Letter to my Congressman...

Hello Sir,

I hope this message finds you well and enjoying our wonderful Michigan weather.

Sir, I'm writing to follow up on years of writing to Mr. Moolenar on this topic: ISPs and Cable companies screwing the people of Michigan.

I told Mr. Moolenar in the past that the cable companies and ISPs in the United States are being outed and often sued nationwide over anti-competitive practices and Michigan is no different. I told him it would get worse soon if we let them write our latest legislation like has been proven in Tennessee and Kentucky and dozens of other states.

You see, ISPs want to have their cake and to eat it too; they don't want to upgrade or deploy broadband into low ROI areas, but they don't want others to either. And they certainly don't want added outside pressure disrupting the good thing (read: duopoly regulatory capture resulting in no competition and higher rates) they've enjoyed for fifteen years. While companies like AT&T could deter towns and cities from looking for creative alternatives by offering better, cheaper service, it's much less expensive to throw money at accessible lawmakers who, with the help of groups like ALEC, craft and pass laws protecting the duopoly status quo and keeping competitors out.
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And while this process has played out in dozens of states repeatedly over the last fifteen years (more than twenty states have let ISPs write similar state laws), our own Michelle Hoitenga's lack of experience recently provided a closer look at the often-grotesque process. Hoitenga doesn't appear to even remotely understand how the broadband industry works, from her belief that Michigan residents have 37 different ISPs to choose from, to her argument that letting giant ISPs dictate what locals can do in their own communities somehow...helps the little guy?

Sir, all I can say is, "what is this clueless woman doing legislating on something she doesn't seem to know anything about, as soon as she comes on the scene?"

Does that make ANY kind of logical sense?

Add to that, Campaign finance records show that two of her largest campaign contributors are AT&T Michigan and the Telecommunications Association of Michigan (TAM): AT&T gave her campaign money while TAM provided her with fairly large amounts for a first term state representative. The Michigan Cable Telecommunications Association — a separate entity from TAM — ALSO gave to her campaign.

According to state lobbying records reviewed by IBT, Hoitenga met and dined with TAM lobbyists during the first half of the year. Michigan’s lobbying disclosures are filed every six months, so it is currently unknown if TAM lobbyists has met with Hoitenga since June. The $142.82 spent to take Hoitenga out for a meal appears to be the only food and beverage expense TAM has disclosed in conjunction with its lobbying since 2001 , as far back as online lobbying records go.

The big picture, Sir, is that these companies have been systematically raping Americans for decades. Comcast now charges me a MINIMUM $75 for an internet connection that they then throttle based on what "kind" of internet traffic I use. They charge me another $75 just to get the THREE CHANNELS my family cares about that are purposefully separated across packages to force adoption of higher pricing. All while my cable guide is flooded with a TON of shit I don't want or need. Literally a thousand channels? Of crap? Hell, it's a challenge to find channels I DO have access to and my bill is a total $150+ a month. 1000 channels of shit programming and that's not to mention that every damn show I let my 12 year old watch has to stretch the boundaries of the American moral fabric with the LBGTQ+ agenda. Supergirl is now GAY! I have to explain THAT FAR sooner than I ever wanted to. Thank you cable company, NOT!

Then, this spring, after 25 years as a customer using up to 3 Terabytes a month, even back in 02 when they only gave you 12Megabits per second, I am now charged $50 DOLLARS for 50GB after going over 1TB in a month, just because, MONEY. (And I price and build these kind of networks, it's money. They are making it hand over fist. There is nothing driving increases but greed.That "fee" is at a rate greater than 5 times higher than what they charged me for the first 1000GBs)

They will give me blazing speeds to stream content at far higher bandwidth than any person actually needs (again wasting my now capped monthly bandwidth allotment), as long as Netflix pays them, for more money. They are literally invading our privacy by monitoring every site every member of my family goes to and selling our private personal habits and detailed information about our browsing and purchase for...wait for it...MORE money! Hell, these god damn companies make 32BILLION per QUARTER!!!!!!!! ...and they apparently have teams dedicated to dreaming up ever more creative and right impinging ways to squeeze even MORE money out of their customers, and they are lobbying NOW to make it so cities with shitty connectivity can't even GET a company to come in and do better. This is NUTS. It's even MORE nuts that our own government leaders are the ones getting these laws put in place.

I've said it for over a decade that we have already been screwed and they are going to tighten them. Here they are trying to tighten them right in front our face! With a FRESHMAN legislator no less. Do you think her platform had ANYTHING to do with "protecting those poor telcos in Michigan from competition?" It is literally STUPID to let them WRITE the legislation that screws your people. Please do something about this.

Finally, before I leave you, I'll tell you the same thing I told Mr. Moolenaar, I WANT TO HEAR YOU. I watch and I listen. If you are speaking out, if you are making yourself known, if you are looking out for the people of Michigan, I'll know it and I'll tell EVERYBODY how good a job you're doing, in person, not anonymously on the net. Otherwise, expect to hear me complaining on the regular. Please do NOT be a pussy. Stand up and make me proud. I wanna have tears in my eyes after hearing you speak. I want pissed off. I want ranting and raving against these assholes that constantly want to squeeze just a little more residual out of the American and the Michigander public.

Thank you Sir, and good luck making us all proud.

Jeremy Zakora
Proud resident of the great State of Michigan
Proud resident of the USA.