How you compare
John McCain shares a 38% similarity with your beliefs on Internet and Media
I support rules limiting the number of media outlets (newspapers, TV or radio stations, etc.) a single corporation can own within individual media markets.
Q: "Is there a role for the government to think about [how] we have too much concentration of power [in the media and telecommunications]?" MCCAIN: "I think the trend is in that direction, but you know, and most everybody in this room knows, that whenever government gets involved there is intended consequences and unintended consequences. And one of my complaints about the [Telecommunications Act of 1996] was that I thought it was over-regulartory.... So do I worry about it? Yeah. Am I ready for it to start winding its way through the committees and the special interests that have so much influence in Washington? Certainly not yet."
Co-sponsored the Broadcaster Freedom Act of 2007, which would "prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)...from having the authority to require broadcasters to present opposing viewpoints on controversial issues of public importance, commonly referred to as the Fairness Doctrine."
I support the principle of equal access to internet bandwidth known as “network neutrality.”
"I think anything that impinges on the ability of people to have access is something which we ought to be very careful about...I understand that when you control the pipe you should probably be able to get profit on your investment, etc.... I would let [internet service providers] charge for increased broadband access, increased flow of information, increased accessibility, etc.... I let the market and the technology solve most of the problems that I have seen. I have yet to see a consolidation in the telecommunications arena that makes me say, hey wait a minute, there's a restraint of competition here. That the consumer is not able to, that there concerns are not first."
Co-sponsored the Broadband Investment and Consumer Choice Act (S. 1504), a bill "to establish a market driven telecommunications marketplace, to eliminate government managed competition of existing communication service, and to provide parity between functionally equivalent services."
Primary sponsor of the Internet Regulatory Freedom Act of 1999 (S. 1043), a bill "to provide freedom from regulation by the Federal Communications Commission for the Internet."
Q: “…What is your position on the net neutrality issue?” MCCAIN: “In general, I think we need to move to a different model for thinking about the FCC. I think it should focus on policing clearly anti-competitive behavior and consumer predators. But, frankly, until some foul has been committed, I don’t think it should be interfering in the market, and probably shouldn’t be trying to micromanage American business and innovation. This is a very tough issue, because if you look at the extremes of it, then, obviously it has significant consequences – you can’t restrain the market, you can’t say that people can’t make a living or a profit off of the Internet. That obviously is not the intent of why the Internet was invented, and the reason why it has flourished. So what I would like to do is keep an eye on what goes on with the Internet, whether people are taking unfair advantage of it, whether people are being ripped off, and how this thing progresses.”
From McCain's official campaign website: "John McCain does not believe in prescriptive regulation like “net-neutrality,” but rather he believes that an open marketplace with a variety of consumer choices is the best deterrent against unfair practices."