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North Carolina Still Wants To Block Municipal Broadband

Posted by Soulskill on from the because-competition-has-no-place-in-capitalism dept.

An anonymous reader writes: In February, when the FCC rolled out its net neutrality rules, it also voted to override state laws that let Texas and North Carolina block ISPs created by local governments and public utilities. These laws frequently leave citizens facing a monopoly or duopoly with no recourse, so the FCC abolished them. Now, North Carolina has sued the FCC to get them back. State Attorney General Roy Cooper claims, "the FCC unlawfully inserted itself between the State and the State's political subdivisions." He adds that the new rule is "arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion within the meaning of the Administrative Procedure Act; and is otherwise contrary to law."

8 of 289 comments (clear)

  1. Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Because FUCK YOU , that's why.

  2. I wonder why... by MetricT · · Score: 5, Informative

    You have to admire the hypocracy of state legislators who argue for "state's rights", who don't care about "city and county rights" to roll out broadband to attract jobs and new people to their area. It's almost like they were hypocrites, ignorant of freshman economics, sold to the highest bidder or something... /Lives in Tennessee, has the same bunch of ignorant cretins passing laws that an 18 year old freshman could easily shoot down as dumb.

    1. Re:I wonder why... by squiggleslash · · Score: 5, Informative

      You write as if there's some great principle involved that anyone's claiming to upkeep (and being taken seriously when they do) that involves the best place to exert power.

      Truth is that all these positions are based upon where someone believes they can politically win power. If the country as a whole, and hence the Feds lean X, then expect supporters of the opposing position Y to support slightly more local locations of power.

      Pro-Slavers were very, very, happy to be opposed to "States rights" back when they were proposing (and passing) Fugitive Slaves laws that imposed huge immoral burdens on the Free States. As soon as it looked like the anti-slaves might win power at a Federal level, suddenly they back-pedalled.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  3. States Rights by Cowclops · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While it seems like the federal government is out of line taking the right to govern away from the states, in reality it is the states that are taking away the right to govern from local governments that ACTUALLY WANT municipal broadband.

    Ensuring that municipalities maintain their rights to roll out local broadband isn't a perversion of states rights, its preventing states rights from perverting local rights.

  4. Too Bad For North Carolinians! by Greyfox · · Score: 5, Informative

    I live in Longmont, Colorado. Couple years ago we had a referendum and opted out of the state's blocking of municipal broadband services. They're currently rolling the service out in my neighborhood and their guys did an install at my house about a month ago. I'm getting the fastest internet service in the country for $59 a month. My youtube uploads go at around a gigabyte a minute. Too bad about all these state legislators who seem to feel the need to protect their constituents from super-fast internet speeds at affordable rates that the private companies never seem to feel the need to deliver. I guess luckily for them, most people have no idea what they're missing, or a lot of those guys would be getting kicked out of office right now.

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  5. In other words... by cnaumann · · Score: 5, Funny

    The state government is saying that the federal government has no right to interfere with the state's right to interfere with local government.

  6. It's about money. by duckintheface · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm a Democrat living in North Carolina. Roy Cooper is the Democratic Attorney General who plans to run for Governor in two years. He is interested in campaign contributions from the telecom industry. That's why he opposes municipal broadband even when private companies have no intention of offering it to an area. He thinks regular voters are not paying attention so there is only upside for him in this. This is the same Att. Gen. Cooper who opposed gay marriage in NC until the courts forced it to happen. He is not impressing me. Hope he has some competition in the 2017 Democratic Primary for Governor.

    --
    "He took a duck in the face at 250 knots." -- William Gibson, Pattern Recognition
  7. Re:Obsessed with keeping government out of busines by NotDrWho · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You people don't understand because you seem to be working under the assumption that politicians are out to serve the public, and that this is somehow an ideological issue. If you look at it instead as "scumbag politicians, acting purely in their own self-interest, soliciting big campaign donations from cablecos/telcos" it makes a lot more sense, doesn't it?

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.