NetNeutrality
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EFF tool tells your members of Congress to fight for net neutrality
The FCC may be bent on killing net neutrality, but that doesn't mean you have to stay silent or offer mostly symbolic protests. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has created a web tool that makes it easy to ask your members of Congress to fight for an open internet. All you have to do us plug in your address, personalize your message (if you like) and hit "submit" -- your representatives and senators will receive your concerns and hopefully do something about it.
This is what transparency looks like without net neutrality
The Federal Communications Commission's proposal to dismantle net neutrality deletes the past two years of regulatory progress and essentially thrusts the internet back into the mid-1990s. Under chairman Ajit Pai, the FCC plans to remove the current ban on throttling, blocking or prioritization schemes, and revoke the internet conduct standard, which allows the commission to investigate zero-rating plans. Pai's proposal strips the internet of its status as a "common carrier" under Title II of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, drastically reducing regulation for internet service providers like Verizon, Comcast and AT&T. As the FCC tears down the rules that sustain a free and open internet, it's placing an incredible amount of faith in the honesty of for-profit ISPs. To offset decreased oversight, the FCC is relying on a new brand of transparency: ISPs will be responsible for publicly disclosing whether they're blocking, throttling or prioritizing any online content. Remember, these practices aren't prohibited in the new proposal.
Head to Verizon stores to protest the FCC's anti-net neutrality plans
It's highly unlikely that the FCC's latest plan to gut net neutrality won't go through, thanks to chairman Ajit Pai's record of consumer-unfriendly viewpoints and a Republican majority on the Federal Communications Commission. Still, advocacy groups and various websites have been pushing to preserve net neutrality for months now. The latest protest is looking to have people head to Verizon stores (Pai was a top lawyer for the telecommunications company) on December 7th to make their voices heard.
FCC releases the final draft of its proposal to kill net neutrality
The FCC has released the final draft of its proposal to roll back 2015 net neutrality protections. If enacted, the order would reclassify broadband internet service as an information service and Title II regulations would no longer apply. Additionally, blocking, throttling and fast-laning of content would no longer be banned and paid prioritization practices would be allowed as long as they're explicitly laid out by internet service providers. Further, any state-level regulations that contradict the FCC's order would be preempted.
New York AG blasts FCC for refusing to help fight net neutrality spam
Were you frustrated that the FCC did nothing to look into bots flooding its public comment system with anti-net neutrality spam before deciding to kill net neutrality? So was New York. State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has posted an open letter chastising the FCC for refusing to help investigate this "illegal conduct." New York made requests for records "at least 9 times" between June and November, and asked key FCC officials (including Chairman Ajit Pai) for help, all to no avail -- there was "no substantive response" to any of the inquiries, Schneiderman said.
What to expect from the FCC's net neutrality proposal
Today, senior FCC officials outlined the net neutrality draft proposal that will be released by the commission tomorrow. As has been discussed for months, if the new proposal is accepted by the FCC, broadband internet service will cease being subjected to Title II regulations and will return to an information service classification rather than a telecommunications one. Additionally, the order would fully repeal the FCC regulations allowed by the internet conduct standard put in place in 2015, which let the commission investigate practices like zero-rating schemes -- AT&T's Sponsored Data and Verizon's FreeBee Data 360 setups, for example -- and would get rid of the bright-line rules that prevented internet service providers (ISP) from blocking, throttling or fast-laning certain content.
FCC chairman reveals plan to kill net neutrality
As expected, tomorrow, the FCC will release its plan to undo the net neutrality protections put in place during the Obama administration. Despite plenty of opposition, the FCC and Chairman Ajit Pai will go forward with the proposal, which will be voted on by the commission on December 14th. In a statement released today, Pai said, "Today, I have shared with my colleagues a draft order that would abandon this failed approach and return to the longstanding consensus that served consumers well for decades. Under my proposal, the federal government will stop micromanaging the internet."
The FCC's plan to undo net neutrality is about to be revealed
Back in April, new FCC chairman Ajit Pai outlined a plan to undo net neutrality protections implemented during the Obama administration, before taking public comments. Millions of messages in response crashed the FCC's website for a time, but despite opposition, he is reportedly ready to move forward and may unveil more details this week. The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Politico separately reported that we will find out details later on Tuesday, before the commission votes on them in December.
Vodafone's paid zero-rating Passes are now available
Attention social media butterflies, chatterboxes and serial streamers: Vodafone Passes are now live. If you're catching up, Passes are Vodafone's take on a zero-rating scheme. Unlike Three and some other networks that help you preserve your precious monthly allowance by including, as a standard plan perk, "free" data towards a few services, Passes are paid bolt-ons. Buy the Chat Pass for £3 per month, for example, and you can use WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Viber Messenger as much as you want without touching a kilobyte of your regular data ration.
Three is adding 'free' Apple Music data to Go Binge plans
Zero-rated services, it seems, are here to stay. Almost every major UK network has revealed its own take on the concept, offering "free" data when you use specific apps on your phone. Three's version, Go Binge, launched in July with a handful of partners including Netflix, Deezer and SoundCloud. Today, to coincide with the launch of the iPhone X, the company has announced a new addition: Apple Music. The service joins the Go Binge family on November 27th and will be eligible for customers with an "advanced" contract or SIM-only plan with at least 4GB of data.
Vodafone’s introducing a zero-rating scheme too
Just as several of its carrier peers have done recently, Vodafone will soon be jumping on the zero-rating bandwagon. Vodafone Passes, as they're called, are a selection of paid bolt-ons that'll offer unlimited data towards several music and video streaming services, as well as some social media and messaging apps.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai will serve a second term despite protests
If you were hoping that the Senate would have second thoughts about FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's tenure given widespread objections to his policies, you're about to be disappointed. Senators voted to confirm Pai for a second term, giving him another 5 years in office (technically 4, since it's retroactive to July 2016). In short, he'll likely remain Chairman throughout President Trump's term.
House cancels net neutrality hearing after companies don't commit
The September 7th meeting to discuss the future of net neutrality in Washington, D.C. has been cancelled. Why? Alphabet, AT&T, Charter Communications, Comcast, Facebook, Netflix and Verizon executives wouldn't commit to attending, according to Reuters. At the end of last month, lawmakers agreed to extend the deadline in hopes that company heads would attend. The reality is that in private, the companies have been apparently reticent to sign any sort of permanent rules under the current administration.
Apple calls for 'strong' open internet protection in FCC comments
Apple has historically kept quiet on the subject of net neutrality, but not anymore. The company recently filed a comment with the FCC calling for "strong, enforceable open internet protections" centered around the principles of consumer choice, transparency and competition. Apple got its comments in just under the wire, too: the FCC's electronic commenting system says the filing, signed by Apple Public Policy VP Cynthia Hogan, was received on the last day public comments were allowed.
Vodafone's Voxi SIMs come with 'free' social media data
Vodafone is so desperate to be down with the kids, it's launching a new mobile network. Voxi, a sub-brand of Vodafone, will offer three SIM-only plans aimed at people aged 25 and under. All of them include "free" data for the following social media apps: Facebook and Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Pinterest, Snapchat, Twitter and Viber. The rest of your allowance can then be saved for the essentials — emails, navigation, that sort of thing — and hefty streaming apps such as YouTube or Spotify.
Verizon's always-on throttling is an affront to customers and net neutrality
Well, it was nice while it lasted. Today Verizon (the biggest carrier in the US) announced it was doing away with its simple and fair unlimited wireless-data plan and complicating things by instead offering three plans. Two of those cost more, and all three come with compromise. Customers who pick the cheapest plan can have their data speeds throttled at any time. Video won't stream above 480p, and tethering data is limited to the ludicrously slow speed of 600Kbps. Meanwhile, opting for the more expensive plan limits you to 720p video on phones and 1080p video on tablets, and you'll only be throttled if the network is congested and you've used more than 22GB of data in one billing cycle. (The third plan is aimed at business customers.) This is a big change from what Verizon announced in February, when it surprised just about everyone by bringing back unlimited data. As a reminder, the big US wireless carriers killed unlimited data back in 2011 and started moving customers to tiered plans, wherein you paid for what you used. But Verizon's new unlimited plan that came out earlier this year was blessedly simple: There was one plan, your data speeds were only throttled if you both went over 22GB and Verizon's network was congested at the time, and you got a full 10GB of LTE tethering data every month. It wasn't a cheap plan, but it probably was the most straightforward wireless option with the fewest compromises out there.
Congressmen call for investigation of FCC cyberattack claims
The FCC has claimed that the site it uses to collect public comment on its plans to roll back net neutrality rules was taken down by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack instead of crippled by a massive number of commenters brought about by a John Oliver segment on HBO. When pressed for details, the agency denied that it hadn't documented the "attack," that sharing any details would undermine security and have stonewalled any demands for evidence of a cyberattack. On Thursday, however, Senator Brian Schatz and Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) encouraging a full review of the FCC's practices and claims.
FCC extends net neutrality public comment period until August 30th
It hasn't been too long since individuals and companies protested the FCC's plan to gut net neutrality with a national Day of Action. It's such a hot button issue, that net neutrality supporters basically crippled the FCC website for public comment after HBO's John Oliver sent fans to register their own complaints (even though the FCC claims it was a DDoS attack, but won't share any details). With all this fooferah, it's not super surprising that the FCC has extended the comment period by two weeks, to end on August 30th.
FCC back at full strength after Senate confirms two new members
The FCC is no longer shorthanded after seven months of operating below max capacity now that the Senate has finally confirmed two new commissioners appointed by the president. In a statement released today, the agency has named Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendan Carr to fill the last two of the five commissioner seats. Both are no strangers to the work the FCC does: Rosenworcel was actually a commissioner under the previous administration and was known for being an avid supporter of net neutrality and open internet. She was never supposed to leave her seat in the commission, but lawmakers failed to extend her term on time due to political issues.
Tech CEOs haven’t yet agreed to attend House net neutrality hearing
Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee invited CEOs from Facebook, Alphabet, Amazon, Netflix, Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and Charter Communications to testify at an upcoming hearing about net neutrality and potential legislation regarding it. When the invitations were announced, committee chairman Greg Walden said, "With almost everyone in agreement about fundamental principles to prevent anti-competitive behavior such as throttling and blocking, I think we are closer than ever to achieving a lasting resolution. The time has come to get everyone to the table and get this figured out."
