ISP contributions and Net Neutrality

From Rick's Blog

ISP Lobbying:
Comcast has spent $107,477,000 in lobbying since 2008
Time Warner Cable has spent $44,205,424 in lobbying since 2008.
Verizon has spent $109,490,000 in lobbying since 2008.
AT&T has spent $112,846,426 in lobbying since 2008.

(It seems that ISPs are spending big bucks to lobby against Net Neutrality so they can charge extra for so-called "fast lanes" where companies like Netflix pay for extra fast bandwidth-Eric)

Content Provider Lobbying:
Netflix has spent $4,135,000 in lobbying since 2009.
Facebook has spent $21,529,268 in lobbying since 2009.
Twitter has spent $400,000 in lobbying since 2013.

The House Communications and Technology Subcommittee, which oversees the FCC, held a hearing to discuss the FCC’s proposed net neutrality regulations on Wednesday, Feb. 25.

MapLight, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that tracks money’s influence on politics, reports that, as of 2013, five of the 31 members of the subcommittee own stock in the companies listed above: Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ), Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ).

The five members own between $99,015 and $435,000 of stock in Internet providers. No members on the subcommittee reported owning stock in Netflix, Facebook, or Twitter.

Not surprisingly, according to http://energycommerce.house.gov/press-release/subcommtech-members-respond-fccs-unprecedented-regulation-internet

Quote :

WASHINGTON, DC – Republican Members of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology today responded to the FCC’s vote in favor of utility-style regulation of the Internet:

“Resorting to Great Depression-era rules will trigger a stampede to the courts, unleashing years of lawsuits and uncertainty at a time when U.S. leadership and the Internet economy are more important than ever. We believe the Internet has worked well under current rules, but we were – and we remain – willing to come to the table with legislation to answer the calls for legally sustainable consumer protections for the free and open Internet that has fostered a generation of innovation, economic growth, and global empowerment

It seems that money DOES buy congressmen.