title:  The Trump Administration Is ALREADY Taking Aim At Internet Freedom (DETAILS)
text: Donald Trump s new adviser on tech matters wants to basically get rid of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which acts as a consumer protection watchdog.On Monday, Trump appointed Mark Jamison as one of two members of his tech policy transition team. Let s take a look at his ideologies. In October, Jamison wrote a blog post explaining that he sees no reason for the FCC to exist. Most of the original motivations for having an FCC have gone away,  Jamison wrote.  Telecommunications network providers and ISPs are rarely, if ever, monopolies. As reported by the Washington Post:Jamison has argued that the FCC could be replaced by a much smaller agency charged with handing out licenses for wireless airwaves   essentially acting as a traffic cop for the spectrum over which cellphone calls, mobile data and TV signals travel.Many of the FCC s existing functions could be farmed out, Jamison wrote in the blog post. Subsidies for phone and Internet service could be handled by state governments, while the Federal Trade Commission could handle consumer complaints and take action against abuses by companies. There are some details that were not addressed in the blog post due to time constraints, Jamison said Tuesday, such as the possible need for new state-level powers to address broadband monopolies.FCC leadership has made it clear that they strongly disagree with Jamison s assessment. Tom Wheeler, the Democratic chairman of the FCC, has said that in much of the country there is a  duopoly  when it comes to internet service providers. This severely limits the options of many consumers.Wheeler has fought against companies who have slowed down internet speeds for users with unlimited plans. He has also taken action against companies who have billed customers for content and services they didn t sign up for. He has implemented rules regarding net neutrality to prohibit anticompetitive behavior. Wheeler also took steps to protect the public by forcing internet providers to follow the same privacy guidelines when handling consumer data as legacy phone companies.Hal Singer, an economist at the George Washington University s Institute for Public Policy, said both Jamison and Jeffrey Eisenach, the other member of Trump s two-man tech transition team,  envision a significantly pared-down agency. In their minds, proponents of regulation must demonstrate a market failure  This is a 180-degree turn from Wheeler s FCC, which began with a presumption that markets failed. Getting rid of the FCC would be disastrous, especially for the internet. Just like every other position Trump has filled in the past two weeks, he has chosen the most heinous choice possible.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images