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F.C.C. Repeals Net Neutrality Rules

posted by janrinok on Friday December 15 2017, @08:05AM   Printer-friendly

canopic jug writes:

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.

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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by canopic jug on Friday December 15 2017, @09:49AM (3 children)

    by canopic jug (3949) Subscriber Badge on Friday December 15 2017, @09:49AM (#610213) Journal

    It'd be nice if there were a way to be able to append to breaking news posts. Here is some additional coverage.

    • The FCC just voted to repeal its net neutrality rules, in a sweeping act of deregulation [washingtonpost.com] The Washington Post.

      The move to deregulate the telecom and cable industry is a major setback for tech companies, consumer groups and Democrats who lobbied heavily against the decision. And it marks a significant victory for Republicans who vowed to roll back the efforts of the prior administration, despite a recent survey showing that 83 percent of Americans — including 3 out of 4 Republicans — opposed the plan.

    • FCC overturns net neutrality rules, but supporters pledge to continue fight [usatoday.com] USA Today.

      The new regulations, passed by the Republican-controlled commissions' 3-2 vote, instead require ISPs to disclose any blocking or prioritization of their own content or from their partners. They officially take effect after publication in the Federal Register.

    • “Net neutrality is the secret sauce that has made the internet awesome” [vox.com] Voice of America News.

      To better understand what’s at stake, I spoke to Barbara van Schewick, a net neutrality expert and a professor at Stanford Law School, before the vote. The conversation has been lightly edited and condensed.

    • FCC votes to repeal net neutrality rules [thehill.com] The Hill.

      "As a result of today’s misguided action, our broadband providers will get extraordinary new power from this agency," said Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat on the commission who voted against the repeal.

      "They will have the power to block websites, throttle services and censor online content. They will have the right to discriminate and favor the internet traffic of those companies with whom they have pay-for-play arrangements and the right to consign all others to a slow and bumpy road," Rosenworcel said.

    • F.C.C. Repeals Net Neutrality Rules [nytimes.com] The New York Times.

      The agency scrapped 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 services.

    • Smirking FCC chairman posts video mocking net neutrality supporters [pcgamer.com] PC Gamer. # Indian sites are softpedalling the problems he is causing

      It's a remarkably unserious display from the guy at the head of an agency charged with overseeing, regulating, and protecting all levels of communications in the US, particularly given the potential long-term impact of his charge to eliminate net neutrality regulations.

    • Ajit Pai just handed Republicans a bag of shit [theverge.com] The Verge.

      Most importantly, Pai also gutted net neutrality without ever trying to make the case for it being a good idea. Pai’s final media appearance was a troll-ish video with alt-right blog The Daily Caller, in which he literally dances with a woman who supported the insane Pizzagate conspiracy that ended with a gunman storming a pizza parlor. His most recent private speech was a smarmy affair delivered to a room full of telecom lobbyists in which he joked about being Verizon’s puppet and taking orders from Sinclair Broadcasting.

    • The FCC just killed net neutrality [theverge.com] The Verge.

      Now that the vote is over, the commission will take a few weeks to make final adjustments to the rules. They’ll then be filed with the Federal Register and appear there in a few months. At that point, net neutrality will officially be off the books, and these new rules (or really, the absence of any) will take effect.

    • Facebook to put ads before (some) videos [cnn.com] CNN.

      Starting next year, Facebook will test advertisements at the beginning of some videos. The ads will last six seconds and only show up before videos you seek out in Facebook's Watch section.

    • Here come the Facebook pre-roll video ads [recode.net] Recode.
    • Vox Sentences: Disney wants to own all of the media [vox.com] Vox.
    • Net neutrality is now officially on life support. Here’s what happens next. [vox.com] Vox.

      The Federal Communications Commission has voted to repeal net neutrality, despite overwhelming public support for the regulation, which requires internet service providers like Verizon and Comcast to distribute internet access fairly and equally to everyone, regardless of how much they pay or where they’re located.

    • Net neutrality result: How did the FCC vote on the freedom of the internet? [ibtimes.co.uk] International Business Times.
    • What the Net Neutrality Repeal Means for Us [rollingstone.com] Rolling Stone.

      The decision is likely to have major ramifications for consumers, online businesses and Internet service providers (ISPs). The existing regulations, put into place by Pai's predecessor Tom Wheeler in 2015, codified longstanding Internet practice by explicitly requiring ISPs to treat all Internet traffic equally. In contrast to a cable provider, which can decide exactly what networks or services customers get for their monthly fee, ISPs are forbidden from discriminating among their customers. When you pay your fee to get online, you get everything. But under the new regime, a handful of the most powerful telecommunication companies in the U.S. – Comcast, Verizon, AT&T – will have unlimited freedom to slice and dice the Internet ecology as they please.

    • FCC’s Republican majority kills net neutrality [salon.com] Salon.

      Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Independent Sen. Angus King, both of Maine, joined Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., in calling on the federal agency to "hold hearings on the net neutrality issue" that has "significant implications for our entire economy, and therefore merits the most thorough, deliberate, and thoughtful process that can be provided."

    • Net neutrality rules are dead. Will my Internet bills go up? [usatoday.com] USA Today.
    • The end of net neutrality: What it all means [cnn.com] CNN.

      As part of this shift, oversight of internet protections will shift from the FCC to the Federal Trade Commission.

    • The FCC has created an 'internet for the elite' [cnn.com] CNN.

      While some on the FCC argue that the decision will boost economic growth, the only thing we know for certain is that eliminating net neutrality will make internet service look a lot more like cable TV. That's good for a handful of corporations, but bad for just about everyone else.

    • Private Internet Access Statement On End of Net Neutrality [privateinternetaccess.com] Private Internet Access.
    • Motherboard & VICE Are Building a Community Internet Network [vice.com] Motherboard.

      To protect net neutrality, we need internet infrastructure that isn't owned by big telecom.

    • US brings an end to net neutrality regulations [itwire.com] IT Wire.

      And, as iTWire reported last month the repeal of the regulations could see ISPs given the power to charge websites large sums in order to be granted fast Internet access, whilst websites that do not pay the fees will have access to users slowed considerably.

    • The FCC Just Killed Net Neutrality. Now What? [wired.com] Wired.

      Most immediately, the activity will move to the courts, where the advocacy group Free Press, and probably others, will challenge the FCC’s decision. The most likely argument: that the commission’s decision violates federal laws barring agencies from crafting “arbitrary and capricious” regulations. After all, the FCC’s net neutrality rules were just passed in 2015. Activists and many members of Congress, including at least six Republicans, pushed for a delay in the vote, but apart from a brief delay due to a security issue, the vote occurred as planned.

    • The FCC’s Two Dissenting Voices Defend Net Neutrality To the End [wired.com] Wired.

      The agencies's two Democratic commissioners, Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel, lashed out against the order during the FCC's open meeting today.

    • FCC votes to kill net neutrality in an unsurprising move. What happens now? [pcworld.com] PC World.

      The impact on you at home: This is big. Net neutrality has prevented ISPs such as Comcast and Verizon from nickel-and-diming customers based on their Internet usage, or gouging Google to make sure YouTube isn’t throttled. But even more important than Netflix and Hulu HD streams is the access to information. Millions of people depend on the internet for basic services, and the repeal of net neutrality protection may threaten their access to it.

    • Ajit Pai is so cocky over net neutrality he's dressing as Santa to take the p*ss [theinquirer.net] The Inquirer.
    • Net neutrality: How will US overhaul of internet laws affect the web? [telegraph.co.uk] The Telegraph.

      Net neutrality is the premise that customers are guaranteed an equal version of the internet. The repeal permits several tiers - allowing ISPs to charge more for quicker speeds and block websites belonging to customers who have not paid a premium.

    • FCC Repeals U.S. Net Neutrality Rules [torrentfreak.com] TorrentFreak.

      The FCC has repealed U.S. net neutrality rules. As a result of today's vote, Internet providers have the freedom to restrict, or charge for, access to certain sites and services if they please. This also means that BitTorrent throttling and blocking could become commonplace once again, as it was a decade ago.

    • Net neutrality rules weakened by US regulator [bbc.co.uk] BBC.

      Restrictions on US broadband providers' ability to prioritise one service's data over another are to be reduced after a vote by a regulator.

    • FCC Repeals Net Neutrality Rules Amid Protests, Lawsuit Threats [variety.com] Variety.

      At the FCC meeting, Clyburn said that “the public can plainly see, that a soon-to-be-toothless FCC, is handing the keys to the Internet. The Internet, one of the most remarkable, empowering, enabling inventions of our lifetime, over to a handful of multi-billion dollar corporations.

    • Gutting Net Neutrality Is the Trump Administration’s Most Brutal Blow to Democracy Yet [thenation.com] The Nation.

      This cannot be the end of a free and open Internet. Activists must fight on in the courts, in Congress, and in the streets.

    • The FCC Voted to Repeal Net Neutrality [teenvogue.com] Teen Vogue.

      "They’d be given the legal authority and power to be able to block your websites. The’d be able to shuffle your traffic and manipulate it so it could goes toward services with whom they have a commercial relationship and close you off from services from those with whom you do not. It would allow them to set up tolls online for you, the consumer, to reach the content you want," she told Teen Vogue. They will have the power to do this. Our laws will no longer prevent them from doing this because our laws will no longer require internet openness. They would have the power to carve the internet into fast and slow lanes and charge you to access sites who haven’t engaged in a pay-for-play relationship. [Internet bills] could very well go up."

    • FCC Scraps Net Neutrality Rules in US [voanews.com] Voice of America News.

      Individual states will also be barred from enacting their own rules governing the internet.

    • What could happen to net neutrality [economist.com] The Economist.

      In the immediate future, consumers will start to see more deals on their internet plans, including “zero-rating”

    --
    Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday December 15 2017, @11:31AM (2 children)

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Friday December 15 2017, @11:31AM (#610244) Homepage Journal

    There is if you're of a mind to take up editorial duties. That wall o text and links is too bloody long to slap in a story though.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.

    • (Score: 2) by canopic jug on Sunday December 17 2017, @09:30AM (1 child)

      by canopic jug (3949) Subscriber Badge on Sunday December 17 2017, @09:30AM (#610932) Journal

      I'd probably be up for trying that if there is no IRC or social control media (esp Faecebook) involved. However, I'm not yet able to meet my own informal goal of averaging seven decent article submissions per week.

      --
      Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.

      • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday December 17 2017, @05:21PM

        by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Sunday December 17 2017, @05:21PM (#611023) Homepage Journal

        Editing's easier than submitting, IMO. Yeah, it's more work but it's utterly predictable work that only depends on what's in the queue instead of having to go out and find stuff worth publishing; though several of the eds do in fact submit quite a lot of stories as well.

        IRC is fairly necessary during the training phase but, while handy, it's not actually required after you're all trained up and pushing stories on the production servers. We've got editors that push stories but haven't said a word in IRC for quite a long time.

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.