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Undated:
In the United States,
net neutrality, the principle that
Internet service providers (ISPs) treat all data on the
Internet
the same, and not discriminate,[1]
has been an issue of contention between network users and access providers since
the 1990s.[2][3]
To elucidate the term "net neutrality", one can apply a metaphor that was given
and illustrated by Michael Goodwin: In his illustration, he illustrates ISPs as
the driveway that connects a home to the vast network of destinations on the
internet, and net neutrality is the principle that prevents ISPs from slowing
some traffic or charging a premium fee for other traffic.[4]
A core issue to net neutrality is how ISPs should be classified under the
Communications Act of 1934, if they should be Title I "information services"
or Title II "common
carrier services". The classification affects the
Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) authority over ISPs: the FCC would
have significant ability to regulate ISPs if classified as Title II common
carriers, but would have little control over them if classified as Title I.
Because the Communications Act has not been amended by the United States
Congress to account for ISPs, the FCC has the authority to designate how ISPs
should be treated in addition to what regulations they can set on ISPs. The
makeup of the 5-member FCC has changed with each new administration, leading to
the state of net neutrality flipping back and forth over the last two decades.
Upon becoming FCC chairman in April 2017 as part of the
Trump Administration,
Ajit Pai
proposed to repeal the neutrality policies, returning to the previous
classification of ISPs as Title I services. The draft of the proposed repeal,
published in May 2017, led to over 20 million comments to the FCC. Despite a
majority of these favoring retaining the 2015 Open Internet Order, the FCC still
voted in favor of repealing the Order, which went into effect in June 2018
despite efforts in Congress to stay the repeal.[5]
As a result, over 20 states launched a joint lawsuit against the FCC, while
California passed its own state-level net neutrality law that is being
challenged by the federal government.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality_in_the_United_States
January 24: In a statement Monday, Ajit Pai
said he was grateful to the president for his new role as the next chairman of
the Federal Communications Commission.
Pai had been one of the two Republican commissioners on a five-member panel that
regulates the country's communications infrastructure, including TV, phone and
internet service.
There are currently just three members on the panel. The Republicans' new
majority is expected to help them roll back pro-consumer policies that upset
many phone and cable industry groups, including net neutrality rules that bar
internet service providers from favoring some websites and apps over others.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/net-neutrality-foe-ajit-pai-is-new-fcc-head
January 24: Why Is The Media Smearing New
FCC Chair Ajit Pai As The Enemy Of Net Neutrality?
He
favors a return to the bi-partisan policy of light-touch regulation established
in the early days of the commercial Internet—policies that have made possible
the convergence of networks, media and technologies on the single open Internet
standard. His FCC is likely to be consistent, professional, and predictable.
November 20: Federal Communications
Commission Chairman Ajit Pai will reveal plans to his fellow commissioners on
Tuesday to fully dismantle the agency's Obama-era
net neutrality regulations, people familiar with the plans said, in a major
victory for the telecom industry in the long-running policy debate.
November 21: The days of net neutrality are
numbered.
Ajit Pai, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, unveiled his
controversial plan to repeal Obama-era protections intended to keep the internet
open and fair.
The repeal would represent a fundamental shift to how the internet is regulated.
Thecurrent net neutrality rules, approved in 2015, internet
providers like Comcast (CCVCL)
and AT&T (T,
Tech30)
are barred from deliberately speeding up or slowing down traffic from specific
websites and apps. The goal was to prevent those internet providers from picking
winners and losers among content providers.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/11/21/technology/fcc-net-neutrality/index.html
November 21:Net
neutrality is the idea that ISPs must treat all legal Internet data the same
—regardless of where it comes from or who it is going to.
Harold Feld, senior vice president with the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit
Public Knowledge, compared net neutrality to “an on-ramp to the Internet,”
meaning ISPs are “not allowed to interfere with what the subscriber wants to do
or where the subscriber wants to go.”
Under net neutrality regulations, ISPs are not allowed to block or throttle
— meaning slow down — websites or applications.
December 14: Net Neutrality Rules Repealed
By the FCC
Without net neutrality, companies like Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon will be able
to carve up the Internet into “slow and fast lanes.” This means that websites
and technology companies could end up having to pay more for higher streaming
speeds, and that ISPs can also start to charge consumers directly to use
different parts of the Web.
https://www.vogue.com/article/net-neutrality-repeal-what-you-need-to-know
December 15:[Fox Real News]:
What does the repeal of "net neutrality' rules mean to you?
In the short term, the answer is simple: Not much. But over time, your ability
to watch what you want to watch online and to use the apps that you prefer could
start to change.
Your mobile carrier, for instance, might start offering you terrific deals for
signing up to its own video service, just as your YouTube app starts suffering
unexpected connection errors. Or you could wake one day to learn that your
broadband provider is having a tiff with Amazon, and has slowed down its
shopping site in order to extract business concessions.
All of which would be perfectly legal under the new deregulatory regime approved
Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission, so long as the companies post
their policies online. Broadband providers insist they won't do anything that
harms the "internet experience" for consumers.
... the FCC repealed Obama-era "net neutrality" rules, junking the longtime
principle that all web traffic must be treated equally. The move represents a
radical departure from more than a decade of federal oversight.
December 16:
[A conflicting Fox reader Opinion]:
Ending net neutrality will save the internet, not destroy it ... The meaning and
scope of net neutrality has been muddied over the past two years because
information technology experts use the term very differently than political
activists and many in the media do.
When it comes to getting data to your computer or TV, different kinds of data
have different requirements. The bits comprising an email don’t need to arrive
at your computer all in the same order they were sent, but the bits in streaming
video or audio do. Receiving the data bits in the wrong order or at the wrong
time can cause video distortions, stutters and other playback problems.
Therefore, a content provider – especially companies like Netflix and YouTube –
may wish to pay a little bit extra to a network company to guarantee better
quality for its customers.
No internet service provider wants to be known for having “slow service” or
being “anti-free-speech,” so there’s nothing for consumers to worry about.
Further, if a rogue ISP does decide to start unjustly penalizing a business or
group of consumers, the Federal Trade Commission and FCC will still be able to
stop these actions through their other regulatory powers.
February 22: The end of net neutrality is
officially set to come this spring. ... The Federal Communications Commission's
repeal of net neutrality is scheduled to take effect on April 23, according to a
copy of the order [which] was published with the Federal Register on
Thursday.
The Republican-led FCC
voted along party lines in December to repeal Obama-era net neutrality
protections, which were intended to keep the internet open and fair.
May 16: The battle over net neutrality isn’t
over yet.
The U.S. Senate is voting on Wednesday on whether to rollback the Federal
Communications Commission’s repeal of net neutrality. Several Democratic
senators pushed for the vote using the Congressional Review Act — allowing
Congress to thwart agency regulations. The FCC
struck down Obama-era net neutrality rules last December, with the move
spearheaded by Ajit Pai, President Trump’s appointed chairman.
The 49 Democratic senators will need help on Wednesday, though, from at least
one more Republican. To force the review to head to the House of
Representatives, the Democrats will need 51 votes. The Dems have already added
Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, to join their side.
https://www.thewrap.com/senate-vote-net-neutrality-how-to-watch-live/
June 7: Net neutrality will be repealed
Monday unless Congress takes action
June 7: Senate Democrats on Thursday made a
last-ditch request for a House vote to reverse the Federal Communications
Commission’s decision due to take effect on Monday repealing so-called net
neutrality rules that sought to ensure equal internet access.
On May 16, the U.S. Senate voted 52 to 47 to overturn the FCC decision with
three Republicans voting with 47 Democrats and two independents to reverse the
Trump administration’s action.
September 30: The Department of Justice said
it is filinga lawsuit against the state of California over its
new net neutrality protections, hours after Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill
into law on Sunday.
