Tag: net neutrality

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FCC Publishes 400 Page Document Detailing Net Neutrality Rules and Objections

FCCThe FCC’s announcement that they would be reclassifying the Internet and regulating it as a utility came with a five page summary detailing the commission’s plans.

Yesterday the FCC quietly released the full set of rules to the public, and including the dissenting opinions from the Republican members, the document is 400 pages long.

We’re currently reading through the rules now to see if there are any surprises, but so far no red flags or severe changes from the initial summary. The rules seem focused on preventing ISP’s from throttling services, and blocking any actions towards creating a tiered internet with “fastlanes”.

There’s also a pretty healthy section on Forbearance, detailing all the things that the FCC wont be enforcing like public utility pricing. Still, even though this resembles the situation we found ourselves in when the cell phone industry was reclassified, which ultimately provided for more competition and better consumer experiences, we can expect the ISP’s and carriers to start mounting an attack now that the rules are available.

You can read the rules for yourself, instead of just accepting pundit’s opinions, at the link below.

In the Matter of Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet

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Explained! FCC Reclassifies Broadband as Utility, Defends Net Neutrality! We Answer Your Questions!

It was a landmark day yesterday for the FCC and advocates of a free and open internet. Two major rulings were delivered. One defending Tennessee and North Carolina efforts to build tax payer funded broadband, and the second reclassifying the entire Internet as a utility under Title II regulations. If you have questions about the announcements, Enobong Etteh from Booredatwork and I are here to answer them!

Read the FCC’s Statement on the new Broadband Internet Rules.

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FCC Reclassifies Internet as a Utility, Defends Net Neutrality

FCCThis has been a crazy trip.

From Verizon suing the Government over the Open Internet Order, to proposed “Fast Lane” rules, to now. The FCC has been busy today. First, announcing it will preempt state laws in Tennessee and North Carolina which were preventing community funded broadband efforts.

Second, approving rules which will reclassify broadband internet as a common carrier utility under Title II regulations. Thankfully, unlike the OIO, these new rules will also apply to mobile networks, not just wired ones. The vote was 3-2 in favor, on party lines with the Democrat majority winning the day.

“While I see no need for net neutrality rules, I am far more troubled by the dangerous course that the Commission is now charting on Title 2 and the consequences it will have for broadband investment, edge providers and consumers,”

-Republican FCC member Michael O’Rielly, who voted against the new rules.

We can also expect much crying and gnashing of teeth from the GOP in the House and Senate, with tired FUD and scare tactics, even though companies like Sprint have already pointed out that light touch regulation can be incredibly beneficial to a market as stagnant as our telecommunications industry. You would not have carriers like T-Mobile today, if the cell phone industry hadn’t been reclassified as Title II in the mid 1990’s. You can lead an elephant to water…

It’s a day many supporters of Net Neutrality thought we’d never see, and while there will still be a number of battles to fight over who regulates the internet, and what those actions should resemble, we can at least call today a victory for pretty much anyone who uses any kind of commerce or data driven service online.

The FCC has a five page write up, detailing the new rules.

FCC ADOPTS STRONG, SUSTAINABLE RULES TO PROTECT THE OPEN INTERNET

 

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Sprint Sends Letter to FCC in Support of Title II Reclassification

sprint logoMaybe a surprising way to wrap a week full of Net Neutrality news, but the country’s fourth place carrier yesterday sent a letter to the FCC explaining its position on reclassifying the internet as a common utility under Title II.

They’re stance? It probably wont affect their products and services much.

Now to be sure, the letter does support a “light touch” regulation, where the FCC through forbearance might opt out of regulating certain aspects of the wireless industry, and give “mobile carriers the flexibility to manage our networks and to differentiate our services in the market”.

Of course, drawing that regulation line is a sticky subject between Title II supporters and opponents. Still it’s refreshing to see a carrier buck current industry trends to point out that it’s entirely likely reclassification might have only a small impact on the way broadband business is currently handled, and drawing on the history of the wireless industry, would probably be a positive move for the industry in allowing more competition.

When first launched, the mobile market was a licensed duopoly. This system was a failure, resulting in slow deployment, high prices and little innovation. In 1993, Congress revised the Telecommunications Act to allow new carriers, including Sprint, to enter the market. This competition resulted in tremendous investment in the wireless industry, broader deployment, greater innovation, and falling prices. It is absolutely true that this explosion of growth occurred under a light touch regulatory regime. Some net neutrality debaters appear to have forgotten, however, that this light touch regulatory regime emanated from Title II common carrier regulation, including Sections 201, 202 and 208 of the Communications Act.

Well done Lil’ Yellow. You can read the whole letter from Sprint’s Chief Technology Officer, Stephen Bye here (PDF Download).

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If the Internet is Declared a Title II Utility, Verizon Will Only Have Itself to Blame

FCCThe fight over net neutrality is going to get uglier. President Obama recently voiced support for classifying the Internet as a common utility and ending 19 states laws preventing broadband competition, and FCC chairman Tom Wheeler might join the President after voicing support for Title II at this year’s CES.

On the other side, Conservatives are pushing another bill in the House which would completely strip the FCC of regulating Internet activity by classifying it as an “Information Service”. You can thank Congressman Bob Latta out of Ohio for that, who received around $80,000 in donations from the telecoms during the 2013-14 election year cycle.

Google is backing Title II, as the reclassification would mean they would have more access to public utility lines and infrastructure as opposed to always digging their own trenches. There’s been growing support for more publicly funded broadband at the local level, while traditional ISP’s have been lobbying to maintain their non-competitive status quo.

Verizon-logoFunnily enough we arrive at this point on the one year anniversary of an appellate court ruling in favor of Verizon in a lawsuit against the FCC and their Open Internet Order. The OIO would have enforced Net Neutrality rules on home internet and cabled broadband, but would have been pretty loose on wireless carriers.

Verizon alone sued the FCC over some fairly basic protections for keeping a level playing field, claiming it was their First Amendment right to degrade the quality of connection for competing services on their network. Other carriers have tried to circumvent Net Neutrality with “value add” benefits for consumers. People were up in arms about AT&T’s proposed Sponsored Data initiative, which would let third party companies pay to reduce the amount of data AT&T subscribers would be billed for, and T-Mobile found some success in cutting streaming music services off of customer’s bills.

Verizon’s actions a year ago in squashing the OIO means the worst possible option for carriers and ISP’s is the one gaining the most traction. It seems more likely now that in the wake of vocal opposition to the FCC’s “Fastlane” proposal, we might see an about face and a new proposal presented in favor of classifying the internet as a common utility.

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President Obama Would Like the FCC to Reclassify the Internet as a Utility

president_official_portrait_hiresOn the campaign trail, then candidate Obama campaigned on keeping the Internet free and fair. As President, he’s been quiet on the recent plans laid out by the FCC to allow for paid fast lane access to web services.

In a two minute video uploaded to Youtube this morning, President Obama laid out his plan for what a free Internet should look like. He submitted his proposed plan to the FCC, encouraging them to prevent gatekeepers from arbitrarily degrading services like Netflix, and that rules should be drafted which protect service regardless of how someone connects to the internet. That last point would also mark a large shift in how data access is managed as cell networks operate under different rules than traditional wired networks.

While it’s encouraging to finally see the White House comment publicly on the continuing battles over Net Neutrality, the FCC’s response threw some cold water on those happy feelings.

“As an independent regulatory agency we will incorporate the President’s submission into the record of the Open Internet proceeding,” chairman Wheeler says. “We welcome comment on it and how it proposes to use Title II of the Communications Act.”

Essentially saying that the President’s recommendation would largely end up on the same pile of comments that the public has been submitting.

You can see President Obama’s statement below.

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FCC Puts Comcast + Time Warner Merger Review on Hold

Comcast-LogoIn a public open letter to Comcast and Time Warner, the FCC announced they will be hitting pause on their 180 day review of proposed merger between the two largest cable companies in the United States.

Only 85 days into the review process, both Comcast and TWC failed to meet deadlines on information requests in September. The FCC also responds to claims that the Comcast NBC Universal merger did not affect pricing, and that there was a substantial amount of data contradicting that claim needing examination. The FCC will resume their review process October 29th, allowing more time for the public to file comments and responses to the merger.

FCCPublic reaction to the merger has largely been negative, with many fearing the affects of what one super-large cable company will do to pricing and competition for services. It’s also become a cornerstone talking point in the ongoing net neutrality debate, as companies like Netflix have been forced to engage in negotiations and paying higher data transfer fees to prevent their services being throttled. It’s also given rise to a cottage industry of people recording poor customer service experiences with Comcast, and posting those recordings online.

You can read the FCC’s public letter here: Letter to Comcast, TW, and Charter regarding stopping clock

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PSA: ‘Battle for Net Neutrality’ Internet Slowdown Protest Planned for Sept. 10th.

sept 10th internet slowdown net neutralityThe fight over Net Neutrality and the FCC’s proposed “Fast Lane” rules is heating up again.

Tomorrow, a number of sites around the internet will be intentionally slowing their traffic to demonstrate what a tiered internet might feel like for consumers. The Fast Lane rules have come under a lot of scrutiny, as many fear they will slow innovation online by creating more expensive barriers for companies wanting to create the next generation of data services.

The list of sites includes the ACLU, Imgur, Daily Kos, Etsy, Foursquare, Kickstarter, Vimeo, and adult sites YouPorn, RedTube, and Pornhub will be joining in as well.

For more info on the slowdown head over to https://www.battleforthenet.com/sept10th/

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