The FCC is voting today on passage of Net Neutrality rules and like anything in Washington the proposal is getting both support and some opposition.
The basic premise behind net neutrality is that all sites should have equal and open access to the net.
The flip side is a situation where sites could pay to get better access so for example they would load faster for users to the detriment of non-paying sites
It seems like the rules the FCC is voting on today gives “land line” Internet users Net neutrality but changes the rules for wireless.
“”The rules would ban high-speed Internet providers like Comcast Corp and Verizon Communications from blocking lawful traffic, while recognizing the need to manage network congestion and perhaps charge based on Internet usage.””
“”The rules for wireless carriers, reflecting limited bandwidth and a more recent technology, only ban the blocking of access to websites, or competing voice and video applications.
At stake is how quickly handheld devices, like Research in Motion Ltd’s BlackBerry and Apple Inc’s iPhone, can receive videos and other data-heavy content.””
“”
No acceptable proposal can permit paid prioritization; can exempt wireless broadband from the protections offered for wireline; nor can it move forward without reclassifying broadband, providing the legal footing required by the courts for implementation. Just as importantly, the rule must have clear, inexpensive, and rapid procedures, and meaningful penalties, so that innovators and citizens can effectively seek redress and legal clarity.
However, in his relentless search for the path of least resistance, Chairman Genachowski has proposed a set of rules that, if adopted, would normalize ISPs’ ability to discriminate between sources and types of content. The Chairman’s proposal appears to be a collection of safe-harbors requested by the largest carriers, rather than rule to benefit average citizens. And by eschewing reclassification under Title II, the Chairman all but guarantees the courts will strike down the regulations.””
CNN.com report on the bill included comments from the opposition:
“Internet-freedom advocates have called the rules a step in the right direction but say they don’t go far enough.
For example, the proposal doesn’t set the same set of rules for mobile communications as it does for Web-based ones. And it wouldn’t let the government strictly regulate internet providers in the way some advocates would like.
In fact, the proposal is similar to one put forward earlier this year by Google and Verizon, two of the internet’s biggest stakeholders.
Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat and one of Congress’ most vocal net-neutrality advocates, calls the issue “the most important free-speech issue of our time.”
In a column Monday for the Huffington Post, Franken said some of the current proposal’s language could actually weaken protections.
“(T)his Tuesday, when the FCC meets to discuss this badly flawed proposal, I’ll be watching,” he wrote. “If they approve it as is, I’ll be outraged. And you should be, too.”
This is another attempt by the Government to regulate the Internet and to the rich goes the spoils.
Personally I’m glad to see that land based access is protected.
As long as there is a choice you can always elect to go back to a wifi or other land bases connection.
If the FCC passes the rules they will still have to go to Congress next year for passage.
What so you think?
“This is another attempt by the Government to regulate the Internet and to the rich goes the spoils.
Personally I’m glad to see that land based access is protected.”
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The FCC has a long history in the wireless (radio) arena. They ended up in the .TV space partly because the content was flying thru the air. When cable expanded, the FCC followed the content.
Domainers could find they need an FCC License for each domain. Also, a unique FEIN is anticipated for each domain.
The insiders apparently have their eye on the legacy .NET realm to focus the FCC Licensing. The new ICANN CEO was running around Washington DC early in his career with NSA, DHS and ISOC insiders saying, “.NET is worthless”. That was apparently to help bulldoze .NET for the new .NET Licensed ISPs.
The IETF is arriving with RPKI for .NET and insiders are being paid to develop the software Uncle Sam wants. The Eco.System is happy. One insider calls it a “Billable Hours Bonanza”.
Ironic the .FCC and the Google TV convergence ~ Coincident ? Timing ?
://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/12/governments-shouldnt-have-monopoly-on.html
“Governments should not have a monopoly”…. Vinton Cerf granted that to HIS Internet Society and ICANN
The FCC seems to be prepared to issue a ruling that no one is happy with. Free market ISP advocates are complaining that this is a fix for something that’s not broken, while net neutrality advocates are decrying the substance of the proposal as well as the fact that it fails to cover wireless services that are clearly the future of digital connectivity.
Sometimes in DC a decision that makes no one happy is viewed as a pragmatic compromise — but sometimes it’s just a badly flawed decision. It also won’t be the last word, as litigation questioning the FCC’s authority to regulate the Internet as well as legislation reacting to the rule-making are almost sure to arise in 2011.
“The FCC seems to be prepared to issue a ruling that no one is happy with. ”
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One insider calls it a “Billable Hours Bonanza”.
BTW it is 1900 pages and people can’t read it.
Also, Vinton Cerf is on the FCC Technical Advisory Council.
There is a lot of Forum Shopping going on.
Where do all those .ORG fees go ? to the ISOC ? for what ?
No acceptable proposal can permit paid prioritization.
Sent to the Whitehouse concerning the FCCs Action of December 21, 2010
You said you would “take a backseat to no one in my commitment to Net Neutrality.” Now we await the spin from what appears to be today’s betrayal. Another “mission accomplished”? It appears as though the fox is in the hen house or perhaps a more apt metaphor is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. But, why worry? Soon the critics may well be silenced. If the new regulations are the sell out they appear, we’re on our way to internet darkness where the public will be become unaware of how exalted Corporate leadership, of which you appear to be a shill, manipulates the public and suppresses human and civil rights. This may be the most monumental failure of your administration.
Listening to the FCC describe their plan, it sounds like a true Multi-Stakeholder Model – Not the ISOC ICANN ARIN version.
This is like the U.S. Government declaring that every city can have an NFL football team. The implications for the NFL incumbents would be huge.
Using the analogy, instead of the U.S. Government targeting their action directly at the NFL, they indirectly do that by working at the level of “the sport” (i.e. football).
They simply declare that all cities can have a team, name it, advertise it, etc. There is pressure for the cities to play each other and to form playoffs and a Superbowl.
If the NFL chooses to play nice, that is their choice.
For the ISOC ICANN ARIN Artificial Scarcity model, allowing other players
into their game becomes self-defeating. The FCC and the DOC NTIA will likely
have to become more directly involved in IANA tasks to ensure the new
playing field is level and open to all.
Domainers waiting for new TLDs should probably turn to Uncle Sam. There
is likely less incentive now for ICANN to open their league to new teams.
The ISOC and ARIN cash cows would be threatened.
FCC
Passes the rules today
http://ct.cnet.com/clicks?t=658873278-ac540a77850ff99588cb8337f4c9376d-bf&brand=NEWS&s=5
“FCC Passes the rules today”
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People will now be able to go to the FCC for Numeric-Only Top Level Domains
.911
://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/dnsop/current/msg08941.html
ICANN said they have no plans for numeric TLDs
Americans now have some Internet Governance leadership not composed of self-appointed I* dilitants, academics and globe trotting pundits.
The U.S. FCC (and the U.S. Department of .COMmerce) are being paid to help.
“Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak wrote an open letter to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission…”
://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/12/21/wozniak_defends_free_internet_mobile_networks_get_exemptions_from_net_neutrality.html
You can also now write letters and petition YOUR FCC for relief. You can also
help ELECT leaders who direct those agencies. You now have more than the
old I* run-around.
“FCC petition filed by some members of NANOG”
://mailman.nanog.org/pipermail/nanog/2010-December/029687.html
The U.S. FCC (and the U.S. Department of .COMmerce) are being paid to help.
NANOG members will not get some I* academic run-around from the FCC.
Also, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests will assist netizens.
Compare that to the opaque unaccountable private ISOC and ICANN structures.
NANOG51 at the Hotel InterContinental Miami, January 30 to February 2, 2011
U.S. Department of .COMmerce Starts Ramping Up for 2011
://www.ntia.doc.gov/internetpolicytaskforce/
“Green Paper”
.WOZ heads to the .FCC in person
://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/steve_wozniak_net_neutrality_rules_dont_go_far_enough/
Check out the photo of the Dancing With the Stars dude
.HARD
.ROCK
.CAFE
.VEGAS
FCC and EU and others likely to start Setting Prices (Tariffs) for ISPs??
://www.digitalsociety.org/2010/12/the-french-want-google-to-pay-more-for-bandwidth/
Sub-One-Dollar .COM domains soon ? real soon ?
://techcrunch.com/2010/12/23/net-neutrality-rules-uncertainty/
“If you’re the type that prizes certainty and clarity (i.e., most engineers, business people and investors), then manufacturing confusion may sound like insanity. But welcome to law school: good lawyers know that uncertainty has a power all of its own. So to really understand the Net Neutrality rule is not to bother understanding the rule itself, but rather the effects the uncertainty will create over the next 5 years or so.”
Very interesting, BLS.
://techcrunch.com/2010/12/23/net-neutrality-rules-uncertainty/
“manufacturing confusion may sound like insanity. But welcome to law school: good lawyers know that uncertainty has a power all of its own”
Welcome to 2011 – It is almost certainty that 10,000 Americans will turn 65 each day
Each day ~ 10,000 Americans will jump on the FCC Internet … Not the Vigilante CyberGang I* Net run by self-appointed Czars – aka Eco.System