Republican bill: Net neutrality protections without reclassifying broadband

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Top Republicans in Congress plan to introduce legislation that they say will ensure net neutrality protections for Internet users and will spur U.S. economic growth.

The proposal would create “unambiguous” rules prohibiting broadband providers from selectively blocking or throttling Web traffic, while avoiding a reclassification of broadband as a regulated public utility, said a Wednesday blog post at Reuters.com by Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, and U.S. Rep Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican. Continue reading

After Wheeler unveils proposal, what’s next for net neutrality?

Seal of the United States Federal Communicatio...

Seal of the United States Federal Communications Commission. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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A flurry of activity will follow the plan from U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler to reclassify broadband as a regulated public utility as the foundation for new net neutrality rules.

Wheeler’s plan would reclassify broadband from a lightly regulated information service to a more regulated telecommunications service under Title II of the Telecommunications Act, reversing the FCC’s broadband policy for the past decade. Still, Wheeler’s plan has the agency forbearing from most traditional telecom regulations under Title II, including rate regulations, contributions to the FCC’s Universal Service Fund, and requirements to share their networks with competitors. Continue reading

Republican FCC commissioners: Net neutrality plan misleads the American people

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Republicans aren’t happy with the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to regulate the Internet like telephone service, and they’re going out of their way to make sure people know it.

The FCC commissioners (left to right): Ajit Pai, Mignon Clyburn, Tom Wheeler (chairman), Jessica Rosenworcel, and Michael O’Rielly.

The latest broadside comes from within the FCC itself, with Republican commissioner Ajit Pai using a press conference Tuesday to lay into Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposal onNet neutrality, or the idea that all Internet traffic should be treated equally. Pai argues that the proposed new regulations would give the government too much power over the Internet.
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FCC Commissioner EXPOSES Obama Net Neutrality plan, BLASTING him for hiding it from American people

net neutrality world logo

net neutrality world logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is something that needs to go viral.

Today, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai released a statement on Obama’s Net Neutrality plan to regulate the internet and blasted Obama for not releasing the plan publicly.

Last night, Chairman Wheeler provided his fellow Commissioners with President Obama’s 332-page plan to regulate the Internet. I am disappointed that the plan will not be released publicly. The FCC should be as open and transparent as the Internet itself and post the entire document on its website. Instead, it looks like the FCC will have to pass the President’s plan before the American people will be able to find out what’s really in it.

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Move over, Google Fiber. Hello, Brooklyn Fiber

English: The Brooklyn Bridge, seen from Manhat...

English: The Brooklyn Bridge, seen from Manhattan, New York City. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Download an entire movie in about a minute and a half. Send a whole genome in a fraction of the time.

That’s the promise of low-cost gigabit Internet service that is finally coming to New York.

Brooklyn Fiber, a three-year-old five-person startup, is rolling out its gigabit broadband service this week in Industry City, the Brooklyn complex of former warehouse buildings under development in Sunset Park. That’s 20 times faster than existing download speeds in New York City, which average around 52 mbps, according to Ookla’s Speedtest.net service. Upload speeds average about 17 mbps. Continue reading

No Broadband Champagne Yet

Blair’s opinion piece generally supports competition as opposed to more regulation as proposed by FCC Chairman Wheeler. While he has the facts to make a case that more regulation stifles innovation and cements the incumbents market position, he does not fully utilize them to make a strong case against Title II regulation. Instead he uses this opportunity to support municipal broadband and his Gig.U organization. Still I am delighted that re/code published is opinion article against more regulation because they have been a strong supporter of Title II regulation.

By Blair Levin, Executive Director, Gig.U

On Feb. 26, the Federal Communications Commission will vote to regulate broadband under Title II and challenge two state laws constraining municipal broadband deployment efforts. Progressives, longtime advocates of both actions, owe a huge “thanks” to Verizon. Its legal challenge to earlier, weaker FCC rules opened the door to the reclassification and a footnote in the court decision provided a path for the FCC to champion municipal broadband, a valuable lesson for all considering responding to adverse agency decisions. Continue reading

FCC targets Title II regulation of Internet services with forbearances for Net Neutrality

Please read the entire article to understand the extent of what Wheeler is proposing. The lack of being able to prioritize content and possible scrutinization of peering arrangements is the most troublesome to me. The inability to prioritize content puts the OTT providers at a disadvantage to the incumbent service providers that are the ISP too because it does not allow them to provide the same quality of service as the incumbents do with their voice and video out of band.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Thomas Wheeler today unveiled his new attempt to implement Net Neutrality. As had been signaled for several weeks, the plan involves limited application of Title II reclassification of Internet service provision as a telecommunications service. Continue reading