AT&T "kills net neutrality," announces sponsored data

[Quinion]

I've been reading through this thread but held off on replying until I had a chance to learn more about the case (Verizon v. FCC) that was lost on appeal.

First @Der Lindwurm , what is "the government trying to slip by us"? The government (the FCC, supported by the DOJ) lost its court case on appeal because they don't have a statutory basis to enforce its order that maintained net neutrality. Believe or not, the current administration is trying to preserve and enforce net neutrality, but faces stiff resistance from Conservatives/Republicans within the FCC and in Congress.

Can it be revoked or appealed? Yes, it could be appealed up to the SCOTUS, but good luck trying to win that. Probably, the FCC will draft a new order, that preserves as much of the original as they can manage, or the more drastic step would be to reclassify ISPs as Title I basic utility providers, which would then allow the FCC to regulate ISPs the same way they regulate the phone companies, and would have statutory authority to enforce the order which was overturned.

If you read the opinion of the court, the majority (2 judges of the 3 judge panel) are basically saying just that; the third judge (Silberman, a Reagan appointee) wrote an opinion that was partially concurring, partially dissenting......the part he dissented on was the assertion that if the ISPs were reclassified as Title I utilities, the order would be lawful; he doesn't think the FCC has the authority to regulate them in that way at all.

I think the FCC will put up a fight for a while, but ultimately, they and especially we, will lose:
Verizon 2012 gross annual revenues: 115 Billion
AT&T 2012 gross annual revenues: 126 Billion
FCC's requested appropriation for FY 2013: 346.78 Million

P.S. Catgirl, you ignorant slut........the system is already monetized; all the FCC sought to do was allow free competition on a level playing field. Big corporations hate that, and will throw vast sums of money at anything to tip the balance to favor them , so that they can collect even larger sums from us. And when your ISP decides to charge you extra to allow you to play games online through XBL, over and above what you pay for XBL, keep it to yourself.

 

[Cricket]

21st Century Innovation = Finding new ways to charge more for the same service you already provide

 

[Der Lindwurm]

First @Der Lindwurm , what is "the government trying to slip by us"? The government (the FCC, supported by the DOJ) lost its court case on appeal because they don't have a statutory basis to enforce its order that maintained net neutrality.

In this case, the failure to uphold net neutrality. It was a federal court that ruled against it, it was congressmen on the FCC who originally reclassified internet service in a way that made this ruling possible, and you mentioned yourself that the cable companies have their allies in congress even though the Obama administration wants to uphold net neutrality. My point was that there's going to be a lot of pressure from the public on this particular issue and they're not going to be able to just shrug and let it go.

 

[Robert_J_King]

I love how technically they cannot do this because internet is not really a place, thus no one should be able to hold supremacy over it.

Now that you mention it, there have been more rulings and things put in place for the interet as of late. For example, it is pretty much illegal for a business to create falsified positive reviews for itself or falsifying bad reviews for others. This was a hustle for a hot minute as people would be hired to carry out such things for businesses.

 

[Quinion]

In this case, the failure to uphold net neutrality. It was a federal court that ruled against it, it was congressmen on the FCC who originally reclassified internet service in a way that made this ruling possible, and you mentioned yourself that the cable companies have their allies in congress even though the Obama administration wants to uphold net neutrality. My point was that there's going to be a lot of pressure from the public on this particular issue and they're not going to be able to just shrug and let it go.

No offense intended, I just hate those "the fucking Government..." comments, like the furry dude in @Donutman 's post. At this point, the US gov't is so dysfunctional they don't "do" anything......the checks and balances between the branches now just results in a lot of wheels spinning and a lot of fuel consumption but the car doesn't go anywhere.

After thinking about this a little more, I really think the FCC needs to reclassify access to the internet as a Title I utility. At this point, who doesn't do paperless statements for bank accts, mortgages, electric, water, etc? How about paperless paychecks? I haven't seen a physical paycheck from my company in like four years; the only way to know it's been deposited is to check the bank's website, or ADP's website. How about credit/debit purchases? Gotta use the internet for that too. It's high time it was recognized that internet access is an integral part of more than what many people realize. It's not just streaming Netflix anymore.