a good thing 
that Tom Hazlett didn't show; they might have thrown things. ;-)

The room -- where, ironically, I both performed music and spoke when I attended Stanford 25 years ago -- was not full. 
Most of the crowd that did attend was marshalled by a group called "Save the Internet," which fed them talking points 
and much incorrect information. The crowd was uncivil and booed anyone who appeared not to favor an expansive and 
radical definition of Network Neutrality. (Except for me.... They kind of didn't know what to make of me. I wasn't 
representing a corporate behemoth but also was not an unqualified advocate of their agenda. One speaker did attack me 
during the public comment period, though.)

In any event, I was the sole representative of an Internet service provider speaking at the hearing. I had quite a lot 
to say that was unique and substantive and had not been heard by the Commissioners before. Alas, while I would have 
liked to have enough time to cover all of the major points, I only got to speak for 8 minutes. (Larry Lessig got much, 
much longer because his group at the Law School was hosting the hearing.) However, I did file written comments which 
covered all of the points I intended to make.

--Brett Glass


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