New America
A practicing attorney, Future Tense fellow at New America, and a visiting scholar at Stanford Law School's Center for Internet Society
PROFILE
Marvin Ammori
Guest
FROM Marvin Ammori
To the Point
New Rules for the Internet FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is advocating that Internet providers be required to maintain " net neutrality ." The one-time chief lobbyist for the cable industry has turned on former employers, including Comcast and Time-Warner. That means cable and phone companies could not increase their profits by selling faster access to some websites while denying it to everyone else. Google, Netflix, Amazon, many businesses and consumer groups call that a major victory. But another battle in 10 years of warfare is just beginning. On a video that went viral last summer, comedian John Oliver told his viewers the FCC was asking for their opinions. Oliver may or may not deserve credit, but the agency has received four million public comments. And now, the joke may be on him. Tom Wheeler, the very man Oliver said wanted to "fix" a system that wasn’t broken, has now proposed what Oliver wanted.
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To the Point
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
To the Point
What is Trump's plan for Middle East peace? On his first foreign tour, President Trump has promised "peace" between Israel and the Palestinians. Are there any details for re-starting talks that have been stalled for the past three years?
To the Point
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.