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| Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2015 11:49:27 -0800 (PST)
From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: FCC approves new net neutrality rules
Message-ID: <605ac8f4-1165-4882-b58b-c081593318f5@googlegroups.com>
By Roger Yu and Mike Snider, USA TODAY.February 26, 2015
Washington, D.C. -- The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to
implement new net neutrality rules designed to make sure Internet service
providers treat all legal content equally.
The historic vote on the proposal by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler elicited hearty
cheers from a wide array of technology companies and consumer groups while
setting the table for further legal challenges from Internet service
providers. The controversial proceedings that led up to the vote generated
heated lobbying in Washington and public clamor on social media, all in
efforts to steer the future direction of the rules that guide Internet
traffic.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/02/26/fcc-approves-net-neutrality-rules/24053057/
-or-
http://usat.ly/1AbZBZB
Neal McLain
|
| Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2015 12:18:08 -0800 (PST)
From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: After FCC vote, can Texas cities now offer their own Internet access?
Message-ID: <c3509091-f1dd-42d8-bbb7-6707e283cb70@googlegroups.com>
By Dwight Silverman, Houston Chronicle, February 26, 2015
Yes, today's Federal Communications Ruling that both broadband and
mobile Internet access providers are utilities is a big deal. This
lets the commission enforce so-called net neutrality rules that
prevent providers from favoring one type of Internet traffic over
another.
But another vote taken today is just as a important. The FCC also
decided, 3-2, to overturn bans against municipal broadband in two
states so that cities there can offer their own Internet access.
This is significant because 18 other states have similar bans,
including Texas. While today's ruling focused on just two instances,
it indicates the FCC is opposed to such bans, and could rule against
other, similar state laws.
http://blog.chron.com/techblog/2015/02/after-fcc-vote-can-texas-cities-now-offer-their-own-internet-access/
-or-
http://tinyurl.com/lcbl6zt
Neal McLain
|
| Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2015 12:01:00 -0800 (PST)
From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Mixed reactions to net neutrality vote
Message-ID: <f92c478b-8418-4471-b4dc-8cd9efbb5794@googlegroups.com>
Comcast, Cablevision, Charter execs have mixed reactions to net neutrality
vote
By Daniel Frankel, FierceCable, February 26, 2015
As widely expected, the FCC voted 3-2 across party lines Thursday to codify
strident regulation on Internet service providers, regulating them as a public
utility for the first time.
Under the new rules, cable companies like Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cox
Communications that also operate broadband networks will be prohibited from
slowing down traffic from sources like Netflix. They'll also be stopped from
establishing individual "fast lane" deals with these companies to speed up
their traffic.
As expected, the cable industry's top lobbying group, the National Cable
Telecommunications Association, reacted swiftly - and negatively - to the
announcement of the vote.
"This extraordinary action has been justified by the desire to preserve net
neutrality, but the FCC order goes well beyond that reasonable objective," the
NCTA statement reads. "The FCC has taken the overwhelming support for an open
Internet and pried open the door to heavy-handed government regulation in a
space celebrated for its free enterprise. The commission has breathed new life
into the decayed telephone regulatory model and applied it to the most
dynamic, free-wheeling and innovative platform in history."
http://www.fiercecable.com/story/comcast-cablevision-charter-execs-have-mixed-reactions-net-neutrality-vote/2015-02-26?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal
-or-
http://tinyurl.com/pe6cfex
Neal McLain
|
| Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2015 12:25:17 -0800 (PST)
From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: FCC ruling overturns state laws preventing municipal broadband expansion
Message-ID: <05a3e0c0-d0ea-44fd-a6e6-00ef4356f933@googlegroups.com>
By Sean Buckley, FierceTelecom, February 26, 2015
The FCC moved to preempt elements of state laws in North Carolina and
Tennessee that were designed to restrict municipal providers in these
communities from providing broadband service outside of their current
serving areas. This move could drive other states to act and could
result in potential court challenges.
The FCC's order was voted 3-2 on party lines, with Commission Chairman
Tom Wheeler joined by fellow Democrats Mignon Clyburn and Jessica
Rosenworcel. The order will let communities choose whether or not to
build their own networks based on their own missions and the ability
to expand services to nearby communities.
Municipal broadband has been one of Wheeler's key focus areas. In May,
Wheeler made a call to explore the idea of preempting more than 19
state laws that prevent or discourage municipalities from building
their own broadband networks.
http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/fcc-ruling-overturns-state-laws-preventing-municipal-broadband-expansion/2015-02-26?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal
-or-
http://tinyurl.com/ldw9g9z
Neal McLain
|
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2015 19:20:25 +0000 (UTC)
From: wollman@bimajority.org (Garrett Wollman)
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: FCC ruling overturns state laws preventing municipal broadband expansion
Message-ID: <mcqg1p$1g38$1@grapevine.csail.mit.edu>
In article <05a3e0c0-d0ea-44fd-a6e6-00ef4356f933@googlegroups.com>,
Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com> wrote:
>The FCC moved to preempt elements of state laws in North Carolina and
>Tennessee that were designed to restrict municipal providers in these
>communities from providing broadband service outside of their current
>serving areas. This move could drive other states to act and could
>result in potential court challenges.
I'm certain both this and the reclassification of Internet access
under Title II will be challenged in court. My bet would be that the
reclassification ultimately survives a court challenge, and that this
preemption question goes down. Although on the one hand federal law
generally trumps state law, municipalities are entirely creatures of
state law, and I would be surprised if the courts found that the FCC
could authorize a municipality to do something that its sole source of
legal authority has forbidden it to do.
-GAWollman
***** Moderator's Note *****
The FCC has preempted local zoning laws which forbid the use of TV
antennas, and has even applied the proscription to CC&R deed
restrictions and condominium agreements which were written to forbid
satellite (and other) TV antennas.
I think the precedent has been set.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Garrett A. Wollman
wollman@bimajority.org
Opinions not shared by
my employers.
|
What intellectual phenomenon can be older, or more oft
repeated, than the story of a large research program
that impaled itself upon a false central assumption
accepted by all practitioners? - S.J. Gould, 1993
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