Republicans roar 'No' to net neutrality

Net Neutrality approved in spite of an Appeals Court ruling
 An Appeals Court ruled that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) no authority over web traffic. The ruling placed and obstacle in the FCC’s Chairman Julius Genachowski goal to enact a policy call Net Neutrality, a concept that mandates Internet providers to treat all companies equally regardless of who pays for faster service. Supporters argue that Net Neutrality is necessary to protect consumers freedom to the Internet and competition. Julius said if he lost the case he will ...

The FCC Pleases No One
On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission voted to approve new rules for "Net Neutrality." And as a Compromise between net neutrality Activists, Conservatives and telecommunication companies, the rules don't seem to satisfy anyone. For wired Internet, the new rules maintain the status quo. Cable and DSL providers can't meter your internet access, and have to let you use the applications, online services, and devices you want, regardless of how they affect the network. Verizon...

GOP lawmakers threaten to repeal Net neutrality
Source: Politico Less than an hour after the Federal Communications Commission approved Net Neutrality rules, Republican lawmakers began staking their claim in the next potential leg of the debate: Repeal. The first calls to roll back the FCC's new Net Neutrality order came Tuesday from the House's most senior Republicans: House GOP Leader John Boehner of Ohio and Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia, as well as the incoming leaders of the chamber's top tech and telecom committees. The members each thre...

FCC disgusts on net neutrality
Net neutrality is the policy under which Internet service providers can't speed up, slow down or block web content based on source, ownership or destination.  It has created a level playing field on the Internet, with an open platform that has given the public unprecedented freedom of expression, creativity, innovation, connection and social Activism. But earlier this week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has betrayed the public interest and caved to corporate telecom interests ...

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...

HTTP Statement on FCC Net Neutrality Vote
WASHINGTON, Dec. 23, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Earlier this week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted rules dealing with the issue of "Net Neutrality." The following statement should be attributed to the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP): The Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP) recognizes and appreciates the FCC's efforts to develop its proposed Network Neutrality regulations. HTTP and its members are pleased that our c...

FCCs New Internet Regulations Reflect Imperfect Compromise
It appears no one is happy with the rules ultimately adopted — not the progressive netroots groups who have been pushing the hardest for strict network neutrality rules; not conservative Watchdog groups who have been warning the FCC against imposing extraneous Government Oversight on the Internet; and not even the Commissioners themselves.  But Compromise represents much needed progress in this arena. After 18 months of political wrangling, the FCC adopted an order on December 21 regu...

FCC's Net Neutrality Order, 194 Pages, PDF
H/T ceciliakang 194 PDF of the FCC's Net Neutrality Order that just passed along party lies with a 3 to 2 vote. (Found here) Organizations are still looking into whether previous court rulings against the FCC's authority still apply to their attempt to regulate the Internet. Commentary another time after having a chance to read the whole thing. . ...

FCC releases net-neutrality order
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made public the text of its Controversial net-neutrality order. It is available on the commission website. Source: https://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/135035-fcc-releases-net-neutrality-order ...

Open Thread and Diary Rescue
Tonight's Rescue Rangers are Alfonso Nevarez, ItsJessMe, rexymeteorite, sunspark says, grog, and vcmvo2 as reader and editor. The diaries up for rescue are: Taking a slightly different approach than most of us professional lefties take on the subject, Tom Joad and his Traveling Road Show asks What's wrong with an Activist Court? (grog) Rimjob reports on the state of our roads in Which Cities Have the Worst Roads & Traffic? (vcmvo2) "If network neutrality were a Health Care plan, it would si...

Wednesday News Net (Non)Neutrality Edition
Good Morning Conflucians!! Big news this week is the FCC ruling on Net Neutrality or in this case, the lack of net neutrality. Yet another case of Obama handing over what is the people’s to the few rich and powerful. But before we get to that, another cowardly Obama move deserves notice. Namely how the administration is preparing for their own indefinite dentition order for “Terrorists”: The Obama Administration is preparing an Executive Order that would formalize indefinite ...

They're Calling It Net Neutrality, But It Isn't
It's no exaggeration to say that this decision marks the beginning of the end for the Internet as we know it. Senator Al Franken laid out what's at stake with this ruling, saying: "The FCC's action today is simply inadequate to protect consumers or preserve the free and open Internet. I am particularly disappointed to learn that the order will not specifically ban paid prioritization, allowing big companies to pay for a fast lane on the Internet and abandoning the foundation of net neutralit...

Net neutrality goes to a vote at the FCC
Obama Flip Flop: FCC Vote Could End Net Neutrality - Democracy NOW! 5 Tech Things #67: FCC Compromising Net Neutrality? ...

Fund: The Lefts Net Neutrality Coup
John Fund writes in the Wall Street Journal: The Federal Communications Commission’s new “Net Neutrality” rules, passed on a partisan 3-2 vote yesterday, represent a huge win for a slick lobbying campaign run by liberal Activist groups and foundations. The losers are likely to be consumers who will see innovation and investment chilled by Regulations that treat the Internet like a Public Utility. There’s little evidence the public is demanding these rules, which purport...

FCC Regulation is About as Important as Buggy Whip Regulation
Ed Morrissey makes a good point about the FCC: Why do we need the FCC in the 21st century? Most television channels are narrowcasters, using satellites and cable channels that don’t eat up limited broadcast space in local markets. The phone system in the US is no longer monopolized, and the issues of access and competition in those areas could be handled by state public-utility commissions, as they are now. The licensing of broadcast stations could be handled by the Commerce Department, o...

Republicans say net neutrality 'cannot be allowed to stand,' promise fight in 112th
House Republicans are promising a swift reaction to the Federal Communication Commission's net-neutrality rules that could get off the ground as soon as January. Incoming House Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (Mich.) said in a Press Conference on Tuesday that his committee is planning multiple hearings to beat back Regulations the FCC approved Tuesday. The regulations, which aim to prevent phone and cable companies from toying with Internet Traffic, have stoked virtually unanimous resistance from...

Voters elected Republicans to end Obamaism, not expand it
Nowhere was that revisionism more evident than in President Obama's comments late Wednesday in lauding the just-ended 111th Congress, and in particular its lame-duck conclusion: "A lot of folks in this town predicted that after the Midterm Elections, Washington would be headed for more Partisanship and more gridlock. And instead, this has been a season of progress for the American People. That progress ... is a reflection of the message that voters sent in November, a message that said it's time...

GOP Keeps Independent Ethics Committee, Proposes New House Rules
(Credit: AP Photo/Alex Brandon) House Republicans plan on keeping intact an independent Ethics Committee next year in spite of complaints some lawmakers have had about the group, according to a summary of the new rules Republicans hope to implement when they take control of the House next year. A draft of the new rules will soon be released online, and the House will vote on whether to adopt the rules on Jan. 5, the first day of the 112th Congress. The new rules focus largely on transparency...

On immigration, Smith avoids GOP hard line
If Conservatives expected Republican Rep. Lamar Smith to champion the most Controversial anti-immigration measures when he takes control of the House Judiciary Committee next month, they’re in for a surprise. After weeks of speculation that he would pursue a scorched-earth Immigration agenda, Smith detailed his to-do list for the first time in an interview with Politico – and it’s an early but important signal that the new House Republican majority plans to attack the issue ...

President Meets With Union Bosses to Discuss Government-Union Partnership
In light of the NLRB’s attacks on business this week, this nugget struck us as the epitome of why The Economy still sucks Unemployment remains high. The U.S. Department of Labor, which has become akin to the Ministry of Workers’ Councils, regularly issues a newsletter via e-mail and posts it on the Ministry’s website. This week, among other items touted, was this little gem on union bosses meeting with President Obama to discuss growing the economy an...

Congress Freezes Federal Salaries in Stopgap Spending Bill
The House passed a continuing resolution Tuesday by a vote of 193 to 165 to fund the Federal Government at current spending levels until March 4. The measure made an exception for the Veterans Administration and Pell Grants, which both received funding increases, and included language requested by the White House to freeze salaries for non-military federal workers for the next two years. The stopgap spending measure was the last act in a drama over Federal Funding that has tied Congress in knots...

Victory In The House
You did it! Gun Owners of America asked you to get behind our effort to push Congress to read the Constitution on the floor of the House and Senate. House Speaker Designate John Boehner announced that the clerk of the House of Representatives will read the Constitution aloud at the start of the new Congress. "This is a great victory for all Americans who care about Limited Government, individual liberty and the Constitution," said John Velleco, GOA's Director of Federal Affairs. "Maybe Congress ...

Financial News Links: On banks breaking in to homes, inflation in China and more
EUR/CHF Continues To Make Historic Lows On Euro Zone Tensions: The euro continues historic lows vs. Swiss franc, suggesting euro zone tensions. EM currencies continue to firm, suggesting decoupling from the euro crisis. Reserve Currency Roulette: A lesson of British history is that high Inflation played a major role in sterling’s loss of reserve currency status. The Future is Streaming Content to Any Device, Anywhere and at Any Time: The future is here right now; no Hard Drives are neede...

ED MORRISSEY: Time To Abolish The FCC? Why do we need the FCC in the 21st century? Most televis
ED MORRISSEY: Time To Abolish The FCC? Why do we need the FCC in the 21st century? Most television channels are narrowcasters, using satellites and cable channels that don’t eat up limited broadcast space in local markets. The phone system in the US is no longer monopolized, and the issues of access and competition in those areas could be handled by state public-utility commissions, as they are now. The licensing of broadcast stations could be handled by the Commerce Department, or by a grea...

The Yin, Yang of the 111th Congress
The door soon will close on what is turning out to be one of the more enigmatic chapters of American government. During the past two years, Congress has been its most productive in decades, yet ultimately is reviled by the American public. Regardless of how much longer Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi decide to hold open the current lame-duck session, they cannot alter the march of time. January will come, and the 111th Congress will be history...