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FCC Loses Court Battle To Let Cities Build their Own Broadband (theverge.com)
Jacob Kastrenakes, writing for The Verge: The Federal Communications Commission's plan to let cities build their own broadband networks hit a major roadblock today, as a federal appellate court ruled that the commission was overstepping its authority. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said today that the FCC is not able to, essentially, remove state laws that prevent the construction of municipal broadband networks, as it attempted to do in Wilson, North Carolina and Chattanooga, Tennessee last year. Both Wilson and Chattanooga had petitioned the FCC for permission to build out their own broadband networks -- a measure some cities are turning to in order to increase competition among internet providers, who often hold regional monopolies and more or less refuse to compete. State laws, however, prevented them from doing so; that's the case in 19 states in total, all of which could have been affected by future FCC orders had the court ruled in its favor.Ars Technica has more details.
How funny that in a recent thread someone was trying to claim it was a fantasy that government regulation had no effect on ISP choice, when the federal government stands in the way of even local governments being able to do what they want in their own cities.
State laws, however, prevented them from doing so; ...
Are you being sarcastic? It's the Federal government that is trying to create more competition but STATE governments are stopping it.
You think the nationwide 55 was a good idea?
You want to increase the power of Imperial Washington?
The one clear check and balance on Imperial Washington are the states. If you're not happy about the Patriot Act, NSA over reaching then maybe, just maybe, you ought to be wary about other over reaches (even if the particular instance leads to a desired result).
If you're scared of your govt then you need to further restrict its powers
Vote 3rd Party in 2016 and beyond