Tag: Trump FCC

FCC vote won’t end net neutrality fight

The following article by Harper Neidig was posted on the Hill website December 16, 2017:

Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (Reuters/Aaron P. Bernstein/File Photo)

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) vote this week to repeal net neutrality won’t end the fight over the regulation.

Opponents are already lining up to sue the agency, which voted 3-2 to scrap the rules on Thursday, while Democrats are pushing legislation that would prevent the repeal from going into effect.

The FCC said that the net neutrality repeal has to be approved by the Office of Management and Budget before it can go into effect — a process that could take months. Continue reading “FCC vote won’t end net neutrality fight”

With FCC’s net neutrality ruling, the US could lose its lead in online consumer protection

The following article by Sascha Meinrath, Director of X-Lab; Palmer Chair in Telecommunications, Pennsylvania State University, and Nathalia Foditsch, Ph.D. Student in Law and Communications, American University, was posted on the Conversation website December 14, 2017:

Three of these smiling people undid U.S. consumer protections online. Federal Communications Commission

The internet may be an international system of interconnecting networks sharing a rough global consensus about the technical details of communicating through them – but each country manages its own internet environment independently. As the U.S. debate about the role of government in overseeing and regulating the internet continues, it’s worth looking at how other countries handle the issue.

Our research and advocacy on internet regulation in the U.S. and other countries offers us a unique historical and global perspective on the Federal Communications Commission’s December 2017 decision to deregulate the internet in the U.S. The principle of an open internet, often called “net neutrality,” is one of consumer protection. It is based on the idea that everyone – users and content providers alike – should be able to freely spread their own views, and consumers can choose what services to use and what content to consume. Network neutrality ensures that no one – not the government, nor corporations – is allowed to censor speech or interfere with content, services or applications. Continue reading “With FCC’s net neutrality ruling, the US could lose its lead in online consumer protection”

The FCC just voted to repeal its net neutrality rules, in a sweeping act of deregulation

The following article by Brian Fung was posted on the Washington Post website December 14, 2017:

The FCC has unveiled a plan to repeal net neutrality, or the idea that Internet service providers can’t block or favor websites. See what this means for you. (Jhaan Elker, Brian Fung/The Washington Post)

Federal regulators voted Thursday to allow Internet providers to speed up service for websites they favor — and block or slow down others — in a decision repealing landmark Obama-era regulations overseeing broadband companies such as AT&T and Verizon.

The move by the Federal Communications Commission to deregulate the telecom and cable industries was a prominent example of the policy shifts taking place in Washington under President Trump and a major setback for consumer groups, tech companies and Democrats who had lobbied heavily against the decision. Continue reading “The FCC just voted to repeal its net neutrality rules, in a sweeping act of deregulation”