Poll of the Day > FCC unveils plan to repeal net neutrality rules.

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/11/21/565682679/fcc-unveils-plan-to-repeal-net-neutrality-rules

Federal regulators are on track to loosen regulations of cable and telecom companies.

The Federal Communications Commission will vote Dec. 14 on a plan to undo the landmark 2015 rules that had placed Internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon under the strictest-ever regulatory oversight.

The vote is expected to repeal so-called net neutrality rules, which prevent broadband companies from slowing down or blocking any sites or apps, or otherwise deciding what content gets to users faster.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on Tuesday said his repeal proposal would "stop micromanaging the Internet." Instead his plan would require Internet providers to disclose what exactly they're doing for example, whether they allow some websites or apps to pay extra for faster streaming.

This would essentially shift the enforcement of net neutrality to the Federal Trade Commission, which polices violators rather than pre-empts the violations in the first place.

The five-member FCC has a Republican majority, including Pai, suggesting that his plan called "The Restoring Internet Freedom Order" will pass. As with various iterations of the rules over the past decade, the rules would likely face a lawsuit. The 2015 rules were the first version to be upheld in court in full.

Telecom and cable companies have long argued that the FCC's attempts to regulate privacy and Internet behavior put them on an unequal footing with other Internet companies that collect data on users, like Google and Netflix, which are only overseen by the FTC.

The New York Times has reported that Pai's plan would put more power in the hands of Internet providers "to dictate people's online experiences":

"Under a repeal, companies like AT&T and Comcast may be able to charge people higher fees to access certain websites and online services. The companies may also be able to prioritize their own services while disadvantaging websites run by rivals."

Pai a free-market advocate who has staked his FCC chairmanship on deregulation has argued that the FCC's 2015 rules have depressed companies' investments in building and expanding broadband networks and deterred them from coming up with new consumer-friendly business models.

As we've reported before, dozens of consumer advocacy groups including Fight for the Future, Demand Progress and the ACLU have supported the strong net neutrality rules aligned with companies like Netflix, Google, Etsy, Vimeo, Reddit and Amazon.

"We haven't actually lived in a world where fully the ISPs could block access," Denelle Dixon, chief legal and business officer at Mozilla, told NPR in the summer when Pai's plan began taking shape. "This is the world we need to imagine now."

WastelandCowboy posted...

his plan called "The Restoring Internet Freedom Order"

it's always opposite day at the FCC, it seems
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https://www.battleforthenet.com/

How do we know that the proposed RIFO isn't a good thing, and that -say- Google and other competitors to Comcast aren't using the buzz word effect of Net Neutrality to shut down actual Net Neutrality... kinda like the internet equivalent of the NRA.
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You know what I don't understand, removing net neutrality literally only benefits the ISPs, and nobody else, including all other corporations, who are adamantly against removing net neutrality for obvious reasons, because if net neutrality was lifted, the ISPs would charge them through the roof, that being said, why are they pushing the removal of net neutrality so hard when it's in the interests of a few corporations, Verizon and other ISPs, against every other corporation that would take a loss from it? What exactly has Verizon promised these people for favoring them so much?
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DarkKirby2500 posted...

What exactly has Verizon promised these people for favoring them so much?

Special interest lobbying is quite effective when 1) it supports a concertrated interest (there are fewer ISPs than American citizens so they can organize their agenda relatively easier) and 2) it is backed by the substantial donations.
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DarkKirby2500 posted...

You know what I don't understand, removing net neutrality literally only benefits the ISPs, and nobody else, including all other corporations, who are adamantly against removing net neutrality for obvious reasons, because if net neutrality was lifted, the ISPs would charge them through the roof, that being said, why are they pushing the removal of net neutrality so hard when it's in the interests of a few corporations, Verizon and other ISPs, against every other corporation that would take a loss from it? What exactly has Verizon promised these people for favoring them so much?

On the flip side, a new ISP can come in and say Google, Gaming, Streaming are all lower cost than our competitors, and you get one free premium porn subscription option per month plus one free pay per view event per month. It just will take a while to load Yahoo and Yahoo affiliates,
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Lokarin posted...

On the flip side, a new ISP can come in

In a perfect world, yes. In reality, no.
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Veedrock- posted...

Lokarin posted...

On the flip side, a new ISP can come in

In a perfect world, yes. In reality, no.

Well, it's pretty much just Google or the Government
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Google gave up on Fiber. Even with all their resources they couldn't make it work, that's how hard it is for new ISPs to set up. If it was easier then I'd agree with deregulation, but it very much is a restricted market akin to basic utilities.
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It could make a comeback >.>
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Lokarin posted...

How do we know that the proposed RIFO isn't a good thing, and that -say- Google and other competitors to Comcast aren't using the buzz word effect of Net Neutrality to shut down actual Net Neutrality... kinda like the internet equivalent of the NRA.

Exactly right. 'Net neutrality' is a term that's specifically chosen so as to make those opposed seem unreasonable. 'You oppose the patriot act? Are you not a patriot?' or 'how can you oppose the affordable care act, don't you think that all people should be able to access affordable health care'?

When in actuality, there's a lot more to it than that, and all three examples are really about government control. The ACA gave the government more control. The Patriot Act gave the government more control. And Net Neutrality is about giving the government control over the web. The arguments in favor of net neutrality is all baseless fear mongering.
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BADoglick posted...

The arguments in favor of net neutrality is all baseless fear mongering.

It's not all baseless. In 2014 Netflix had to pay Comcast to end the slowdown of its services on their network. Regulation changes in 2015 put an end to that.
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Lokarin posted...

It could make a comeback >.>

Unless countrywide Wi-Fi becomes a thing, no it can't. Half the problem with getting a new ISP is getting the infrastructure in place to deliver Internet Service to people. That is the main reason why utilities end up being monopolies because having 30 different water companies each with their own water pipes offering service in the same area is a logistics nightmare and completely unsustainable.
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Pretty sure the next Democrat will just put new rules in place so... it's a temporary problem.

helIy posted...

WastelandCowboy posted...

his plan called "The Restoring Internet Freedom Order"

it's always opposite day at the FCC, it seems

Well, they are restoring the old order so it's actually right on the nose.
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BADoglick posted...

The arguments in favor of net neutrality is all baseless fear mongering.

Yeah man. Isps have shown themselves to be super competitive with each other and raising speeds by leaps and bounds across the board. They'd never implement caps even though they've said they're just there to make more money for them and totally unnecessary. They haven't been snuffing out any upstart companies/local governments to keep their oligarchy going either. Let's have less regulation for them, since they've been such upstanding companies that fight for the consumer. There's no way they're going to gouge more money out of companies and end users.
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Think about it really hard... if your ISP started charging for individual webpages, are you gunna stop consuming?

No, of course not, you eBese person, you!
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