There is not a mention of municipal broadband in this article other than the statement about the number of states with laws blocking it. At this time we have discovered that a vast majority of comments received by the FCC were form letters created by Soros-backed groups demanding more government control and that it is generally accepted that more regulation, especially Title II, will increase broadband rates. Yet, there are still people that believe that more government intervention will increase freedom and privacy.
The net neutrality discussion has raged since January when a U.S. appeals court struck down federal rules that barred broadband providers from creating fast and slow Internet lanes, essentially allowing ISPs to favor some sites and slow down others.
In response, the FCC proposed rules that would comply with the court’s ruling, causing a national debate that crashed the commission’s public comment system in July.
The agency received more than 1.1 million comments on the proposed rules, the most that have ever been received for FCC rulemaking (and making it the second most popular FCC issue in terms of comments, ranking only behind 2004’s Super Bowl halftime wardrobe malfunction).
The FCC is expected to make a decision by the end of the year, but at the heart of the debate is the commission’s authority to regulate the Internet — an issue that could impact state and local government. Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress gave the FCC the power to regulate telecommunications services and depending on how the FCC asserts its power, it could change the municipal broadband field significantly.
