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Updated: Dec. 14, 2017: The FCC voted to repeal the Net Neutrality ruling 3-2. You can still take action, write to Congress.
by Candace Clement
Free Press
Nov. 21, 2017
The details of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s plan to destroy Net Neutrality are out. And they’re even worse than expected. Our lawyers and policy experts are reviewing the reports and gathering details about Pai’s plan. This is our first read on the most important details you need to know about this proposal. We will update this post as new details emerge.
The FCC plan will:
- End Title II protections and erase the three Net Neutrality rules passed at the FCC in 2015 and upheld in court last year.
- Legalize internet blocking and discrimination by Comcast, AT&T and Verizon, no questions asked.
- Permit throttling back the speeds of different kinds of websites and apps.
- Encourage paid prioritization — sticking most sites and apps in the slow lane and reserving the fast lane for the few wealthy companies that can afford special treatment.
So what will protect us from ISPs that want to censor political speech or stop competition to their old cable-TV and telephone businesses?
According to Pai’s proposal, companies like Comcast don’t require rules or enforcement to behave. In place of laws and rules, Pai is counting on “public shaming” to keep companies in line.
As for Pai, he’s clearly shameless.
We’ve shown time and again that Title II of the Communications Act is the best and only foundation for Net Neutrality rules we have right now. And it gives the FCC the authority to enforce other important rules about broadband affordability, privacy and competition. Title II works, plain and simple.
But this has never been about the truth for Ajit Pai.
Pai admitted in April, even before he launched this process, that he’d made up his mind to abandon real Net Neutrality. He has lied, repeatedly, about the impact of Net Neutrality on broadband investment. And he has ignored tens of millions of public comments opposing his plans.
The FCC will vote on Pai’s plan on Dec. 14: We need to throw everything we’ve got at this fight in the next three weeks. We’re planning protests across the country, mobilizing thousands of calls to Washington and planning a big rally outside the FCC on Dec. 14.
This is a wake-up call for all of us. We need to fight and we need to do it now if we want to save the internet.
TM + © 2009–2017 Free Press, Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial ShareAlike license
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Former FCC Chairman Wheeler Reacts to Net Neutrality Plan
Bloomberg Technology on Nov 21, 2017
Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler reacts to current FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s plans to void Obama-era net neutrality rules. He speaks with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang on “Bloomberg Technology.
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FCC Moves to Gut Net Neutrality, Ignoring Public Support & Laws Upholding Equal Internet Access
Democracy Now! on Nov 22, 2017
Democracy Now – Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai issued a major order Tuesday in which he outlined his plan to dismantle landmark regulations that ensure equal access to the internet. Pai wants to repeal net neutrality rules that bar internet service providers from stopping or slowing down the delivery of websites and stop companies from charging extra fees for high-quality streaming. A formal vote on the plan is set for December 14th. We speak with Tim Karr, Senior Director of Strategy for Free Press, which is organizing support to keep the rules in place ahead of the vote.
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Trump’s FCC Goes to War on Net Neutrality
TheRealNews on Nov 22, 2017
A new plan unveiled by Federal Communications Commission chair Ajit Pai would repeal hard-fought net neutrality rules that uphold equal internet access. Can Pai’s effort be stopped?
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Take Action!
FCC Chair Ajit Pai is about to announce a vote to slash America’s net neutrality rules—meaning companies like Comcast & Verizon will be able to block apps, slow websites, and charge fees to control what you see & do online. Once Pai announces the vote, the situation becomes desperate. But if we flood Congress with phone calls right now, they can stop the vote.
Write the FCC and Congress Now!
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It’s Official: FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Plans to Destroy Net Neutrality
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has unveiled his plan to dismantle Net Neutrality.
Here it is in a nutshell: Abolish Net Neutrality. Cross our fingers that the phone and cable companies will be good.
Yeah, right. These are the same companies that promise to be at your house between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. and don’t show up until the following week. The same companies that were caught repeatedly violating Net Neutrality before strong rules were on the books.1 The same companies that admitted that if it weren’t for Net Neutrality they would discriminate against websites and content.2
Tell Chairman Pai to LEAVE NET NEUTRALITY ALONE.
1. “Net Neutrality Violations: A Brief History,” Free Press, April 25, 2017
2. “Verizon’s Plan to Break the Internet,” Free Press, Sept. 18, 2013
TM + © 2009–2017 Free Press, Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial ShareAlike license
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Save the Net From Trump
“Oppose Trump FCC’s plan to destroy net neutrality and the open internet
Time is running out before Trump’s FCC and Big Cable destroy net neutrality — but we can still stop them.“Trump-appointed FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, a former lawyer for Verizon, is expected to announce a vote on a plan to end net neutrality as soon as November 22, the day before Thanksgiving.”
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Updated: Dec. 14, 2017
What’s Next for Network Neutrality?
acluvideos on Dec. 14, 2017
What just happened is that the FCC reversed an important set of internet protections called “Network Neutrality,” which we’ve had in effect ever since we’ve had the broadband internet. This opens the gates for companies like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T to begin messing with our data as it crosses the internet. They can do whatever they want now. They can block conservative sites. They can block liberal sites. They can block gaming sites. They can make you pay extra for decent speeds in downloading videos. There’s really no limit to the ways that they can mess with how consumers exchange data with the services and sites that they want to access. This is a battle in the war for an open internet, and we have lost this battle, but we have not lost the war. No one should go away thinking that network neutrality is dead.
The battle now goes to Congress, which has a power called the CRA or the Congressional Review Act, which lets them nuke misguided agency rules such as this. So everybody should be calling their member of Congress and telling them they need to support a CRA reversal of these misguided rules.
from the archives:
Censorship: The Death Knell of Democracy
The Internet is Under Attack–Save Net Neutrality
Nothing is More Important Right Now Than Preserving Net Neutrality
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