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Congress begins rolling back Obama's broadband privacy rules
As expected, Republicans in Congress have begun the process of rolling back the FCC's broadband privacy rules which prevent excessive surveillance. Arizona Republican Jeff Flake introduced a resolution to scrub the rules, using Congress' powers to invalidate recently-approved federal regulations. Reuters reports that the move has broad support, with 34 other names throwing their weight behind the resolution.
ACLU and 170 other groups ask the FCC to keep net neutrality
The current FCC administration is determined to end net neutrality whatever the cost, but that isn't stopping policy groups from making a bid to save it. Over 170 groups (including the American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation) have sent a letter urging FCC chair Ajit Pai, Democratic Senator Bill Nelson and Republican Senator John Thune to maintain the 2015 net neutrality order. They believe that treating internet traffic equally is vital to making the internet an "engine of opportunity," and note that broadband investment is up despite internet providers' threats to the contrary. It's also vital to preserving competition and free speech for smaller outfits, the groups argue.
FCC chairman Ajit Pai calls net neutrality a 'mistake'
New FCC chairman Ajit Pai has made his views on net neutrality clear in the past: He's against it. But today at Mobile World Congress, Pai gave a wide-ranging speech in which he made his most pointed comments against net neutrality since taking over as chairman. When discussing the rules put into place in early 2015, Pai said they were "a mistake" and praised "light touch" internet regulation -- something that's sure to be on the FCC's agenda going forward.
FCC lifts transparency requirements for some internet providers
The Federal Communications Commission today voted to remove reporting requirements for internet providers with fewer than 250,000 subscribers, a move that chips away at the foundation of net neutrality. Today's vote means these smaller carriers no longer have to publicly share information about data caps, fees, and network performance and management practices for at least five years.
FCC Republicans promise to limit net neutrality when 'possible'
If you're worried that the US government will stomp on net neutrality the moment Trump becomes President, your concerns are well-founded. The FCC's two Republican Commissioners, Ajit Pai and Michael O'Rielly, have sent a letter to carrier lobbying groups promising to "revisit" net neutrality rules "as soon as possible" -- that is, once Chairman Tom Wheeler leaves and the right wing gets majority control of the agency. They write that the requirements for traffic fairness and transparency create "unjustified burdens" for providers, and previously said that they intended to "undo" net neutrality and other policies opposed by their party.
Under Trump the future of Net Neutrality and broadband is uncertain
On January 20th, Donald Trump will be sworn in as president of the United States. With a Republican-controlled House and Senate behind him, things in this country are going to change... a lot. One of the things that might be on the chopping block early in his administration is Net Neutrality.
Net Neutrality upheld by appeals court
An appeals court in Washington DC has upheld the FCC's Open Internet Order, affirming that Net Neutrality can live to fight another day. While the appellate judges have had to rule in favor of telecoms companies in previous cases, the FCC's law is now watertight and is acting within its powers. The decision is likely to stick in the craw of many networks, including AT&T and Verizon, which fought bitterly against provisions to maintain a free and fair market online. Unfortunately, Net Neutrality still has plenty of critics in high places, and several Republican politicians have attempted to gut the FCC in the hope of getting their own way.
Republican budget proposal would gut net neutrality
It's no secret that the Republican Party hates net neutrality regulation, but it's now ready to raise the stakes. House GOP members have drafted a 2017 budget proposal that would neuter some of the FCC's bigger telecom initiatives, at least for a while. On top of cutting the FCC's budget by $69 million, it would prevent the FCC from enforcing its net neutrality rules until some court cases wind down -- which, knowing the legal system, could take years. You could also forget about short-term attempts to open up competition for TV set-top boxes, as the legislation would prevent the FCC from taking action on its set-top rule until a study finishes.
The FCC is getting tons of net neutrality complaints
The FCC has unveiled a new online portal where anybody can see the kind of complaints people have been submitting to the commission. And according to the info on the website, the FCC has received 20,991 net neutrality complaints since the rules took effect on June 12th, 2015. That's an average of 61 submissions a day and is eclipsed only by the number of billing-related reports under the internet category. It's not really that surprising, considering the agency got 2,000 complaints a month after the rules took effect.
The President says he will veto anti-net neutrality bill
President Obama swears that H.R. 2666 will never become a law under his administration. In a letter published today, the White House says the bill "would undermine key provisions in the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Open Internet order." The president's advisors would recommend that he veto it if it ever reaches his office. H.R. 2666 also known as the "No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act" looks like it complements the FCC's new net neutrality rules at first glance. It wants to make sure that the FCC can't regulate broadband rates -- something that commission chairman Tom Wheeler promised his office won't do -- after all.
The FCC is already getting thousands of net neutrality complaints
Net Neutrality. The internet as a public utility. Hooray? The FCC is already receiving a lot of complaints from customers that are sick of data caps, slow speeds and possibly uncompetitive prices. According to the National Journal, a lot of the ire has been directed at a predictable list of offenders: AT&T, Comcast and Verizon -- a company that now owns AOL. So far there's no proof of violating net neutrality rules where service providers are blocking or otherwise slowing web services. But as these providers are reclassified as carriers, it lets customers complain when they feel that what the companies are doing are unreasonable. If you've got a complainin' itch to scratch, you can file your own over on the FCC's website. These entries are forwarded to the offending carrier, which has to respond within 30 days.
New net neutrality rules will take effect tomorrow
Nothing will stop the new net neutrality rules from taking effect on Friday now. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has just tossed out the telecom industry's request to block key net neutrality regulations while the lawsuit it filed is ongoing. According to the federal appeals court, the "petitioners have not satisfied the stringent requirements" needed to prove their case. In particular, they weren't able to convince the court that implementing the rules on Friday would cause them irreparable damage. Under the network neutrality plan, broadband internet is reclassified as a public utility like phone service, giving the FCC more regulatory power over high-speed internet and its providers.
