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Senate Will Force Vote On Overturning Net Neutrality Repeal (theverge.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) has mustered the 30 votes necessary to force a vote on the FCC's decision to repeal net neutrality. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) announced that she's signed onto Markey's request to overturn the new rules, under the Congressional Review Act -- which lets Congress nullify recently passed regulations with a simple majority. Markey announced his intention to file a resolution of disapproval in December, just after the FCC voted on new rules that killed net neutrality protections from 2015. These new rules were officially published last week, and with 30 sponsors, Markey can make the Senate vote on whether to consider overturning them. If this happens, it would lead to a debate and final vote. That's not remotely the end of the process: if it's approved, the resolution will go to the House, and if it passes there, the desk of Donald Trump, who seems unlikely to approve it.

21 of 143 comments (clear)

  1. Re:They think this will buy them votes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The intent isn't to repeal it of course. It's too embarrass the republicans.

    It's also to expose all the republicans who oppose it, so when the abuses start, and they will, the dems can target them with ads come election time.

  2. The point is to make the Republican party by rsilvergun · · Score: 5, Insightful

    go on record opposing Net Neutrality. So far when the issue's come up they've mostly said they support it while putting 3 folks in charge of the FCC who are against it at all costs. The Republicans have been able to kill NN without much political fallout. This aims to end all that. If it doesn't pass it means the Republican lead Congress opposes NN, despite what they've said. If it _does_ pass it means their party head, Donald Trump, personally killed NN.

    Right now everybody's blaming Ajit Pai for the loss of NN. This aims to ship the blame where, I would argue, it rightfully belongs.

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    1. Re:The point is to make the Republican party by Khyber · · Score: 2

      No, Pai deserves 100% of the blame. He's the Verizon shill that carried this out. It could simply had not have happened were it not for his decision and greed. He could've turned around and given the corporations both middle fingers when he got into the FCC, instead he took all of their dicks up his ass and begged for more.

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    2. Re:The point is to make the Republican party by Tulsa_Time · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Agreed.

      I am for rational NN. And i am 100% Republican.

      If Congress makes the law... all the better. The FCC does NOT have this power at this time.

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    3. Re:The point is to make the Republican party by Darth+Eletius · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Correct, they stripped themselves of this power a few weeks ago by reclassifying internet service as Title I. That's the whole point here. They did have the legal authority, and they took it away from themselves to please their corporate overlords.

    4. Re:The point is to make the Republican party by Freischutz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Agreed.

      I am for rational NN. And i am 100% Republican.

      If Congress makes the law... all the better. The FCC does NOT have this power at this time.

      I'm a100% liberal and Im in favour of rational NN as well. The internet should be a place where even small players are able to grow into big players because they don't have to pay protection money to telcos just like a small trucking outfit should be able to grow into a big one because they don't have to pay protection money for access to 'fast lanes' on the nation's highways. All that charging for access to 'fast lanes' does is stifle competition because the big guys can afford to pay but the small startups cannot. It's nice that in an age of trench warfare we can still agree on something.

    5. Re: The point is to make the Republican party by youngone · · Score: 3, Interesting

      what makes you think they would pass a net neutrality law that would benifit you?

      And why should they? The whole US political system is set up to turn money into influence.

      When the oil industry wrote George Bush the second's energy policy, those of us who live in a democracy were shocked, but as far as I can understand it was pretty uncontroversial in the US.

    6. Re:The point is to make the Republican party by farble1670 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I am for rational NN. And i am 100% Republican.

      If your party votes no on NN, will you change your vote?

    7. Re: The point is to make the Republican party by farble1670 · · Score: 2

      These politicians want to be able to pass laws that they find convenient at any particular moment by the party in power at any particular time without any due process. Now they want to enshrine this practice by enforcing one executive order and not another.

      One EO was popular and benefited the people and small business, and the other is utterly unpopular and benefits large corporations and stifles competition. Even here on /. which is usually full of trolling Trump supporters you can't find an opinion against NN.

      Every president makes EOs. In his first year, Trump had 56. Obama had 39. Bush had 54. Clinton had 57. This is normal operating procedure. Ajit Pai was appointed by Trump. By all means, consider a president's EOs when you decide how to vote in 2020. Now senators will be required to mark the public record as well. Hold them accountable.

      This will be fun.

    8. Re: The point is to make the Republican party by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      This is Darth; can't be arsed to log in atmo. No, Title II does not put the Internet under tight regulatory control. That's laughable hard right-wing babble. What it does do is allow the federal government to prohibit service providers from certain behavior, most of which is anti-consumer, and detrimental to the openness of the Internet. If the government really wanted control of the Internet, they wouldn't have released ICANN from their control several years back. People seem to forget about when the US government ACTUALLY had control of a huge chunk of Internet infrastructure.

    9. Re:The point is to make the Republican party by farble1670 · · Score: 2

      I would lobby for NN... but there are too many other important policies that are even more important to make me switch and vote "Hillary/Oprah" over Trump.

      Did you know, Hilary isn't running for office?

      Making the US competitive, not being pushed around and taken as idiots (Iran Deal) in foreign policy... all good to.

      Did you know, the world stage generally thinks Americans all all morons, and most foreign (and US, there are plenty of quotes to prove it) politicians think our leader is a moron? Who cares anyway, GO MERICA if they don't like it we'll nuke em right?

      My wallet really likes the economy Trump has fostered.

      Does it like his tax policy that every expert agrees will benefit corporations over the individual?

  3. Re:They think this will buy them votes... by ArhcAngel · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And piss off your biggest donors? No, You want your constituents to believe you are working in their best interest without having to actually commit. Rattling a sabre at the FCC's new rules accomplishes this without getting any blood on their hands because they know the actual vote will fail. Then when the voters complain they just point out there just weren't enough votes.

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  4. Forcing a vote. by quantaman · · Score: 5, Informative

    For those of us, like me, who were confused how Democrats could force a vote when bills could only be brought to the floor for a vote by the House Majority Leader. It turns out that the congressional review act specifically allows a vote to be schedule by 30 senators sponsoring a bill, bypassing the House Majority Leader.

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  5. Re:Cloture won't happen, NN is dead by bobbied · · Score: 2

    Um, guy, there's two new Senators. Think before you type.

    LOL, so much promise, yet not a clue about how the Senate works.. NN is dead in this congress.

    Cloture requires 60 votes. Democrats only have 49, plus any republicans they can get. If you don't have 11 republicans, it isn't going to happen...

    Unless the point is to just get everybody to vote so you can claim a campaign issue this is pointless....

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  6. Re:They think this will buy them votes... by farble1670 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    But really will it change anything in terms of votes?

    It will make every politician take a stand one way or the other then answer for it down the road when they come up for reelection. I'm just hoping it's harder to buy off hundreds of senators and congresspeople than it was to buy off Mr. Pai.

  7. Re:They think this will buy them votes... by meglon · · Score: 3, Informative

    ...and republicans are with republicans, even when they're pedophiles. http://goodizen.com/list-of-co...

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  8. Re:Cloture won't happen, NN is dead by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 2

    That was 2017. It's 2018. Pay attention.

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  9. Pai is only where he is because the Republicans by rsilvergun · · Score: 2

    wanted him to be. Trump could have kept the FCC as is. The law only says 3 Republican _appointees_, it says nothing about the personal party affiliations of those appointees.

    And as for Trump, he was in favor of single payer healthcare until the Republicans talked him out of it with what looks like one meeting. He's pretty obviously just doing what the party tells him.

    Bottom line, this _is_ a partisan issue. The Dems favor NN and the Republicans oppose it. To suggest otherwise is to ignore mountains of evidence to the contrary; and this is a site for nerds. The one thing we should hold sacred is evidence.

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  10. Re:Cloture won't happen, NN is dead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Your premise is incorrect.

    From the Congressional Review Act wiki page:

    The law provides a procedure for expedited consideration in the Senate. If the committee to which a joint resolution is referred has not reported it out within 20 calendar days after referral, it may be discharged from further consideration by a written petition of 30 Senators, at which point the measure is placed on the calendar, and it is in order at any time for a Senator to move to proceed to the joint resolution.[10] If the Senate agrees to the motion to proceed, debate on the floor is limited to 10 hours and no amendments to the resolution or motions to proceed to other business are in order. The Senate may then pass the joint resolution with a simple majority.[10] A joint resolution of disapproval meeting certain criteria cannot be filibustered.[11]

    For a regulation to be invalidated under the CRA, the Congressional resolution of disapproval must either be signed by the President or be passed over the President's veto by two thirds of both Houses of Congress.[11][12]

    Under the CRA, cloture is irrelevant because filibustering is impossible. Democrats would therefore need only two Republican votes to pass the joint resolution of disapproval in the Senate. That said, it remains unlikely that they will manage a simple majority in the House, much less getting the President's signature, so your assertion that "NN is dead in this congress" still has merit, if not for the precise reasons you stated.

  11. Time slots are scarce by tepples · · Score: 2

    Yes, because "bits" are a lot like "water" and "gas". right?

    Transmission and reception time slots on your ISP's upstream connection are scarce resources. So are DOCSIS transmission and reception time slots on your neighborhood's CMTS. Thus if Billy Hacker uses 90 percent of the bandwidth during congested time, he ought to be footing 90 percent of the bill for the bandwidth.

  12. Re:Careful what you wish for... by dryeo · · Score: 2

    You mean like everyone has to pay per minute for local calls on their landline? That kind of regulated like a utility? Sounds better then being charged on which of your neighbors you phone or not being allowed to phone any of your neighbors who the phone company doesn't like the politics off.
    The phone company does own the lines, so perhaps they should be able to control how you use them.

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