Yesterday, President Obama came out in favor of reclassifying broadband as a telecommunications infrastructure, meaning that the FCC could regulate it in the same ways it regulates landline telephone service. Immediately, cable companies began shouting that such regulation would cripple investment in broadband. Alas, this is just pure nonsense intended to instill fear and raise the hackles of those who bristle at any form of government regulation. [More]
net neutrality
ISPs to FCC: No, Seriously, We Will Sue If You Use Title II Like The White House Just Asked
By 11.10.14
Earlier today, the battle over new net neutrality regulations took a surprising shift as the White House very publicly recommended the FCC take the Title II reclassification approach. And while consumer advocates are thrilled, the businesses that make their money charging you for internet access are about as pleased as you’d expect. Which is to say: even if the FCC somehow jumped on Title II tomorrow, there’s a long, ugly legal fight brewing. [More]
White House Calls On FCC To Reclassify Broadband Under Title II, Protect Net Neutrality
By 11.10.14
Consumer advocates urging the FCC to protect net neutrality by reclassifying broadband as a Title II “common carrier” service have picked up a surprising new ally this morning: the President of the United States. [More]
Verizon: We Will Sue FCC Again If “Hybrid” Net Neutrality Happens
By 11.5.14
Verizon really does not care for net neutrality rules. They successfully sued to get net neutrality overturned, but it just won’t stay dead enough for them. They’ve tried firmly insisting that everything is fine as is, and yet the FCC keeps actually moving toward enacting some new regulation in the few remaining weeks of the year. So now Verizon is making it very clear: if the FCC tries to make any part of the internet a common carrier, Verizon will drag them through court. Again. [More]
FCC To Propose New “Hybrid” Approach To Net Neutrality
By 10.31.14
The FCC proposed their new, “fast lane” net neutrality rule back in May. Since then pretty much everyone — from Congress to 3 million regular people, to members of the FCC — has objected in one way or another. And now it looks like FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is going to revise the plan. [More]
Senator Asks Comcast To Stick With Net Neutrality Beyond Its Legal Obligation
By 10.20.14
While its counterparts (we can’t call them competition, since that doesn’t exist) at other cable and Internet service providers have been drooling over proposed “net neutrality” rules that would allow ISPs to charge content companies for “fast lane” access to end-users, Comcast has consistently maintained that it is the only ISP to hold to the since-gutted 2010 version of neutrality (without mentioning that it’s legally obliged to follow those rules for a few more years). Now the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is asking Comcast to stick to those rules even after it no longer has to. [More]
FCC Filing: “At Least One” ISP Violating Net Neutrality By Blocking Encrypted Traffic
By 10.16.14
Broadband and mobile companies are happy to claim that we don’t need new rules to protect net neutrality, because even without rules in place, they’ve never blocked traffic in any harmful way and don’t particularly want to in the future either. However, one internet business says they have proof it happens — and the way the ISPs are doing it can have a huge effect not only on the quality of internet traffic, but on the safety of it, too. [More]
Cable Lobbyists Pretending To Be Cool Digital Hipsters To Convince Youth That Net Neutrality Is Bad
By 10.9.14
The fight for net neutrality has players from all corners amped up and joining in. Millions of individuals, as well as consumer advocacy groups, internet businesses, internet business groups, cable and telecom businesses, and their trade groups, have all been pressing the FCC toward one decision or another. But now there are some new groups wading in to the morass. They look like millennial, digital-savvy, pro-internet hispters — but their message is straight out of Comcast and AT&T’s playbook. So what’s going on? [More]
Newest Critics Of FCC’s Net Neutrality Plan: The FCC Commissioners Who Voted For It
By 9.25.14
The controversial and problematic current suggestion for net neutrality — a two-tiered, “fast lane” approach to the rule — was approved in the FCC in May on a 3-2, strict party-line vote. Since then, however, the proposal has gotten seemingly more unpopular by the day. Congress hates it. The internet hates it. Nearly all of the record-smashing 3.7 million comments to the FCC hate it. But the newest, and most meaningful, opposition might have just popped up from an unexpected source: two of the three FCC commissioners who voted for it. [More]
The Internet Speaks Up: FCC’s Fast Lane Proposal Would Be “A Cluster f**k Worse Than Comcast’s Customer Service”
By 9.10.14
It’s been a long road since an appeals court threw out the FCC’s Open Internet Rule — the one most of us call net neutrality — back in January. The FCC proposed a replacement rule in May, but there’s one small snag: it’s terrible. The proposal currently on the table would allow large ISPs to charge businesses for prioritized access, effectively splitting the internet into fast and slow lanes and choosing for consumers what sites and services they can best access. With the for-really-reals final deadline for the public to have its say fast approaching, today a large swath of the internet is speaking up for net neutrality and asking their visitors and customers to do the same. [More]
Major Internet Players, Including Reddit, Tumblr, And Others, To Protest For Net Neutrality On September 10
By 9.4.14
In an action somewhat reminiscent of the widespread protests against SOPA back in 2012, several major internet businesses are planning a symbolic “internet slowdown” on September 10 to advocate for stronger net neutrality regulations. [More]
Founder Of One Laptop Per Child: Maybe Net Neutrality Isn’t Such A Good Idea After All
By 8.14.14
The FCC is still working through the public comments about their current net neutrality proposal, and it will be many months still before any final rule is made. But one industry veteran, with over four decades of experience in defining the digital world, suggests that maybe we want to slow down and rethink this a bit. What if, he suggests, true net neutrality isn’t actually everything we think it’s cracked up to be? [More]
Consumers Dropped F-Bomb 4,377 Times In Comments To FCC About Net Neutrality
By 8.6.14
More than 1 million comments were submitted to the FCC by the public regarding the Commission’s flawed attempt to restore net neutrality. And more than a few of those comments included language that might make your mother blush. [More]
From AT&T To Verizon: What The Web’s Biggest Players Told The FCC About Net Neutrality
By 7.18.14
The FCC originally planned to stop taking comments about their net neutrality proposal on Tuesday. But after demand overwhelmed and crashed their antique IT system, they extended the deadline to 11:59 p.m. (EDT) tonight. As of yesterday, well over one million comments had been entered, and that number’s still going up. Clearly, the public cares — but what is the public saying? [More]
Overwhelmed FCC Extends Deadline For Commenting On Net Neutrality
By 7.15.14
Today was supposed to be the deadline for filing comments with the FCC about its pending net neutrality proposal. But the Commission has just announced that, due to a surge in responses that is once again overwhelming its commenting system, the deadline has been extended to Friday. [More]
AGs For Illinois, New York Ask FCC To Strengthen Net Neutrality
By 7.15.14
Thousands upon thousands of consumers have already voiced their opinion to the FCC about its not-really-neutral net neutrality (aka “cable company f*ckery”) proposal that would allow deep-pocketed content companies to muscle out smaller competitors by paying for so-called “fast lane” access to end users. Two voices in favor of stronger rules that may carry a little more weight with the FCC are the attorneys general of Illinois and New York. [More]
Today’s Your Last Chance: FCC Public Comment Period For Net Neutrality Ends Tomorrow
By 7.14.14
The FCC’s public comment period on their proposed net neutrality rule — the one with the fast lanes, that everyone, even Congress, thinks is a terrible idea — is running out. The deadline is tomorrow, July 15. For anyone who hasn’t yet left a comment but keeps thinking it, now’s the time. [More]
3 Million Comments And Counting: The Final Public Comment Period On Net Neutrality Ends Tonight
The chance for the public — individuals, consumer advocates, and businesses alike — to have their say on the FCC’s proposed net neutrality rule is finally coming to an end. In the four months of the various comment periods being open, the FCC has received over 3 million comments so far, with more pouring in by the minute. But the finish line is near: the deadline on the reply period ends, for real, at midnight tonight. [More]