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posted by Fnord666 on Monday February 04 2019, @11:23AM   Printer-friendly
from the what-is-it-this-week dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

A Federal Communications Commission lawyer faced a skeptical panel of judges today as the FCC defended its repeal of net neutrality rules and deregulation of the broadband industry.

FCC General Counsel Thomas Johnson struggled to explain why broadband shouldn't be considered a telecommunications service, and struggled to explain the FCC's failure to protect public safety agencies from Internet providers blocking or slowing down content.

Oral arguments were held today in the case, which is being decided by a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. (Audio of the four-hour-plus oral arguments is available here.) Throttling of firefighters' data plans played a major role in today's oral arguments.

[...] The lawsuit seeking to overturn the net neutrality repeal was filed by more than three dozen entities, including state attorneys general, consumer advocacy groups, and tech companies such as Mozilla and Vimeo.

Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/02/throttling-of-firefighters-hurts-fcc-case-as-it-defends-net-neutrality-repeal/


Original Submission

Related Stories

Politics: Democrats To Push To Reinstate Repealed 'Net Neutrality' Rules 31 comments

Democrats in the U.S. Congress plan to unveil legislation on Wednesday to reinstate “net neutrality” rules that were repealed by the Trump administration in December 2017, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

Pelosi told lawmakers in a letter that House Democrats, who won control of the chamber in the November 2018 elections, would work with their colleagues in the U.S. Senate to pass the “Save The Internet Act.”

The text of the proposed legislation has not been released.

The Federal Communications Commission repealed the rules that bar providers from blocking or slowing internet content or offering paid “fast lanes.” The repeal was a win for providers like Comcast Corp, AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc, but was opposed by internet companies like Facebook Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc.

The Senate, which is controlled by Republicans, voted in May 2018 to reinstate the net neutrality rules, but the House did not take up the issue before Congress adjourned last year.

A U.S. federal appeals court last month held lengthy oral arguments in a legal challenge to the FCC’s decision to repeal the net neutrality rules.

In its 2017 decision, the Republican-led FCC voted 3-2 along party lines to reverse the net neutrality rules. The agency gave providers sweeping power to recast how users access the internet but said they must disclose changes in users’ internet access.

A spokeswoman for FCC chairman Ajit Pai did not immediately comment on Monday.

Related:
FCC Struggles to Convince Judge That Broadband Isn't "Telecommunications"
It's Now Clear None of the Supposed Benefits of Killing Net Neutrality Are Real
FCC Chairman Pai Celebrates Congress Failing to Bring Back Net Neutrality


Original Submission

Ajit Pai's Rosy Broadband Deployment Claim May be Based on Gigantic Error 9 comments

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

Ajit Pai's rosy broadband deployment claim may be based on gigantic error

Ajit Pai's latest claim that his deregulatory policies have increased broadband deployment may be based in part on a gigantic error. Pai's claim was questionable from the beginning, as we detailed last month. The Federal Communications Commission data cited by Chairman Pai merely showed that deployment continued at about the same rate seen during the Obama administration. Despite that, Pai claimed that new broadband deployed in 2017 was made possible by the FCC "removing barriers to infrastructure investment."

But even the modest gains cited by Pai rely partly on the implausible claims of one ISP that apparently submitted false broadband coverage data to the FCC, advocacy group Free Press told the FCC in a filing this week. Further Reading Ajit Pai says broadband access is soaring—and that he's the one to thank

The FCC data is based on Form 477 filings made by ISPs from around the country. A new Form 477 filer called Barrier Communications Corporation, doing business as BarrierFree, suddenly "claimed deployment of fiber-to-the-home and fixed wireless services (each at downstream/upstream speeds of 940mbps/880mbps) to census blocks containing nearly 62 million persons," Free Press Research Director Derek Turner wrote.

"This claimed level of deployment stood out to us for numerous reasons, including the impossibility of a new entrant going from serving zero census blocks as of June 30, 2017, to serving nearly 1.5 million blocks containing nearly 20 percent of the US population in just six months time," Turner wrote. "We further examined the underlying Form 477 data and discovered that BarrierFree appears to have simply submitted as its coverage area a list of every single census block in each of eight states in which it claimed service: CT, DC, MD, NJ, NY, PA, RI, and VA."

In reality, BarrierFree's website doesn't market any fiber-to-the-home service, and it advertises wireless home Internet speeds of up to just 25mbps, Free Press noted.

Related: Just How Rigged is America's Broadband World? A Deep Dive Into One US City Reveals All
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Proposes Raising Rural Broadband Speeds
Speedtest.net Report Concludes That Broadband Speeds in U.S. Are Improving
It's Now Clear None of the Supposed Benefits of Killing Net Neutrality Are Real
FCC Struggles to Convince Judge That Broadband Isn't "Telecommunications"
Democrats To Push To Reinstate Repealed 'Net Neutrality' Rules


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday February 04 2019, @11:46AM (25 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday February 04 2019, @11:46AM (#796086) Journal

    A man isn't a man, a woman isn't a woman, understanding is racism, and telecommunications isn't telecommunications. We confuse the simplest of issues beyond human understanding, so the exploiters feel free to confuse other simple issues beyond understanding. And, while the masses huddle and quiver in confusion, those exploiters are free to rape all the masses, en masse.

    That word, "telecommunications"? "Talking afar". "Communicating further than you can shout". It's really that simple. Of course the internet is telecommunications. All the rationalizing is meaningless - just as meaningless as all the new genders being discovered on a weekly basis.

    Ajit Pai needs to be booted out of the FCC, and the orange bastard needs to apologize to all of us for being such a stupid fuck.

    • (Score: 1, Offtopic) by pkrasimirov on Monday February 04 2019, @11:57AM (6 children)

      by pkrasimirov (3358) Subscriber Badge on Monday February 04 2019, @11:57AM (#796092)

      > the orange bastard needs to apologize to all of us for being such a stupid fuck.
      Is he really? Did you just assume his goals? Oh wait, did I just assume its gender...

      • (Score: 4, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Monday February 04 2019, @01:45PM (5 children)

        by JoeMerchant (3937) on Monday February 04 2019, @01:45PM (#796122)

        Enough leaks about the orange that is consistent with the premise "stupid fuck" that it would appear to be true.

        -----

        Make hay whilst the intervening mass is insufficient to diminish received solar radiation below the threshold required for the drying of grass.

        --
        🌻🌻 [google.com]
        • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 04 2019, @03:24PM (4 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 04 2019, @03:24PM (#796146)

          Enough leaks about the orange that is consistent with the premise "stupid fuck" that it would appear to be true.

          The truism "never ascribe to malice what can be explained by stupidity" is often a reasonable default position to take, but it ignores the danger of ascribing to stupidity what is in fact malice, and thereby giving the malicious actor a "free pass" by dismissing him as stupid or ill-informed, rather than the malevolent, irredeemably evil *?%! he is.

          In the case of Trump, I've gradually moved from thinking what a stupid prick is he, to what a malicious, wicked, vicious, evil *?%! he--according to mounting evidence--appears to be.

          It is as big a mistake to attribute to stupidity what is in fact malice, as it is to go the other way, and arguable much more dangerous.

          Trump is a master con-artist. He is a master of spin, dodging responsibility, defecting, projecting, and outright deceiving on a mass scale. He's done it his whole life, to pretty much everyone, and has been pretty damn successful at it. He's chosen ignorance over being informed (oh no, he might have to "read") on pretty much every geopolitical subject that matters, because it doesn't matter to him. He may be stupid in many ways, but whatever his mental limitations in particular fields, his arrogance, and his maliciousness dwarf any ignorance and stupidity he can lay claim to.

          • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Monday February 04 2019, @05:47PM

            by RS3 (6367) on Monday February 04 2019, @05:47PM (#796191)

            You make great points and I agree. But reflecting, and thinking bigger-picture (as I can't help doing), I wonder what is the point of all of this blaming, name-calling, bashing, criticism, etc.?? It seems that government and politics have devolved to the point that mostly only idiots, crazies, etc., get involved. Whether ignorance or malice, what's the difference? The system does NOT in fact have working "checks and balances" that we're all lulled into believing exist.

            The once-great system (US govt. structure) has been eroded little-by-little over the past 240+ years. Our govt. (USA and others) is rife with conflict of interest. Ajit Pai's work and involvement at Verizon should have disqualified him for FCC chair.

            I don't have time to list them but I'll pick on one: lobbying. That means if you have lots of money, and/or control of money (corporations), you can hire lobbyists to swamp the senators and representatives (and news media) and sway things your way. We're all out here communicating but the govt. doesn't hear us. Unfortunately many engage in very negative bashing and are viewed as fringe crazies, so their otherwise good points go unheard.

            The good news is that through the Internet, we're able to communicate, collaborate, and some senators, reps., local govt. are slowly starting to hear us.

          • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday February 04 2019, @06:15PM

            by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday February 04 2019, @06:15PM (#796203) Journal

            Bingo. I've referred to that tipping point for years now as the point where Hanlon's Razor loses its edge.

            --
            I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
          • (Score: 2) by mobydisk on Monday February 04 2019, @10:24PM

            by mobydisk (5472) on Monday February 04 2019, @10:24PM (#796309)

            Trump is a master con-artist. He is a master of spin, dodging responsibility, defecting, projecting, and outright deceiving on a mass scale.

            I don't agree. Trump said "The polls, they say I have the most loyal people. Did you ever see that? Where I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters, okay? It’s like incredible." [realclearpolitics.com]

            Trump is a terrible at spin and his deceits are blatantly obvious. His success lies in the fact he was a celebrity who aligned himself with a party. That point it literally didn't matter what he said. The media didn't understand that running quotes of him contradicting himself all day long didn't do anything to convince people he was a liar. It just made him seem more and more important.

            The same thing kinda happened with Bush Jr. There were people saying "this guy is a lightweight" (a polite way to say he was dumb) but it didn't matter to party loyalists.

          • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Monday February 04 2019, @10:32PM

            by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Monday February 04 2019, @10:32PM (#796313) Journal

            The problem with the aphorism is that it assumes that stupidity and malice are exclusive of each other. One can be both.

            --
            This sig for rent.
    • (Score: 2) by MadTinfoilHatter on Monday February 04 2019, @11:58AM (5 children)

      by MadTinfoilHatter (4635) on Monday February 04 2019, @11:58AM (#796093)

      That word, "telecommunications"? "Talking afar". "Communicating further than you can shout". It's really that simple.

      I'm not sure I'd consider snail mail telecommunications, but yeah, that's a bit of a nitpick and not really relevant to this case, and I pretty much agree with your other points.

      • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday February 04 2019, @01:43PM (4 children)

        by JoeMerchant (3937) on Monday February 04 2019, @01:43PM (#796121)

        Fair point - I believe telecommunications was conceived in the era of the telegraph, to describe near-instant communication farther than you can shout.

        Snail-mail is more like recordkeeping, where the records can be hand carried.

        --
        🌻🌻 [google.com]
        • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Monday February 04 2019, @04:27PM (3 children)

          by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Monday February 04 2019, @04:27PM (#796163) Journal

          Wikipedia suggests first use of the word was 1904. Telegraph and telephone were well established though not universally entrenched. (Semaphore, too, come to that). The new player was radio - you had something no longer dependent on wires. Finally there were enough entities to require a taxonomic grouping.

          None of which disowns what y'all were trying to say really. picky, picky, picky lawn......

          --
          This sig for rent.
          • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Monday February 04 2019, @05:52PM (2 children)

            by RS3 (6367) on Monday February 04 2019, @05:52PM (#796193)

            > Telegraph and telephone were well established though not universally entrenched. (Semaphore, too, come to that).

            Hey, don't forget the other photonic communication: smoke signals. You're welcome Buzzy.

            • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Monday February 04 2019, @06:07PM (1 child)

              by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Monday February 04 2019, @06:07PM (#796199) Journal

              Hmm..... flattered or insulted? Life is full of such massively important quandaries. Maybe I'll defer until the mistaken identity is confirmed by smoke signal.

              --
              This sig for rent.
              • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Monday February 04 2019, @07:54PM

                by RS3 (6367) on Monday February 04 2019, @07:54PM (#796246)

                Questions abound. Like, they're no good on a windy day, so what then? And, they dissipate fairly quickly, so were people assigned to look for them? Was there a set time of day to send them? How about at night? Someday I'll study up on smoke signals.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 04 2019, @01:34PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 04 2019, @01:34PM (#796117)

      Why should one apologize for one's own stupidity? Isn't that the same as expecting one to apologize for being gay (or any of the other rainbow letters)?

      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday February 04 2019, @06:18PM (1 child)

        by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday February 04 2019, @06:18PM (#796204) Journal

        That kind of stupid is very much a lifestyle choice, and it directly harms other people. What possessed you to make such a poor comparison? Malice, or ignorance?

        --
        I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
        • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Monday February 04 2019, @08:19PM

          by DeathMonkey (1380) on Monday February 04 2019, @08:19PM (#796258) Journal

          That kind of stupid is very much a lifestyle choice...

          It's amazing how they can just turn it off and on, too.

          All of a sudden it's just too darn confusing to figure out whether the internet is a telecommunications service or not. But that custom router build to keep the evil Googles off your internet, no problem!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 04 2019, @07:19PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 04 2019, @07:19PM (#796233)

        That depends on the situation. Trump should apologize because his stupidity and corruption are yuuuugely hurting the US.

        I can see a gay person hitting on a straight person, getting a "wtf" response and saying "sorry about that, I'm gay and find you attractive, have a good night."

    • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday February 04 2019, @01:41PM (5 children)

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Monday February 04 2019, @01:41PM (#796119)

      >the orange bastard needs to apologize to all of us for being such a stupid fuck.

      Wouldn't that be a classic moment? It's 100% out of character, but he's just unstable enough that it might happen.

      --
      🌻🌻 [google.com]
      • (Score: 0, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Monday February 04 2019, @02:43PM (4 children)

        by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Monday February 04 2019, @02:43PM (#796132) Homepage Journal

        Sorry loosers & haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest. And you all know it. You know. Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure, it’s not your fault!!

        • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday February 04 2019, @03:00PM (1 child)

          by JoeMerchant (3937) on Monday February 04 2019, @03:00PM (#796139)

          It's that unique, upside down perspective that got the orange elected.

          When you divide by near zero, you get a very high number indeed.

          --
          🌻🌻 [google.com]
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 04 2019, @04:03PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 04 2019, @04:03PM (#796158)

            Hellary got Trump elected when she bought out the DNC... It's as simple as that. Bernie should've got it, and he'd be POTUS instead of Trump. Hellary turned off more voters than Trump... So the least evil of the twins won.

        • (Score: 2) by Spamalope on Monday February 04 2019, @03:20PM

          by Spamalope (5233) on Monday February 04 2019, @03:20PM (#796143) Homepage

          Wait, shouldn't that have been 'My IQ is Huuuuuge, the biggest! Soylent news is fake news!'

        • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday February 04 2019, @05:10PM

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday February 04 2019, @05:10PM (#796176) Journal

          Not sure what Donnie's IQ is - has it been published? Oh, WTF, maybe I'll look at Snopes . . .

          Donald Trump’s true intelligence quotient is unknown, but the article published by BeforeItsNews.com certainly does not document that it is 156 — or any other number.

          Can we put that baby to rest now? Or, if you want to insist that you're Really Fucking Smart™ give us some evidence?

          Other "fact checking" sites seem to be less generous than Snopes.

          But, we need to attempt to understand something. 100 is "average". Meaning, roughly half of the population has an IQ higher than 100, and roughly half of the population has an IQ lower than 100. 110 is just a little over average, 120 a little more over average, and so on. The number being thrown around, of 156, doesn't make anyone really exceptional. That only puts you in the 99.97 percentile. Good - damned good, actually - but not great. For every 10,000 people in the country, there's another person as smart as you. 156 doesn't put you anywhere near a Stephen Hawking, or an Isaac Asimov, or Arthur C. Clarke . . . need I go on?

          Would you care to estimate how many Soylentils are as smart, or smarter, than Donnie? That is presuming, of course, that he actually has an IQ of 156. As stated above, I'm not believing it.

    • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Monday February 04 2019, @04:27PM

      by DeathMonkey (1380) on Monday February 04 2019, @04:27PM (#796164) Journal

      We confuse the simplest of issues beyond human understanding, ...

      Well, the conservatives are certainly TRYING to but it's actually not that complicated.

    • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Tuesday February 05 2019, @11:48PM

      by krishnoid (1156) on Tuesday February 05 2019, @11:48PM (#796978)

      A man isn't a man, a woman isn't a woman, understanding is racism, and telecommunications isn't telecommunications.

      Now you've got it! About ... 5, borrow the 1, borrow the 1 again ... 35 years late, but better that than never. Welcome to the party, comrade.

  • (Score: 0, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Monday February 04 2019, @02:04PM (2 children)

    by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Monday February 04 2019, @02:04PM (#796127) Homepage Journal

    They said "via telecommunications." And they meant telegraph. Telephone. Or, tell a girl. The fastest ways to get the message out!!

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 04 2019, @02:12PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 04 2019, @02:12PM (#796128)

      Other than the speed at which the dots and dashes (ones and zeros) are transmitted, what is the difference between telegraph and the Internet? Well, we did replace all those telegraph operators with computers and paper with screens. But besides that?

      • (Score: 3, Touché) by Spamalope on Monday February 04 2019, @03:22PM

        by Spamalope (5233) on Monday February 04 2019, @03:22PM (#796145) Homepage

        Lobbying and taxing have advanced quite a bit.

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Thexalon on Monday February 04 2019, @03:40PM (3 children)

    by Thexalon (636) on Monday February 04 2019, @03:40PM (#796152)

    Ajit Pai's and the FCC's corruption on this issue is blatant and transparent to anybody who looks at the issue. That's not really seriously in question.

    The reason they're in court defending their decisions with complete nonsense is because the longer they can keep the anti-NN policy in place, the more money their corporate sponsors can make and the expense of everybody else. They'll make whatever stupid arguments they need to in order to keep the case running for as long as possible, knowing full well that they will lose but maximizing the amount of time their sponsors have had to legally commit extortion against Internet-based services.

    This is something the bad boys of the legal industry know very well: If the status quo is good for you but you will eventually lose the case, stall, even if you're doing stuff that is legally absolutely bonkers and often unethical to do so. Frivolous motions, skipping hearings, failing to comply with orders, etc, skating just on the edge of being found in contempt of court. The reasons for this are (a) you're able to continue to do the wrong thing while the case is still pending, and (b) the other side may run out of money to pay for their lawyers, or if the lawyers are volunteers those volunteer lawyers might get fed up and quit, or the person/organization going after you might die/dissolve. That's why such travesties as SCO vs IBM lasted so long.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday February 04 2019, @06:20PM

      by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday February 04 2019, @06:20PM (#796207) Journal

      A way to put a stop to that kind of bullshit right quick is to make the punishment 1) being stripped of all income, wealth, and assets and 2) being only allowed to work at minimum wage jobs, preferably one that "fits the crime" (so in his case, call center or salesperson at a seedy brick and mortar phone store).

      --
      I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 04 2019, @06:24PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 04 2019, @06:24PM (#796209)

      This is something the bad boys of the legal industry know very well: If the status quo is good for you but you will eventually lose the case, stall, even if you're doing stuff that is legally absolutely bonkers and often unethical to do so.

      Yes, I can see what you are getting at. Question: How do we stop such unethical behavior? I would really like to see this kind of behavior punished in such a way that future would-be miscreants take note and decide that it is just absolutely a non-starter. Any thoughts?

      • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday February 04 2019, @07:14PM

        by Thexalon (636) on Monday February 04 2019, @07:14PM (#796231)

        Some changes that would make a difference:
        1. Expanding the number of courts and the people (including judges) to staff them. This would enable courts to both handle cases more quickly and give more time and attention to each case, which reduces the advantage to doing this.
        2. More liberal use of what courts sometimes do now, which is known as a "preliminary injunction". That is when the judge gives an order that says "You have to stop doing the thing that the plaintiff says is a problem until we've sorted out the case."
        3. Changes to legal ethical rules that would make frivolous motions and specious arguments grounds for disbarment or other sanctions against the lawyer making them.

        --
        The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
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