FCC backs net neutrality: what you need to know about Title II internet regulation – The Verge

The net neutrality comment period was a complete mess

2017-08-31T10:12:14-04:00

After months of debate, protests, and disruptions, the FCC's comment period on its proposal to kill net neutrality is now over. The commission stopped accepting comments at midnight Eastern time last night, closing out with nearly 22 million total replies - setting an immense new record. The FCC's previous comment record was just 3.7 million, set during the last net neutrality proceeding.

But the process of receiving all those comments was far from smooth this time around. The FCC's website is fairly confusing. It's also, apparently, susceptible to spam and other attacks, which we saw at multiple points across the past four months.

Early …

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Senate Republicans say the FCC may have broken the law to give Obama net neutrality

2016-03-01T12:54:11-05:00

A report released by Senate Republicans claims that the White House made a significant effort to influence the FCC and steer chairman Tom Wheeler to pass net neutrality rules that President Obama wanted. The inquiry was conducted by the majority on the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and concludes that the FCC would not have chosen to reclassify broadband under Title II of the Telecommunications Act if the president had not supported it. Republicans in Congress have been working for years to cripple the FCC's authority, and today's report could set off a new fight over who ultimately controls the agency.

The FCC's t …

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The FCC defended net neutrality from internet providers in court on Friday

2015-12-06T14:15:02-05:00

On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was back in court to defend net neutrality from cable, telecom, and wireless trade groups that are seeking to see the regulations overturned. Those industries sued the FCC shortly after the commission voted to regulate internet providers like a utility in February. Among other things, that landmark FCC vote let the regulator require that internet providers - including wireless services - treat all legal internet traffic equally.

Three hours of oral arguments for the case were held in front of a three-judge panel at the DC Circuit Court of Appeals - the same one that has twice before str …

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The FCC’s net neutrality rules are now in effect

2015-06-12T11:45:00-04:00

Net neutrality rules are once again in place in the US, giving the Federal Communications Commission authority to stop internet providers from unfairly degrading your service. The battle for net neutrality isn't over, but this still marks an important milestone. The commission originally implemented net neutrality rules in 2010, but they were overturned in court last January. After a lengthy period of public comments, the commission passed a new set of rules that appear to stand on stronger legal backing. The rules passed in late February, but they're only now going into effect.

The internet isn't about to change, the FCC just has more power …

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Telecoms file first lawsuits against FCC net neutrality rules

2015-03-23T18:21:43-04:00

The first lawsuits against the FCC's new net neutrality rules have come in, according to The Washington Post. The Post writes that two parties - industry group USTelecom and regional service provider Alamo Broadband - have respectively filed suit in Washington and New Orleans. USTelecom thinks that the rules, which were officially released on March 12th, are not "legally sustainable," and that the FCC should abandon its decision to regulate broadband under Title II of the Communications Act. "We do not block or throttle traffic, and FCC rules prohibiting blocking or throttling will not be the focus of our appeal," said senior vice president …

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These are the FCC’s full rules for protecting net neutrality

2015-03-12T09:40:13-04:00

The FCC has released the full text of its new Open Internet order - the set of rules that are meant to protect net neutrality. Though the rules passed last month, the full text of the order hasn't been available until now. Even ahead of the vote, only those in the commission were able to see its actual text. That's not unusual, but considering the significance of this particular vote, a lot of noise was made by dissenting commissioners Ajit Pai and Michael O'Rielly about getting it released to the public. That's finally happened, though it occurred on the commission's normal timeline.

"We listened. We learned. And we adjusted our approach ba …

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How 14 major news outlets explain net neutrality

2015-02-26T16:49:25-05:00

Today's FCC decision to protect the internet with Title II regulation is a big win for the internet and net neutrality advocates - and the start of a big fight for both sides of the issue. But here's a pretty big question, what is net neutrality?

The answer isn't always so clear, and depending on where you read about today's news first, your interpretation of the phrase might vary a bit. That isn't to say anyone is flat-out wrong, but that summarizing an abstract concept can be open to various interpretations (we're partial our own interpretation, of course). Yes, there are already hundreds of standalone "what is net neutrality?" explainers …

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FCC votes to protect the internet with Title II regulation

2015-02-26T12:59:46-05:00

Net neutrality has won at the FCC. In a 3-to-2 vote, the Federal Communications Commission today established a new Open Internet Order that implements strict net neutrality rules, including prohibitions on site and app blocking, speed throttling, and paid fast lanes.

A huge win for net neutrality

Critically, the order also reclassifies internet providers' offerings as telecommunications services under Title II of the Communications Act. Though this is likely to provoke a challenge in court, Title II gives the commission the tools it needs to enforce these strict rules.

This is also the first time that net neutrality rules will apply, in ful …

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FCC overrules state laws to help cities build out municipal broadband

2015-02-26T11:21:39-05:00

Before it tackles net neutrality, the FCC is setting a major precedent for municipal broadband: it's just voted to preempt state laws that were preventing two cities from building out their own locally run broadband networks. The decision was prompted by separate petitions from Wilson, North Carolina, and Chattanooga, Tennessee - both cities that've established high-speed, gigabit internet services, but have been barred from expanding to neighboring communities due to existing state laws. So far, 19 states have similar regulations to those that the FCC is overriding in Wilson and Chattanooga, but today's ruling affects only those two specifi …

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Hillary Clinton lends support to the FCC’s net neutrality plan days before vote

2015-02-24T19:36:00-05:00

Former Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton today came out in support of the FCC's proposal to reclassify broadband as a utility - the cornerstone of its plan to put stronger net neutrality rules into effect. In a conversation today with Kara Swisher from Recode, Clinton said she agreed with classifying internet service providers as common carriers under Title II of the Telecommunications Act but also pointed out that there was more that could be done.

"I think that for the FCC to do what they want to do - to try to create net neutrality as the norm - they have to have a hook to hang it on," Clinton said to Swisher. "So, they'r …

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