Net neutrality going down in flames as FCC votes to kill Title II rules

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> Date: May 18, 2017 at 1:32:20 PM EDT
> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Net neutrality going down in flames as FCC votes to kill Title II rules
> Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com
>
> Net neutrality going down in flames as FCC votes to kill Title II rules
> GOP's 2-1 majority starts repeal process, with final vote coming later in 2017.
> By JON BRODKIN
> May 18 2017
> <https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/05/net-neutrality-goes-down-in-flames-as-fcc-votes-to-kill-title-ii-rules/>
>
> The Federal Communications Commission voted 2-1 today to start the process of eliminating net neutrality rules and 
> the classification of home and mobile Internet service providers as common carriers under Title II of the 
> Communications Act.
>
> The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposes eliminating the Title II classification and seeks comment on what, 
> if anything, should replace the current net neutrality rules. But Chairman Ajit Pai is making no promises about 
> reinstating the two-year-old net neutrality rules that forbid ISPs from blocking or throttling lawful Internet 
> content, or prioritizing content in exchange for payment. Pai's proposal argues that throttling websites and 
> applications might somehow help Internet users.
>
> The FCC plans to take comments on its plan until August 16 (the docket is available here) and then make a final 
> decision sometime after that.
>
> The net neutrality rules were approved in February 2015 when Republicans were in the commission's minority. Today, 
> Pai and fellow Republican Michael O'Rielly voted in favor of the plan to eliminate the rules while Democrat Mignon 
> Clyburn voted to preserve them.
>
> "The Internet was not broken in 2015" before the rules were imposed, Pai said today before the vote. "We were not 
> living in a digital dystopia. Nonetheless, the FCC that year succumbed to partisan pressure from the White House and 
> changed course." The rules imposed new regulatory burdens on ISPs both large and small, he said. The Title II rules 
> also raised "the possibility of broadband rate regulation," making ISPs hesitate before building or expanding 
> networks, he said.
>
> The fear of rate regulation on consumer broadband services is based on hypotheticals, because the FCC has not imposed 
> any rate regulation on home or mobile broadband.
>
> O'Rielly today said that he dissented from the net neutrality vote in 2015 "because I was not persuaded based on the 
> record before us that there was evidence of harm to businesses or consumers that warranted the adoption of the net 
> neutrality rules, much less the imposition of heavy-handed Title II regulation on broadband providers."
>
> Pro-net neutrality group Free Press recently published an updated list of alleged net neutrality violations by ISPs 
> through the years.
>
> "This is the beginning of the process, not the end," Pai said. After taking public comment for 90 days, the FCC "will 
> follow the facts and law where they take us," Pai said. He also said the FCC will conduct a "credible cost-benefit 
> analysis" before making final policy decisions.
>
> The FCC "will not rely on hyperbolic statements about the end of the Internet as we know it, and 140-character 
> argle-bargle, but rather on the data," Pai said.
>
> Besides overturning the Title II classification, the NPRM "proposes to eliminate the catch-all Internet conduct 
> standard created by the Title II Order," the FCC's announcement of the vote said. "Because the Internet conduct 
> standard is extremely vague and expansive, ISPs must guess at what they are permitted to do. Eliminating the Internet 
> conduct standard is therefore expected to promote innovation and network investment by eliminating regulatory 
> uncertainty."
>
> That standard allows the FCC to judge on a case-by-case basis whether actions by ISPs harm consumers or competitors, 
> by requiring rates and practices to be "just" and "reasonable.”
>
> [snip]
>
> Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: <http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/>



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