Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard
In February 2015, the FCC's then-Democratic leadership led by Chairman Tom Wheeler classified broadband as "telecommunications," superseding the previous treatment of broadband as a less heavily regulated "information service." This was crucial in the rulemaking process because telecommunications providers are regulated as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act, the authority used by the FCC to impose bans on blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization.
Thus, when the FCC's new Republican majority voted on May 18 to start the process of eliminating the current net neutrality rules, the commission's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) also proposed redefining broadband as an information service once again.
To make sure the net neutrality rollback survives court challenges, newly appointed FCC Chairman Ajit Pai must justify his decision to redefine broadband less than three years after the previous change. He argues that broadband isn't telecommunications because it isn't just a simple pipe to the Internet. Broadband is an information service because ISPs give customers the ability to visit social media websites, post blogs, read newspaper websites, and use search engines to find information, the FCC's new proposal states. Even if the ISPs don't host any of those websites themselves, broadband is still an information service under Pai's definition because Internet access allows consumers to reach those websites.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 03 2017, @04:58PM
I saw Idjit Pai interviewed recently, I think it was a puff-piece pushing his milquetoast non-plan to stop phone spam. But there was one shot that I did remember clearly, he and the interviewer were walking and talking. Idjit's blazer was unbuttoned and his tie hung way below the belt. Yes, he now deliberately takes his fashion cues from president I-have-a-tiny-penis. The guy is the living manifestation of "tool."