FCC Ignores Net Neutrality Ruling

Divided FCC Adopts Rules to Protect Web Traffic
Tuesday, December 21, 2010 By Joelle Tessler, Associated Press In this file photo made March 12, 2010, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is interviewed at his office in Washington. New rules aimed at prohibiting Broadband providers from becoming gatekeepers of Internet Traffic now have just enough votes to pass the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, file) Washington (AP) - A divided Federal Communications Commission has approved new rules ...

Net Neutrality
But what is known is that today’s developments will have far-reaching effects. Good or bad? Hard to say. It’s very difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff on this issue, since all sides seem to have compelling arguments to make. Our readers know that we subscribe to the general principle that “that government is best which governs least” (or, as Doug Casey would contend, “governs not at all”). And this would seem to be especially true with regard to the...

Looks like net neutrality ruling will come shortly
The rules are set to win passage in a vote Tuesday by the Federal Communications Commission, after a majority of the panel's five members said they planned to vote in favor of the measure. The proposal, pushed by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, seeks to add teeth to a principle known as Net Neutrality, which calls for all legal Internet Traffic to be treated equally. It means that a cable company such as Comcast could not slow traffic of Netflix video, while a wireless carrier such as V...

FCC adopts net neutrality rules
Federal Regulators have issued new rules that ultimately will affect how Americans access videos over the Internet and how carriers charge for content. The 3-2 vote by the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday strikes a balance between Silicon Valley content creators, who use digital networks to deliver their virtual wares, and the cable and telephone companies that want to sell their own content and services to customers in addition to hooking them up to the World Wide Web. The new rul...

Divided FCC adopts rules to protect Web traffic
WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal Regulators adopted new rules Tuesday to keep the companies that control the Internet's pipelines from restricting what their customers do online or blocking competing services, including online calling applications and Web video. The vote by the Federal Communications Commission was 3-2 and quickly came under attack from the commission's two Republicans, who said the rules would discourage investments in Broadband. Prominent Republicans in Congress vowed to work to ove...

FCC: Yup, we're going to stop "paid prioritization" on the 'Net
The Federal Communications Commission is releasing the details of its new Net Neutrality Order in stages. Although the FCC's new ban on "unreasonable Discrimination" for wired ISPs allows certain kinds of traffic discrimination (not all bits need be equal), the agency made clear after today's meeting that "paid prioritization" deals with Internet companies are unlikely to be allowed. Critics had worried that the new Order would only affect outright website blocking, leaving paid prioritization u...

FCC adopts net neutrality rules
Federal Regulators have issued new rules that ultimately will affect how Americans access videos over the Internet and how carriers charge for content. The 3-2 vote by the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday strikes a balance between Silicon Valley content creators, who use digital networks to deliver their virtual wares, and the cable and telephone companies that want to sell their own content and services to customers in addition to hooking them up to the World Wide Web. The new rul...

'Net neutrality': ObamaCare for the Web
Michelle Malkin When Bureaucrats talk about increas ing our "access" to x, y or z, what they're really talking about is in creasing exponentially their control over our lives. As with the government Health Care takeover, so with the newly approved government plan to "increase" Internet "access." Call it Webcare. By a vote of 3-2, the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday adopted a Controversial scheme to ensure "Net Neutrality" by turning unaccountable Democratic appointees into meddli...

Al Franken: The Internet as We Know it Is Still at Risk
In today's Net Neutrality action by the Federal Communications Commission there's good news and bad news. The good news is that, thanks to Commissioners Copps and Clyburn -- not to mention a nationwide network of Net Neutrality Activists -- the proposal approved today is better than the original circulated by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. For instance, the FCC has now stated that it does not condone discriminatory behavior by wireless companies like Verizon and AT&T; -- an important piece th...

FCC Net Neutrality Ruling: What Does It Mean For You?
Are some versions of the Internet more equal than others? The Federal Communications Commission passed its first-ever Regulation of the Internet today, in a Net Neutrality Compromise that saw its 3-2 vote split sharply along party lines. The full text of the new regulations will not be published until later this week, but the broad strokes of the deal are now known. There will be two sets of regulations governing the way an Internet service provider is allowed to control your access, depending o...

Internet access is not a civil right
Meet the new Internet Traffic cops Internet access is not a “civil right” by Michelle Malkin Creators Syndicate Copyright 2010 When Bureaucrats talk about increasing your “access” to X, Y, or Z, what they’re really talking about is increasing their control over your lives exponentially. As it is with the government Health Care takeover, so it is with the newly-approved government plan to “increase” Internet “access.” Call it Webcare. By a vote of 3-2,

Obamas FCC: Move aside, peasants, were in charge [Darleen Click]
John Fund points out this is just the beginning The Net Neutrality vision for government Regulation of the Internet began with the work of Robert McChesney, a University of Illinois communications Professor who founded the liberal lobby Free Press in 2002. Mr. McChesney’s agenda? “At the moment, the battle over network neutrality is not to completely eliminate the telephone and cable companies,” he told the website SocialistProject in 2009. “But the ultimate goal is to ...

Divided FCC adopts Internet rules
By Jasmin Melvin WASHINGTON | Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:09pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A divided Federal Communications Commission banned Internet service providers like Comcast Corp from blocking traffic on their networks, provoking warnings the rules would be rejected in the courts and threats from Republican lawmakers to overturn them. The 3-2 decision on Tuesday highlighted a huge divide between those who say the Internet should flourish without Regulation and those who say the power of high-sp...

FCC passes new net neutrality rules
The Federal Communications Commission passed a set of rules Tuesday “to preserve basic Internet values,” but advocates of Net Neutrality say the new rules do not go far enough. Sen. Al Franken called the measures “simply inadequate,” while Republicans have vowed to push to Repeal the new framework. Under the new rules, telecommunications companies cannot discriminate in what internet content they allow to their customers to access. Net neutrality advocates have said that...

Net Neutrality Vote: Twitter Users As Divided As FCC
On Tuesday, the FCC voted to adopt a framework that aims to preserve an "open Internet" by prohibiting Internet service providers from discriminating in how they handle information traveling over their networks. "The rules," according to the AP, "require Broadband providers to let subscribers access all legal online content, applications and services over their wired networks -- including online calling services, Internet video and other Web applications that compete with their core businesse...

Breaking: FCC Passes Net Neutrality Rules
Update 2, 11.35 am Pacific: On a 3-2 vote, the FCC passed “Controversial” rules on Net Neutrality today. From Politico: Led by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, the Democrats on the panel voted Tuesday to approve the first enforceable Net neutrality rules, which will prohibit Internet service providers such as AT&T, Verizon and Comcast from blocking access to lawful content and websites. The small print: no public copy of the rules “until later in the week.” The rumo...

Divided FCC adopts rules to protect Web traffic
WASHINGTON — A divided Federal Communications Commission has approved new rules meant to prohibit Broadband companies from interfering with Internet Traffic flowing to their customers. The 3-2 vote Tuesday marks a major victory for FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, who has spent more than a year trying to craft a Compromise. The FCC's three Democrats voted to pass the rules, while the two Republicans opposed them, calling them unnecessary Regulation. The new rules are likely to face intense...

Divided FCC adopts rules to protect Web traffic
WASHINGTON — A divided Federal Communications Commission has approved new rules meant to prohibit Broadband companies from interfering with Internet Traffic flowing to their customers. The 3-2 vote Tuesday marks a major victory for FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, who has spent more than a year trying to craft a Compromise. The FCC's three Democrats voted to pass the rules, while the two Republicans opposed them, calling them unnecessary Regulation. The new rules are likely to face intense ...

The FCC: A Regulatory Vigilante
In a bold move that will be taken by many as a refudiation of the message of Limited Government voters in the Midterm Elections sent to Washington, The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Tuesday, by a 3-2 vote, adopted rules of “Net Neutrality” to regulate the Internet despite there being considerable doubt whether it had the legal or statutory authority to do so. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said “it is essential” for a “strengthened FCC” to fulfi...

FCC Votes Itself Judge Dredd of the Internet
In a Speech delivered on January 19, 2010, Julius Genachowski, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, declared that transparency “is particularly important for Consumer Protection and Empowerment.” He praised “access to information” as “essential to properly functioning markets” and stated that “policies around information disclosure...can be enormously helpful in ensuring that markets are working.” Does Genachowski believe it’s less imp

Why we should be worried about "net neutrality"
The FCC's decision yesterday to grab for itself the power to regulate the Internet through so-called "Net Neutrality" rules is the latest grab for Federal Government power over private industry. There wasn't any big demand for such Regulation. The Internet has grown from the small source it was in the beginning to be the wonderful source that it is today through private companies investing and competing with each other. But that isn't good enough for the Democrats on the FCC. They want more cont...

FCC adopts Internet traffic rules
By Jasmin Melvin WASHINGTON | Tue Dec 21, 2010 1:37pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. communications Regulators adopted Internet Traffic rules on Tuesday that prevent providers from blocking lawful content but still let them ration access to their networks. The Federal Communications Commission approved the "Open Internet" order after FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's plan got the support of fellow Democrats Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn. The rules aim to strike a balance between the inter...

REGULATE...
WASHINGTON – New rules aimed at prohibiting Broadband providers from becoming gatekeepers of Internet Traffic now have just enough votes to pass the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday. The rules would prohibit phone and cable companies from abusing their control over Broadband connections to discriminate against rival content or services, such as Internet phone calls or online video, or play favorites with Web traffic. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski now has the three votes neede...

Goodbye Free Internet: 'FCC Gives Government Power to Regulate Web Traffic'
WASHINGTON—Federal telecommunications Regulators approved new rules Tuesday that would for the first time give the Federal Government formal authority to regulate Internet Traffic, although how much or for how long remained unclear. A divided Federal Communications Commission approved a proposal by Chairman Julius Genachowski to give the FCC power to prevent Broadband providers from selectively blocking web traffic. The rules will go into effect early next year, but Legal Challenges or acti...

Sleepy Agency Causes Stir
The FCC is in many ways a typical federal agency that makes decisions impacting all of our lives but doesn't draw much public attention until it does something Controversial. Tuesday's unanimous decision to improve and expand 911 services to include text messaging and video streaming was buried by a contentious 3-2 ruling placing greater Regulations on Internet providers. Chairman Julius Genachowski tried his best to downplay any disagreement over the commission's Net Neutrality order. "Today,...