Former FCC chair turned cable-industry frontman Michael Powell thinks that, in spite of the fact that delivering data to consumers continues to get less expensive, cable companies should be rushing to put caps on data usage and implement usage-based, metered broadband service. [More]
net neutrality
Former FCC Chair Urges Cable Companies To Hurry Up & Implement Data Caps And Usage-Based Pricing
By 10.24.13
Advocates File Net Neutrality Complaint Over AT&T's FaceTime Policy
By 9.18.12
Last month, AT&T confirmed that iPhone customers who want to use the iPhone’s FaceTime video chat app over a cellular connection would need to belong to one of the company’s new shared data plans. At the time, several advocates raised concerns about whether or not this requirement violated the FCC’s Open Internet rules, and now these same groups have moved to file an actual complaint with regulators. [More]
Netflix CEO Rips Comcast On Net Neutrality
By 4.16.12
It’s been a few weeks since Comcast announced that data chewed up by customers who use the cable company’s Xfinity Xbox app won’t count toward their monthly data cap. The move ignited a debate over whether or not Comcast was unfairly making its product more readily available than those provided by others, like perhaps… Netflix. Well, yesterday, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings decided it was time to make his position known. [More]
Beastie Boy Mike D Fights AT&T For Shareholders' Right To Vote On Net Neutrality
By 2.15.12
Sorry, but there was just no way we’d be able to refrain from referencing Beastie Boys songs/lyrics in this one: Michael Diamond, aka Mike D, has teamed up with two other investors, including his wife, to sabotage AT&T’s attempt to not allow shareholders to vote on resolutions supporting wireless net-neutrality in yearly shareholder votes. [More]
Verizon Sues Over FCC's Net Neutrality Rules
By 1.21.11
Unhappy with the FCC’s net neutrality rules that have yet to take effect, Verizon filed suit in a federal appeals court. in December, the FCC ruled that while wireless providers can throttle internet use based on what kind of content users are attempting to access, they can’t block access to competitors. Non-wireless ISPs generally aren’t allowed to throttle internet use. [More]
FCC Ruling On Net Neutrality Is A Big Compromise
By 12.22.10
The FCC has ruled on net neutrality and offered up a compromise solution: ISPs can’t throttle fixed line computer users based on what kind of content they’re accessing, but wireless providers can. [More]
Comcast's Letter To The FCC About Netflix Tollgate
By 12.2.10
Here is the letter Comcast sent the FCC after eyebrows were raised when Level 3 accused the cable company of setting up a effective tollgate to collect fees when L3 tried to deliver Netflix content to Comcast customers. [More]
Comcast Charges Toll For Netflix Delivery
By 11.30.10
The largest broadband backbone provider in the world says Comcast has set up a tollbooth, charging it a fee to deliver Netflix content to Comcast customers. “This action by Comcast threatens the open Internet and is a clear abuse of the dominant control that Comcast exerts in broadband access,” said Level 3 in a statement. [More]
Fox Blacked Out Hulu For Cablevision Subscribers
By 10.20.10
A small skirmish in the pissing match between Fox and Cablevision could have major repercussions. [More]
Worst Company In America Trophy Mailed To Comcast
By 10.5.10
We are super-duper late in mailing out Comcast’s Worst Company In America trophy so we decided to spice it up with a disco lightshow for the award and a nice congratulatory letter. [More]
Strings Attached: Charities Comcast Donated To Send FCC Pro-Merger Letters
By 9.3.10
There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Comcast has donated over $1.8 billion to local charities and now that its merger with NBC is on the table, it’s time to call in the chits. Charities that received contributions from Comcast are pouring out their epistolary support for the merger, and they appear to be less than spontaneous. [More]
Is Comcast Choking My Bandwidth To Keep Me From Watching Too Much TV Online?
By 6.14.10
Gen fears Comcast is choking his bandwidth because he’s streamed too many TV shows. He keeps getting suspicious messages that say his internet connection has slowed when he tries to watch episodes of Law & Order: SVU. [More]
Wireless Industry Lobbyists Explain Why The FCC Should Back Off
By 5.17.10
The president and a vice-president for CTIA, a lobbying organization for the wireless industry, spoke recently with CNET about why they think the FCC should leave their members alone. The vice-president, Chris Guttman-McCabe, is a lawyer and as such his answers are useless. President Steve Largent, however, actually has a couple of candid moments during the interview. [More]
Get Ready For Anti-Net Neutrality Ads
By 5.13.10
Foes of net neutrality are getting set to spend $1.4 million to air a series of ads against the Federal Communication Commission’s efforts to enforce net neutrality rules by regulating broadband access providers as telecom services. First up: this peppy offering from Americans for Prosperity, that warns that the Internet will be the next domino to fall to the encroaching menace of a “Washington takeover.” [More]
FCC May Step In To Restore Net Neutrality
By 5.6.10
Fighting back against a court ruling that found the FCC has no authority to require broadband providers to give equal treatment to all Internet traffic flowing over their networks, the commission has proposed regulating broadband under rules designed for phone networks, the Wall Street Journal reports. [More]
Comcast Issues the Smackdown On FCC, Net Neutrality
By 4.6.10
Comcast has won a key court battle as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the FCC lacks authority to require broadband providers to give equal treatment to all Internet traffic flowing over their networks, reports the AP. [More]
Is AT&T Behind Grassroots Groups That Are Opposed To Net Neutrality?
By 10.27.09
In the net neutrality debate, there are a surprising number of grassroots organizations (well, surprising to me at any rate) that have filed statements against the FCC’s recent draft of rules. Matthew Lasar at Ars Technica just published an interesting article where he looks at some of these groups and tries to figure out whether AT&T is secretly influencing them, or whether they really do think net neutrality will hurt those they represent–frequently minority groups–in the long run.
Here's What The New FCC Net Neutrality Rules Mean
By 10.23.09
Yesterday the FCC announced new, expanded rules enforcing net neutrality, and they’ve set aside the next 60 days for public debate. Get ready to hear all sorts of creative end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it arguments from opponents like AT&T. We’ve checked out the official document (pdf) and below we summarize the changes that are open to public discussion for the next two months.
