NetNeutrality
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FCC admits its comment system never suffered DDoS attack
If you didn't buy the FCC's claims that its comment system fell prone to a DDoS attack when it was soliciting net neutrality comments, investigators have just validated your suspicions. An imminent report from the agency's Inspector General has revealed that there's no evidence of such an attack. To put it another way, the comment system's problems were more likely due to large-scale opposition to the net neutrality repeal (helped by Last Week Tonight's John Oliver), not an untimely hacking campaign.
Republican congressman introduces bill to make net neutrality law
Today, Congressman Mike Coffman (R-CO) introduced the 21st Century Internet Act to the House of Representatives. This bill seeks to codify the principles of net neutrality into law, taking the decision out of the hands of the FCC. It adds an entirely new section to the Communications Act of 1934, Title VIII, and prohibits blocking, throttling and paid prioritization of legal internet content.
Our (likely) next Supreme Court justice doesn't get the internet
Barring some serious Democratic finagling, Judge Brett Kavanaugh is going to be our next associate Supreme Court justice. The problem is, he doesn't really get the internet. He made as much clear in a dissenting opinion he wrote in the thick of last year's net neutrality debate. Long story short, a panel of judges from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the FCC's 2015 Open Internet Order in 2016 after it was challenged by a coalition of telecom and cable companies. Those organizations then petitioned for a second hearing in front of the entire court, and were shot down again (.pdf here) in 2017. Kavanaugh disagreed with the court's decision, and then proceeded to lay out arguments for why the FCC's net neutrality rules were "unlawful."
India approved strong net neutrality rules
While America struggles to retain net neutrality protections on a piecemeal state-by-state level, India just adopted its own seemingly-strong set of rules that largely ban artificial slowing or blocking of content. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) proposed the rules back in November, and the country's official Telecommunications Commission (TC) approved them today, resolving a movement to update internet protections that began in 2015.
California's net neutrality bill regains some key protections
California's Senate passed its own net neutrality-preserving bill, SB 822, but several amendments added on by the State Assembly's Communications Committee headed by State Senator Miguel Santiago defanged the legislation. The bill's author, State Senator Scott Wiener, and other proponents have negotiated with chairman Santiago and emerged with a compromise reinstating some of the key provisions into the bill that defend consumers from ISPs establishing fast lanes and providing anti-competitive 'zero rating' content.
FBI tracks down California man who threatened Ajit Pai's family
Today the Department of Justice announced it has arrested a man in LA on charges that he threatened to kill the family of FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai. 33-year-old Markara Man allegedly sent three emails to Pai from "stubblemanliness@gmail.com" that in succession blamed the commissioner for a child's suicide, threatened his kids while listing several Arlington preschools and finally contained a picture of Pai and his family. According to the filing, Man admitted that he sent the emails in response to the FCC's repeal of net neutrality protections. Earlier this year, Pai canceled a scheduled appearance at CES 2018 citing security concerns, and in November another man was charged with threatening Representative John Katko. The charge Man is facing carries a maximum penalty of ten years in jail.
Lobbyists helped gut California’s net neutrality bill
Federal net neutrality protections have ended, thanks to Ajit Pai's leadership at the FCC, but some states haven't been content with the demise of the regulations that promote a free internet. California in particular has led the charge to introduce its own net neutrality bill. While it enjoyed wide support from the state's population, the bill itself is now toothless. It's been "eviscerated," according to Fast Company's sources, thanks to State Senator Miguel Santiago, who received large campaign donations from AT&T.
Comcast says it’s no longer throttling heavy internet users' speeds
Back in 2007, Comcast was caught throttling BitTorrent traffic, a move that led to an FCC investigation and later, an order from the agency to stop the practice. In response, Comcast then decided to slow all traffic for its heaviest users and its congestion management system has been in place ever since. But now the company is getting rid of it saying improvements in its networks and other technologies have rendered the system unnecessary.
Net neutrality ends today
The FCC's decision to overturn Obama-era net neutrality protections goes into effect today, giving internet service providers leeway to block, throttle and prioritize websites and content. While we may not see the direct effects of this decision immediately, it is, in no uncertain terms, a massively important change that stands to alter the internet as we know and experience it.
California Senate passes net neutrality bill
California just edged closer to establishing its own net neutrality law in the wake of the FCC's decision to kill federal measures. The state Senate has passed a bill that would not only institute rules like those the FCC implemented in 2015, but would forbid the practice of zero-rating services to give them advantages over competitors. Much like Oregon and other states making similar legal moves, internet providers would have to honor these neutrality rules if they wanted government contracts.
Notorious Kansas swatter charged in net neutrality bomb threat
The FCC vote on December 14th, 2017 is best known as the day that net neutrality died, but you may recall that it didn't quite go as planned. During the session, Chairperson Ajit Pai announced that the room had to be evacuated because of a bomb threat. Now, the person who allegedly did that, Tyler Raj Barriss, has been indicted. If that name sounds familiar, it's the same person accused of swatting a gamer who was subsequently shot and killed by police in Wichita, Kansas.
Senators ask the FCC to investigate fake net neutrality comments
Two Senators from opposing parties have put aside their differences to demand an investigation into the stolen identities that led to millions of fake net neutrality comments on the FCC's website. In a letter addressed to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) said they were "among those whose identities were misused to express viewpoints [they] do not hold" on the FCC's net neutrality proposals. They're now asking the commission to identify the entity behind the fake comments, as well as to adopt safeguards to prevent the same incident from happening in the future.
Recommended Reading: The fate of Facebook's free internet project
What happened to Facebook's grand plan to wire the world? Jessi Hempel, Wired For years, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg touted the company's Internet.org initiative that sought to bring connectivity to everyone in the world. It was presented an ambitious humanitarian effort, but things didn't go according to plan. Wired tells the story of what happened to the project following criticism and bans from local governments.
House Democrats mobilize for next phase of net neutrality fight
Earlier this week, Senate Democrats, with the help of three Republicans, managed to pass a resolution to save net neutrality before its upcoming repeal in June. Now their counterparts in the House are trying to rally enough signatures to force a similar vote in that chamber. They have 90 Democrats but need over 20 Republican representatives to break ranks and sign on. The road to saving net neutrality is still very uphill.
Net neutrality still faces an uphill battle in Congress
The Senate voted today on whether to reject the FCC decision to remove net neutrality protections -- and though it was unclear for some time whether the Democrats would gain enough Republican support to pass the measure, they did. Along with the 49 Senate Democrats, three Republican Senators -- Susan Collins (ME), John Kennedy (LA) and Lisa Murkowski (AK) -- voted to repeal the changes put into place by the FCC in December, resulting in a 52-47 tally. The new regulations are currently scheduled to go into effect June 11th. However, while this battle may have been won by those in support of net neutrality, there's still a long, hard road ahead, and the Senate measure isn't likely to survive.
Senate barely passes resolution to restore net neutrality
A spirited campaign by Democratic lawmakers to save net neutrality has passed the Senate, moving one step closer toward forestalling its scheduled demise on June 11th. The vote was predictably close along party lines: In addition to every Democrat supporting the legislation, the final 52-47 tally featured three Republican legislators, Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and John Kennedy (R-LA), voting in favor of the bill.
Senate vote to restore net neutrality will take place on May 16th
For those of you who have been hoping that the Senate will save net neutrality, we now have a date for that vote. Senate Democrats led by Edward Markey (D-MA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) will force a vote on Wednesday, May 16th.
AT&T CEO admits 'big mistake' in hiring Trump lawyer Michael Cohen
Today, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson admitted that hiring notorious Trump attorney Michael Cohen was a "big mistake," according to Reuters. The wording is from an internal employee memo that was sent this morning. Bob Quinn, AT&T's head lobbyist who oversaw Cohen's hiring, is retiring.
Net neutrality dies June 11th
Net neutrality officially dies June 11th, almost three years to the day after it was put into law. In a press release (PDF) from Ajit Pai's office, the former Verizon counsel (above) repeated his rhetoric that the internet was never broken and bemoaned Title II rules as being "heavy handed" and "outdated."
Senators force vote in an effort to restore net neutrality
Today, Senate Democrats filed a petition that will force a vote on the FCC's removal of net neutrality protections. The FCC's decision was published in the Federal Register on February 22nd and as per the Congressional Review Act, the Senate has 60 days from that date to take action. "I believe today kicks off the most important week for the internet that the Senate has ever seen," Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) said during a speech today.
