WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission voted on Thursday to dismantle rules regulating the businesses that connect consumers to the internet, granting broadband companies the power to potentially reshape Americans' online experiences.
The agency scrapped the so-called net neutrality regulations that prohibited broadband providers from blocking websites or charging for higher-quality service or certain content. The federal government will also no longer regulate high-speed internet delivery as if it were a utility, like phone service.
The action reversed the agency's 2015 decision, during the Obama administration, to have stronger oversight over broadband providers as Americans have migrated to the internet for most communications. It reflected the view of the Trump administration and the new F.C.C. chairman that unregulated business will eventually yield innovation and help the economy.
It will take weeks for the repeal to go into effect, so consumers will not see any of the potential changes right away. But the political and legal fight started immediately. Numerous Democrats on Capitol Hill called for a bill that would reestablish the rules, and several Democratic state attorneys general, including Eric T. Schneiderman of New York, said they would file a suit to stop the change.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15 2017, @09:32AM
> If you don't feel like switching ISPs, learn to hack the traffic shaping. I've done it and I know all the traffic shaping rules and I can hack my traffic to be as fast as I want.
Wow, you so l33t. Now tell me about the time you hacked the CIA!
> If you think your ISP doesn't have any competition and you can't switch, you're fucking delusional. Mobile broadband or satellite broadband are always an option regardless of how loudly you shout, "fiber internet is the only internet."
Right. Enjoy the generous data caps for mobile, with throttling and overage fees so cheap you can pay them by selling only half of your organs. Or the lightning-fast response time of the satellite internet, which is finely tuned to the reaction time of your 90-year-old grandmother.
> And get a fucking VPN.
Just be sure to buy a "VPN Power User" package, for just $69.99 (+fees)!