Jeff Chester, executive director, Center for Digital Democracy

For Jeff Chester, executive director at the Center for Digital Democracy, broadband is as much a civic concept as a means to provide high-speed Internet access. As a small handful of large cable and telephone companies look poised to become both content and conduit providers of high-speed Internet traffic, Chester is busy trying to ensure diversity and protect consumer interests. To that end, he will wave his pro-competition, open Internet flag until a shoulder gives out.

Without public policy to promote non-discriminatory Internet access, Chester said, the scope of the Internet would narrow considerably. In addition, broadband must focus on efforts that support economic growth as well as community development, political engagement and civic discourse — not just revenue-generating applications like gaming.

“If we don't design protection strategies at the beginning of the broadband era, then we'll sacrifice something for our culture,” Chester said. “We have a [chance] to help re-envision what media is, and to make sure it serves the needs of the pocketbook and the needs of the heart and mind.”

The FCC's decision in March granting cable companies the right to operate a closed network and assume predominant control over last-mile distribution was a huge setback to the future of broadband, he said. “Where Powell is correct is that there should be one national policy,” Chester said. “But where he is absolutely incorrect is that now there's a policy stifling competition.”

As fewer companies control the Internet, many ISPs will survive temporarily in a dial-up environment. But in the next five to seven years — when broadband becomes the de facto Internet requirement — independent ISPs will sink, taking with them much of the diversity the Web offers today, Chester said.

“Powell has issued a death warrant for every ISP in this country. The ISP industry is history — it's digital toast,” Chester said. “We have to ensure that those Web sites don't fade into the digital twilight as the realities of the broadband marketplace create barriers to distribution.” —Chris Sewell