Tag: net neutrality

Appeals court upholds net neutrality repeal but rules FCC can’t block state laws

The Hill logoA federal appeals court on Tuesday delivered a mixed ruling for net neutrality supporters and opponents alike, allowing the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) 2017 repeal to stand but striking down a key provision blocking states from implementing their own open internet rules.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals also sent the repeal order back to the FCC, ordering the agency to revise it to take into consideration other issues, like the effect that it will have on public safety, broadband subsidies and the regulation of cable pole attachments.

Though the ruling was mixed for both sides of the issue, it’s still unclear whether any of the parties involved in the lawsuit plan on appealing the decision.

View the complete October 1 article by Harper Neidig on The Hill website here.

Rep. Phillips Votes for Passage of the Save the Internet Act

WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) voted for the Save the Internet Act, which passed the House today. The bill creates popular, targeted net neutrality protections that benefit consumers and small businesses.

“Americans demand and deserve transparency and accountability from all of our institutions, and as members of Congress, it’s our job to deliver,” said Phillips. “This legislation ensures that the open internet remains an independent resource for all Americans and stops giant corporations from bending it to their will. The Save the Internet Act represents the kind of progress and transparency that we should all be working hard for, and I urge Mitch McConnell to bring it to a vote in the Senate.”

A University of Maryland poll found that 86 percent of Americans, including an overwhelming 82 percent of Republicans, opposed the FCC’s net neutrality rollback in 2018.

The Save the Internet Act restores common sense transparency for the digital age by enacting rules against blocking and paid prioritization, supporting increased broadband access in rural areas, and protecting consumers and small businesses from existing and future abusive internet service practices.

Yesterday Mitch McConnell proclaimed that the bill is “dead on arrival” in the Senate despite its popularity. Similar legislation in the 115th Congress passed the Senate and had 182 bipartisan signers in the House.

Sen. Latz & Rep. Stephenson Renew Efforts to Protect Net Neutrality for Minnesotans

SAINT PAUL, MN – On Wednesday afternoon, Senator Ron Latz (DFL-St. Louis Park), Representative Zack Stephenson (DFL-Coon Rapids) and legislators held a press conference to announce their commitment to protecting Minnesota consumers in response to the 2017 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reversal of net neutrality. Net neutrality is the principle that internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites.

“This is a significant consumer protection issue in Minnesota,” remarked Rep Stephenson. “Given the amazing power of the internet, and how it has come to impact literally every corner of our lives, every Minnesotan deserves access to a free and fair internet.”

By incorporating these consumer protections, internet companies would be prohibited from charging businesses, individual consumers, and educational institutions for the convenience of faster speed support for their websites, and would ensure that websites with less traffic or the financial ability to pay for faster speed support are protected. Continue reading “Sen. Latz & Rep. Stephenson Renew Efforts to Protect Net Neutrality for Minnesotans”

Sen. Latz & Rep. Stephenson renew efforts to protect net neutrality for Minnesotans

SAINT PAUL, Minn. – On Wednesday afternoon, Senator Ron Latz (DFL-St. Louis Park), Representative Zack Stephenson (DFL-Coon Rapids) and legislators will hold a press conference to announce their commitment to protecting Minnesota consumers in response to the 2017 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reversal of net neutrality.

The House Commerce Committee will have a public hearing on HF 136, which requires companies doing business in the state or selling services as a vendor of the state of Minnesota to comply with common sense net neutrality principles.

 

WHAT: Press conference to announce renewed efforts to advance Net Neutrality

WHO: Rep. Zack Stephenson (DFL-Coon Rapids) and Senator Ron Latz (DFL- St. Louis Park), legislators

WHERE: Room B971, Minnesota State Capitol, 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Saint Paul, 55155

WHEN: Wednesday, February 13, 2019, 1:00 p.m.

RNC Chair complains about internet bias on Fox News after Republicans killed net neutrality

The following article by Josh Israel was posted on the ThinkProgress website July 27, 2018:

Ronna Romney McDaniel needs to go back and read her party’s platform.

RNC Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel on Fox & Ffriends. Credit: Fox News Screenshot

The chair of the Republican National Committee complained on Friday morning that conservatives are being censored by Silicon Valley, citing the debunked conspiracy theory that Twitter and other net platforms are intentionally targeting voices on the right. But even if the problem were real, her party has done everything in its power to make that sort of Internet censorship possible.

Back in the Obama years, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) enforced a 2015 regulatory policy called “net neutrality,” aimed at protecting an open Internet.  Under those rules, service providers were prohibited from throttling or blocking Internet sites. “We cannot allow Internet service providers (ISPs) to restrict the best access or to pick winners and losers in the online marketplace for services and ideas,” then-President Barack Obama explained as his administration implemented the protections.

McDaniel’s party was outraged. In their 2016 Republican National Committee platform, they vowed to repeal the protections and to allow companies to censor content as they saw fit. In an Orwellian “Protecting Internet Freedom” section of the platform, they wrote “The survival of the internet as we know it is at risk. Its gravest peril originates in the White House, the current occupant of which has launched a campaign, both at home and internationally, to subjugate it to agents of government. The President ordered the chair of the supposedly independent Federal Communications Commission to impose upon the internet rules devised in the 1930s for the telephone monopoly.”

View the complete article here.

This poll gave Americans a detailed case for and against the FCC’s net neutrality plan. The reaction among Republicans was striking

The following article by Brian Fung was posted on the Washington Post website December 12, 2017:

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

On the eve of a pivotal vote that would deregulate the broadband industry, a fresh survey from the University of Maryland shows that large majorities of Americans — including 3 out of 4 Republicans — oppose the government’s plan to repeal its net neutrality rules for Internet providers.

The results paint the picture of an electorate that is largely at odds with the GOP-led Federal Communications Commission, whose chairman, Ajit Pai, plans to vote Thursday to lift key rules for corporations such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon. The move would permit such companies to speed up some websites, and slow down or block others, as Internet providers seek new business models in a rapidly changing media and technology environment. Continue reading “This poll gave Americans a detailed case for and against the FCC’s net neutrality plan. The reaction among Republicans was striking”

F.C.C. Plans Net Neutrality Repeal in a Victory for Telecoms

The following article by Cecilia Kang was posted on the New York Times website November 21, 2017:

The Federal Communications Commission released a plan on Tuesday to dismantle landmark regulations that ensure equal access to the internet, clearing the way for internet service companies to charge users more to see certain content and to curb access to some websites.

The proposal, made by the F.C.C. chairman, Ajit Pai, is a sweeping repeal of rules put in place by the Obama administration. The rules prohibit high-speed internet service providers, or I.S.P.s, from stopping or slowing down the delivery of websites. They also prevent the companies from charging customers extra fees for high-quality streaming and other services. Continue reading “F.C.C. Plans Net Neutrality Repeal in a Victory for Telecoms”