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

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, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Friday December 15 2017, @11:10AM

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Friday December 15 2017, @11:10AM (#610237) Journal

    Said with all the conviction and profanity of a thirteen year old whose entire world is quite small but generalizes it to the rest of creation.

    Even in Brooklyn, NY, there are very limited options for broadband. It was only two months ago they brought FiOS to my block, and I'm sure they only did that because the Mayor of New York lives on the block kitty-corner to mine. So your blithe, posited, "Hey, jump back and forth between providers to get them to compete to your bliss point," is so optimistic as to be delusional.

    I think what it does mean is we need to extend the Open Source philosophy beyond software and the couple of nascent forays into open source hardware to an open source network. We need a non-government, non-corporate alternative in our material culture (preserving modernity, without reverting to primitive, pastoral life).

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    Washington DC delenda est.
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