The FCC ruling on Net Neutrality shifts billions in profits and boils down to one fact: There will soon be a fast Internet for the rich and a slow Internet for the poor. We are going from Phase One, where everything is free and open and untamed, into Phase Two, which is all about centralization, consolidation, control -- and money.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said that she was "very concerned" that the FCC's just-adopted Net Neutrality regulations are "insufficient and harmful to many American consumers," and will create a mobile digital divide.
The FCC has made a ruling about Net Neutrality -- which doesn't give the public Net Neutrality. Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks talks with Tim Karr of Free Press about what the new rules will mean for Internet users and innovators. (Video 18:22)
When President Barack Obama was running for office three years ago, he pledged to support the principle of a free and open Internet, saying, "I will take a backseat to no one with regards to Net Neutrality." Fast-forward to today, and the FCC chair that Obama appointed has held a vote that could end Net Neutrality.
Federal regulators have issued new rules that ultimately will affect how Americans access videos over the Internet and how carriers charge for content. The new rules codify FCC guidelines that instruct network carriers not to block or discriminate against Internet content providers, while giving them broad latitude to experiment with measures that might include differential pricing or traffic controls to manage their networks.
Open Internet supporters say the Net Neutrality agreement worked out by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski falls far short of their goal. They complain that the compromise with AT&T and other Internet service providers could be "worse than nothing," in the words of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.).
Well, it’s here. The FCC announced it had finally reached a deal on regulating Internet service providers. The long awaited vote means that there are finally rules to how the Internet is run and managed -- well, sorta. The loudest criticism of the plan is that AT&T and Verizon lobbyists have won a free pass from President Obama’s FCC.
Although we don't know exactly what the FCC did today, we have a good sketch of the rules, and it comes in three parts: Transparency about what fixed broadband providers are doing to manage traffic on their network (and yes, the irony is an obvious one), a ban on traffic blocking, and a prohibition against network providers discriminating against certain sources of online traffic, such as the video service that happens to compete with their own.
Critics of the FCC's Net Neutrality rules warn those steps could include implementation of usage-based pricing for accessing the Internet at home and preferential treatment for companies that pay extra for "fast lanes." They say service providers could also begin to pick and choose which websites can run faster than others over their networks.
The FCC has approved a Net Neutrality plan that allows government regulation of Internet traffic for the first time. The agency says the rule will prevent Internet providers from blocking sites owned by their rivals. But critics say it could lead to higher fees for consumer Internet access. In short, no one is happy. Even the FCC was bitterly divided over the issue.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was at the FCC for what he called a historic vote to protect Internet users. He said that the Net Neutrality rules approved by the FCC were a good first step, but that the measure didn't go far enough to protect wireless phone users.
The FCC approved new regulations prohibiting anticompetitive behavior on the Internet, but the political battle sparked by Net Neutrality is far from over.
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