The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted today to accept FCC chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposal that the Commission “use its Title II authority to implement and enforce open Internet protections.” Or, to put it in plain English, your ISP must provide equal broadband access to you or any site — Amazon, Netflix, etc. — without slowing down or speeding up sites for additional fees.
As expected, the vote to treat ISPs as common carriers passed by a party line vote of three Democrats over the two Republicans. Under this regulation, broadband Internet services will be governed by Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Mobile broadband vendors, such as 4G providers AT&T, Sprint and Verizon Wireless will also be regulated as common carriers based on Title III of the Communications Act. It should also be noted that since Wheeler made his proposal, the FCC has redefined broadband as delivering at least 25-Megabits per second (Mbps).
The Republicans claimed that the FCC was over-reaching its authority by putting in a secret Obama plan for net neutrality. Wheeler dismissed this as nonsense in his final speech. He summed up, “This is the FCC using all the tools in our toolbox to protect innovators and consumers; to ban paid prioritization, the so-called fast lane. [This] will not divide the Internet into haves and have-nots.”
Source: www.zdnet.com
This is something which affects all of us. It appears we finally have a victory. Let’s hope this is the last we hear of it!
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Good news all around. Now let’s just hope that the politicians don’t start enacting laws to change things. Look at how many times the Republicans have tried to appeal Obamacare. Can a GOP-sponsored bill to repeal net-neutrality be far behind?
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The article addresses that, but I’m afraid you’re right. I’m just trying to enjoy the moment. It has been awhile since our team scored a goal, you know? We needed this. I’m encouraged because in the end, this wasn’t an all Dems Vs. GOP win. Not every Republican is a moron. Just … a lot of them.
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Reblogged this on The Militant Negro™.
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Thank you!
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That is good news. Any hidden agenda there?
Leslie
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Not as far as I can tell. Looks like a straight up victory. A very RARE victory.
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Interesting. Our government is intent on rolling out ultra fast broadband over the whole country. Most internet providers have unlimited broadband packages so that our speeds aren’t choked. Earlier when you had reached your limit you still had access – just mega slow – I mean you could have a cup of coffee and breakfast while downloading just one page. Where we are is super fast – but it cost me a lot to install the connection. Last time it cost me nothing. My choice, not the landlord. He was obviously happy we did it. And he was happy we paid too.
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Corporate America wanted to own the Internet. They lost. Thank God.
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YES!
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It’s about time we won a battle. And losing this one had ugly consequences that we would have to live with every time we tried to log on.
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I am glad you put it in plain English.
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We really NEEDED to win this one.
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Reblogged this on Kentucky Mountain Girl News.
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This is great news! I do hope the battle is over!
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I hope so. This is not a battle we could afford to lose.
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Me too! You have that so right Marilyn!
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I’m sure the corporations will try again, but I think it will become increasingly less likely they can win. Even corporate America is divided on this issue. Because everyone is a private citizen too … and we need the Internet now as we need electricity.
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Great point! I do hope you are right!
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However, since this war began I have noticed a drastic decline in Internet speed and access.
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It has gone the other way around here. Our speed is up — but so is traffic. The U.S. si far behind Asia and Europe in speed and infrastructure. I suspect that’s a big part of the reason we won. The U.S. can’t be competitive in the world if our population is embarrassingly under-served. Most people live with less than half the speed most of Europe and Asia enjoys.
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US is way far behind, not because they lack the technology but because whatever makes the rich richer becomes the main objective, with or without a vote.
There are many times that the Internet is so slow that I cannot even open a browser let alone post a comment or an articles. That little circle goes around and around forever. Even clearing my cache and reloading doesn’t help.
Glad to hear that your Internet speed is escalating!
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Oh, it’s because Charter has been threatened by a takeover, so they had to get on the ball of lose their franchise. Otherwise, we’d be languishing as we have for the past 20 years.
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So true!
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Sigh! I am so relieved…been following and supporting this for quite a while!
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This would have made life difficult for all of us. ONE victory amidst so many losses. But I’m very very glad.
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