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The FCC's order to overturn net neutrality protections was officially published in the Federal Register today and soon thereafter, the attorneys general of 22 states and Washington DC filed a lawsuit challenging the FCC's order. The coalition filed a suit earlier this year, but agreed last week to withdraw it until the FCC published the order, Reuters reports. "Today, the FCC made official its illegal rollback of net neutrality -- and, as promised, our coalition of attorneys general is filing suit," New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement. "Consumers and businesses in New York and across the country have the right to a free and open internet, and our coalition of attorneys general won't stop fighting to protect that right."
[...] The attorneys general say in their complaint that the FCC's order was "arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion within the meaning of the Administrative Procedure Act." They also say it violates federal law and conflicts with the notice-and-comment rulemaking requirements. They're asking the court to vacate the order.
Source: https://www.engadget.com/2018/02/22/23-attorneys-general-challenge-fcc-net-neutrality-repeal/
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DannyB on Friday February 23 2018, @05:45PM (14 children)
What is really astonishing here is the amount of time, effort and money the Trump administration is willing to use in order to ensure that Big Telecom can screw ordinary every day consumers.
Truly amazing.
There was a time once when I thought the job of government was to either:
1. leave things alone if nothing was broken, being abused
-OR-
2. regulate if necessary
But now it seems to have the job to ENSURE that corporations can aggregate and abuse power.
We didn't need any net neutrality for the internet for a long time. ISPs acted reasonably and responsibly. Traffic was routed fairly. Every user was charged for their own use of bandwidth at their connection point, and not some other party at the other end of the connection (like Netflix). The whole net neutrality thing came about because of abuses. Big Telecom caused net neutrality protections to be created. If they didn't like it, they shouldn't have created it.
I have a suspicion that there were no laws regulating air and water pollution -- until -- it was happening already and excessively.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 5, Touché) by arulatas on Friday February 23 2018, @06:49PM
It is all part of draining the swamp. No need to have the lobbyists if the regulatory capture is in place.
----- 10 turns around
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Sourcery42 on Friday February 23 2018, @07:10PM (1 child)
Water pollution is all fun and games until the Cuyahoga River catches fire...at least 13 times...over the course of ~100 years. It took the US a long time to finally step in and make that situation better. Hopefully it isn't a model for how this situation is addressed.
My fear on this issue is that net neutrality is a lot harder to grasp for the average, non-techie, than say massive fish kills or a fricking river catching fire. I hope the general public finally connects the dots when they start getting charged these new "streaming media fees" for youtube and netflix, "social media fees" for their facetweeet, and "online gaming fees" for their kids' xbox live now that the gloves are off and ISPs are free to shuck and devour them whole. Maybe telco's won't be that evil, maybe the current administration will get thrown out on its ear before any abuses like this start; I'm not holding my breath for either.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @12:51AM
And the legend [clevelandultimate.com] lives on! [thesportsdaily.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by NotSanguine on Friday February 23 2018, @08:12PM (7 children)
When exactly was this fictitious time to which you refer?
Telecoms were historically required to pass all "traffic" (phone calls, telgrams, etc.) without interference under Title II of the Federal Communications Act of 1934 (as amended numerous times). This was extended to internet traffic as the Internet burgeoned.
In 2002 (cable) and 2005 (other telecom ISPs), The Bush (the younger) administration's FCC reclassified ISPs under Title I, removing those requirements.
It's instructive to note that after 2005, the rate of net infrastructure development by ISPs (notwithstanding the US$100 Billion in grants/subsidies for those ISPs during that time) actually slowed.
The Obama FCC tried (with the ISPs fighting tooth and nail) to right that wrong. And now the Trump FCC is licking ISP boots again.
I hear what you're saying, but it's important to include historical context if one wishes to understand the current situation.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Adamsjas on Friday February 23 2018, @08:46PM (6 children)
So after asking when this time was, you turn around and show exactly when this time was. Good job.
Actually, you've shown no source for the 2005 slowdown in infrastructure development, at least none that was not due to the general economic downturn of that era. Carrying an umbrella does not cause rain.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Friday February 23 2018, @11:26PM (3 children)
Nope. I didn't.
However, the search engine of your choice should give you all the information you need to confirm it.
Did you have anything that actually adds value, or do you just want to be contrary.
Either way, carry on. Perhaps we'll get the former now that you've shared the latter.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday February 24 2018, @11:47AM (2 children)
Now that Google has reneged on "Don't Be Evil" I make a point of not saying "Google it". Rather I say the far-more cumbersome "Use the search engine of your choise"
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @02:33PM
"search that shit"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @03:59PM
'Evil-Search it' is moderately more compact.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @12:00AM
ISPs did violate net neutrality on numerous occasions. [freepress.net] I'm not sure why people think that was ever a time when we didn't need net neutrality. It also amazes me that some people think that ISPs are spending massive amounts of money lobbying to overturn net neutrality regulations just because they want to respect net neutrality anyway; that's ludicrous. Of course ISPs plan to take actions that would violate net neutrality rules, or else they wouldn't be fighting so hard to get rid of them.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday February 24 2018, @11:45AM
He should know: he has a Nobel Prize.
While he never specifically mentioned umbrellas, he made quite a good case for his arguments that "Wet streets cause rain."
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Adamsjas on Friday February 23 2018, @08:54PM
"What is really astonishing here is the amount of time, effort and money the Trump administration is willing to use in order to ensure that Big Telecom can screw ordinary every day consumers."
I doubt Trump, or anyone in his administration other than Pai is paying this any attention at all.
The rules were enacted in the wrong way under Obama, and they are being withdrawn in the wrong way under Trump.
This was always a consumer protection issue. Never belonged in the FCC in the first place. And State regulation has a lot of appeal.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday February 24 2018, @11:42AM (1 child)
That's Nitric Oxide. To breath it will turn your blood into Nitric Acid.
I was therefore confused when my friend Ted started posting photos of Los Angeles. Always there was a clear blue sky, or at night you could see the stars.
I inquired about this and he said there's never any smog there.
I attended Caltech to study Astronomy, yet was unable to see the stars at night. Had I visited the campus while I was still in high school, quite likely I would not have applied there.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @04:02PM
Wtf? Where are the off-topic posts re. Trump when you need them?