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F.C.C., In Net Neutrality Turnaround, Plans To Allow Fast Lane

Posted by samzenpus on from the pay-to-play-the-movie dept.

Dega704 (1454673) writes in with news of the latest FCC plan which seems to put another dagger in the heart of net neutrality. "The Federal Communications Commission will propose new rules that allow Internet service providers to offer a faster lane through which to send video and other content to consumers, as long as a content company is willing to pay for it, according to people briefed on the proposals. The proposed rules are a complete turnaround for the F.C.C. on the subject of so-called net neutrality, the principle that Internet users should have equal ability to see any content they choose, and that no content providers should be discriminated against in providing their offerings to consumers."

5 of 410 comments (clear)

  1. Well, what did we expect? by Golgafrinchan · · Score: 5, Informative
    Tom Wheeler is Chairman of the FCC.

    From his Wikipedia page: "Prior to working at the FCC, Wheeler worked as a venture capitalist and lobbyist for the cable and wireless industry, with prior positions including President of the National Cable Television Association (NCTA) and CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA)."

    When the FCC chairman used to be a lobbyist for the companies he's now regulating... well, what did we expect would happen? It shouldn't be surprising that he'd be in favor of pushing through regulations that are more favorable to his cronies.

    --
    My userid is prime!
  2. Re:Down the river... by dmbasso · · Score: 5, Informative

    And you can make a difference with this PAC: http://www.wolf-pac.com/

    --
    `echo $[0x853204FA81]|tr 0-9 ionbsdeaml`@gmail.com
  3. Stop complaining and do something about it by synthesizerpatel · · Score: 5, Informative

    The FCC has an open issue for this, 14-28 Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet

    You can see existing comments here:

    http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/comme...

    You can add your two cents here:

    http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/uploa...

  4. Re:I informed you thusly... by artor3 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Democrats tried to pass net neutrality into law through an act of Congress, so that we wouldn't need to rely on the FCC-commissioner-of-the-moment. The Republicans blocked it. Obama then implemented a reduced version of net neutrality through execute order. The courts struck that down. The Democrats tried again to pass net neutrality through Congress. The Republicans again blocked it. Now net neutrality is dead and gone, and the Republicans are claiming its the Democrats' fault.

    I wish I could say this is unbelievably dishonest, but it's actually quite standard these days.

  5. The term is "regulatory capture" by Beeftopia · · Score: 5, Informative

    From the Wikipedia:

    "Regulatory capture is a form of political corruption that occurs when a regulatory agency, created to act in the public interest, instead advances the commercial or special concerns of interest groups that dominate the industry or sector it is charged with regulating. Regulatory capture is a form of government failure; it creates an opening for firms to behave in ways injurious to the public (e.g., producing negative externalities). The agencies are called "captured agencies".

    See also: "Exaggerated threat":
    1) "If we don't invade Iraq, they're going to bake the yellow cakes and explode a nuke in New York City."
    2) "If we don't bail out the financial sector, we're going to have a depression."
    3) "If we don't allow companies to favor content, the US technology sector will grind to a halt."