FCC expected to pass net neutrality rule

[brooklynite]

Source: Washington Post

The Federal Communications Commission is poised on Tuesday to pass net neutrality regulations, rules that would for the first time prevent Internet service providers from blocking or giving preferential treatment to Web sites on their networks.

The proposed regulations received support from a majority of the five-member commission amid intense lobbying. Telecom and cable companies say the rules could deter them from expanding broadband Internet connections and investing in faster speeds. On the other side, Internet giants such as Google and Skype, along with some public interest groups, have pushed for such regulation for years, saying the increased importance of the Internet calls for clear rules to ensure that consumers get equal access to all Web sites and applications.

The rules would prevent service providers from blocking Web sites and applications on Internet lines feeding into U.S. homes. Carriers such as Comcast and AT&T could not deliberately slow down one Web site over another. The rules say carriers should not charge Web sites for better or faster delivery, but observers say the proposal would not strictly prohibit the practice or make it harder to justify such practices if challenged by the FCC or the courts.

Read more: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2010/12/fcc_copps_to_vote_in_favor_of.html?hpid=topnews

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Clearly another disappointment from President Obama who appointed a majority of the FCC Commissioners...

[villager]

1. Real net neutrality? Or the bogus compromise?

:shrug:

[Poll_Blind]

2. LOL- is there any other kind with him? In this case the slip-in is tiered pricing for wired...

...internet. Well, that doesn't sound like such a bad thing, right? Well, it means ISP's can set a tiered pricing structure to your liking, including overage charges. This is something Comcast has been drooling over because it means they can set the tiers high enough so that the cheapest base internet service is still more expensive than the cheapest service already offered.

Or, to think of it in another way- the race to be the cheapest ISP is going to turn around into something more of an environment where very big ISPs like Comcast (especially Comcast) and Verizon & AT&T will be able to work out a very high "bottom" price, among themselves. If you want internet you're going to have to pay that price.

PB

[villager]

3. "Why should oil cartels have all the fun!?"

n/t

[TheWraith]

4. Are you being sarcastic? Tiered pricing has been standard for years. nt

[Dokkie]

6. just wondering

whats preventing Comcast from imposing tier pricing now? could it be that the free market is regulating itself (when it comes to internet). I just think if it ain't broke, dont fix it. Right now I have high speed internet at $21 (w/taxes) /month in small town in Nebraska. Net neutrality is a solution searching for a problem in a peroid when we have more pressing problems to resolve.

[Poll_Blind]

7. Tiered pricing for wired internet connections based on usage was something that...

...had to be approved of by the FCC. Which it just recently was. Recently = Last two months or so, definitely a lot of articles about it in the last few weeks.

PB

[Dokkie]

10. I didn't know that

they were prevented by law to apply tier pricing to their services. Btw do you happen to have a link confirming this recent change?

[Poll_Blind]

11. They weren't prevented by law but both the FCC and consumer groups had...

...strongly discouraged the practice and so ghouls like Comcast knew the more they dabbled in it they greater their chance of getting caught.

This article does a decent job for a quick explanation.

I just posted this newer story on DU, which you might want to look at after perusing my first link.

PB

[Tunkamerica]

18. That's funny because I'm paying 59$ a month 5 miles from RTP in Durham, NC.

[sweetloukillbot]

19. What is your speed though?

I do tech support for a small town cable company and the top end service is only 12MB down. In my town, I'm able to get 30MB and it's about $40 more a month than what the 12MB in the small town is.

[Tunkamerica]

21. about 18 down at 3am. I have no idea what peak is like since I'm at work then.

[True_Blue]

17. The bogus compromise

'Obama FCC Caves on Net Neutrality -- Tuesday Betrayal Assured'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/obama-fcc-caves-on-net-ne_b_799435.html

[Kingofalldems]

5. K and R for diversion boy

[thisMike]

8. I trust them, don't you?

"...but observers say the proposal would not strictly prohibit the practice or make it harder to justify such practices if challenged by the FCC or the courts."

So it looks like the FCC has put Comcast on the honor system. That will work...

[fascisthunter]

9. well, he's a Progressive, didn't ya Know?

:sarcasm:

[humbled_opinion]

12. Does this act in anyway allow

Corporations or the government the ability to limit what is put on the internet? I thought this was bad for first ammendment protection via the internet? My opposition would be that in some countries the only way that the truth gets out is via the internet, in other words we don't want to go down the road that will make us China.

[sasha031]

13. FCC's Copps Says He Won't Block Net-Neutrality Rules

Source: Bloomberg

Michael Copps, a member of the Federal Communications Commission, said he won’t vote against rules for Internet-service providers to be considered by the agency tomorrow.“While I cannot vote wholeheartedly to approve the item, I will not block it by voting against it,” Copps, a Democrat, said in an e-mailed statement today. Copps, who had argued for more stringent rules, said he would vote to “concur so that we may move forward.”
“While I cannot vote wholeheartedly to approve the item, I will not block it by voting against it,” Copps, a Democrat, said in an e-mailed statement today. Copps, who had argued for more stringent rules, said he would vote to “concur so that we may move forward.”
The net-neutrality rules proposed by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, a Democrat, would forbid Internet service providers from interfering with subscribers’ Web traffic.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-20/fcc-commissioner-copps-says-he-won-t-block-net-neutrality-rules-tomorrow.html

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Can someone explain what is going on with this?

[msongs]

14. article muddles up whether this is another sellout in the name of bipartisanship nt

[sasha031]

16. yes, it's confusing

it's obvious how this will play out.

after 2008 I thought we would see the end of Orwellian speak.

[Poll_Blind]

15. Big shell game going on. See HERE:

Franken: Under FCC’s ‘neutrality’ rules, ‘the Internet as we know it would cease to exist’

PB

[harvey007]

20. Net neutrality: US expected to ratify new rules on internet access

Source: The Guardian

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is today expected to formally approve controversial new rules on how internet users access content such as YouTube and Skype.

Dubbed by one US senator as "the most important free speech issue of our time", the rules drawn up by the country's media and telecoms regulator would effectively create two levels of internet access – one delivered by traditional fixed-line broadband, and another by wireless and mobile providers.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/dec/21/net-neutrality-us-new-rules-internet-access