Despite millions of public comments and objections from businesses and consumer groups nationwide, the Trump administration’s FCC seems determined to go ahead and kill off net neutrality as soon as possible. While this rule, which prohibits internet service providers from having any say in what you do online, is likely headed for reversal in the months to come, it’s not dead yet, and former FCC Chair Tom Wheeler says it will likely be up to a court to decide if the rule gets discarded, which is why it’s important for supporters to get their concerns on the record. [More]
arbitrary and capricious
FCC Commissioner Asks Chairman Ajit Pai: Why Don’t You Listen To Your Own Advice On Net Neutrality?
By 5.9.17 — Updated: 5.15.17
Sometimes, the old saw goes, you’ve got to go to war with the resources you actually have, not the ones you might want. So with nothing really left to lose in her battle to preserve net neutrality, the FCC’s lone Democratic commissioner is deploying some scorched-earth Microsoft Word table-making to use FCC Chair Ajit Pai’s own words against him. [More]
Here’s The Timeline For The Likely Death Of Net Neutrality
By 4.27.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
New FCC Chair Ajit Pai vowed to kill off net neutrality if he could before he ever got the job, and yesterday he made good on his word, introducing a plan to roll back the reclassification of broadband as a vital piece of infrastructure and remove the FCC’s authority to insist on an internet where companies like Comcast, Verizon, Charter, and AT&T don’t have any say in where you go or what you do online. [More]
Cable & Phone Industries Tell Congress To Reverse New Internet Privacy Rule
By 1.27.17
Last fall, the FCC approved a new rule detailing internet service providers can and can’t gather and use your information. The affected industries cried “unfair!” and now, with a new business-friendly FCC Chairman and White House, they are calling on Congress to make this pesky privacy rule go away. [More]
Telecom Lobbyists Trying To Overturn New Privacy Rules, Eventually Gut Net Neutrality
By 1.4.17
It’s no secret that the incoming administration is pretty keen on gutting the 2015 Open Internet rule (aka, net neutrality) as soon as it gets a chance. But while there might be new leadership at the FCC in just over two weeks, the rules of process still apply. There’s no magic “remove it” wand for folks opposed to net neutrality to wave; there’s just the long, slow road of petitions, hearings, and evidence, which has formally kicked off this week. [More]
Likely Pick For Next FCC Chair Thinks Net Neutrality’s “Days Are Numbered”
By 12.8.16 — Updated: 1.4.17
The FCC has approved a significant number of major pro-consumer rules in the last few years. Most, however, were contentious within the Commission, and passed on a 3-2 margin. One of the two reliable dissenters, commissioner Ajit Pai, is now on deck as the likely inheritor of the Chairman’s seat when President-Elect Donald Trump’s administration comes to power in January — and he’s already hoping to do away with some of the FCC’s recent rules. [More]
Cable, Wireless Industries Try Yet Again To Take Net Neutrality To Court
By 7.29.16
We have had had net neutrality as the law of the land for over a year now. Lawsuits immediately followed its implementation, of course, but the appeals court took the FCC’s side. So if you’re industry and you’re still ticked off, what’s left? Ask for a do-over… if you can get one. [More]
Net Neutrality Survives For Today, But The Legal Battle Is Far From Over
By 6.14.16
The metaphorical ink on today’s mammoth 184-page ruling upholding net neutrality was barely even dry before everyone with a stake in the matter came out swinging with statements. And while the decision earned praise from consumer advocates and some lawmakers, the telecom industry has vowed to continue the fight. [More]
U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Sues FCC To Stop Efforts To Block Obnoxious Robocalls
By 9.4.15
Consumers hate getting endless robocalls on their landlines and cell phones, and with good reason: they’re incredibly annoying. But they exist for a reason, too: legitimate businesses and scammers alike both find that, to some degree, they work. So when the FCC proposes a rule to let consumers cut back on the annoyance in their lives, businesses are not necessarily thrilled. [More]
AT&T CEO: We Can Invest In Our Company Despite Net Neutrality Because It’ll Lose In Court Anyway
By 5.19.15
All of the big ISPs hate the FCCs new net neutrality rule. They’ve been protesting the agency’s decision since before it was even made. And yet the top executives at the cable ISPs have all by now explained why net neutrality is not actually a threat to their businesses, and this week was AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson’s turn. [More]
Internet Money Guys Start Asking The FCC Not To Implement Net Neutrality
By 4.30.15
Net neutrality has already made a lot of enemies, and the new rule hasn’t even been implemented yet. Along with big ISP lawsuits and hostility in the House, the FCC’s Open Internet Rule is now facing pushback from some of the big money entrepreneurs who make the internet their business. [More]
