Regulatory classification

Broadband Providers Battling Net Neutrality Point To Victory In New York

The broadband industry says that a New York state ruling against requiring broadband providers to offer $15-a-month service to low-income households supports its quest to block California's net neutrality law. The California law prohibits broadband providers from blocking or throttling content, charging higher fees for prioritized delivery, and exempting certain data from customers' monthly caps.

Google and Amazon Defend Home Device Business in Antitrust Hearing

Google and Amazon defended their smart-speaker businesses as US senators warned the grip the companies have over the market could harm competition and consumer privacy. Both Republicans and Democrats at a June 15 hearing raised concerns about what they said were anticompetitive practices, such as selling devices below cost and promoting companies' own services over those of competitors on their platforms. Representatives from Google and Amazon argued that they prevent this by offering an optional range of rival voice-assistant services on their own devices.

50 groups urge President Biden to fill FCC opening

President Joe Biden's failure to break the Federal Communications Commission's 2-2 partisan deadlock is reaching a "critical point," 57 advocacy groups wrote in a letter to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Nearly five months after his inauguration, Biden has not yet nominated a Democratic FCC commissioner to fill the empty fifth slot.

Senators Reintroduce Bipartisan Legislation to Increase Transparency on Internet Platforms

Sens John Thune (R-SD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Mark Warner (D-VA) reintroduced the Filter Bubble Transparency Act (S.2024). The bill would require large-scale internet platforms that collect data from more than 1 million users and gross more than $50 million per year to provide greater transparency to consumers, and allow users to view content that has not been curated as a result of a secret algorithm. 

Areas with internet ‘black holes’ renew fight for broadband

For decades, policymakers in Washington and state capitals have fretted about the patchwork of broadband access in the United States, which has held back economic development in underserved areas and became a major problem during the pandemic. Now, after years of federal subsidies that have improved but not solved the problem, the Biden administration is proposing to spend $100 billion over the next eight years to finally connect every American household to high-speed internet. But solving the problem isn’t just a matter of cutting a big check to fund the installation of fiber pipelines.

Sen Wicker Introduces Bill to Prohibit Big Tech from Controlling Online Speech

Sen Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced the Promoting Rights and Online Speech Protections to Ensure Every Consumer is Heard (PRO-SPEECH) Act (S.2301). This bill would establish baseline protections to prohibit Big Tech from engaging in unfair, deceptive, or anti-competitive practices that limit or control consumers’ speech. The PRO-SPEECH Act aims to:

Gigi Sohn Discusses Communications Policy Under Biden Administration

On March 10, Benton Senior Fellow and Public Advocate Gigi Sohn joined Womble Bond Dickinson’s Womble PRIDE, an affinity group for the firm’s LGBTQ+ team members and allies, and the National LGBT+ Bar Association for an in-depth look at how the Biden administration may reshape the communications landscape. Sohn discussed network neutrality under President Joe Biden, Section 230, and closing the digital divide.

Mozilla, Advocates, And Attorneys General Defend California's Net Neutrality Law

A broad array of advocacy groups, along with 19 attorneys general, other public officials, and tech companies including Mozilla are urging a federal appellate court to uphold California's network neutrality law. The advocacy groups are weighing in on a battle over a California state law that prohibits broadband providers from blocking or throttling traffic, charging higher fees for prioritized delivery, and from exempting certain material from customers' data caps.

Internet access should be considered utility, greater access improves quality of life, experts say

In Indiana, 12.4% of Hoosiers live in areas where there is no broadband infrastructure that provides minimally acceptable speeds. Where broadband infrastructure is available, broadband may be too expensive, and 16% of Indiana households do not have an internet subscription. Joshua Wells, an informatics professor at Indiana University South Bend, said that the internet “is at a stage where we have to think of it as a vital utility.” 

New president, new FCC, new net neutrality rules?

One policy issue that has haunted every Federal Communications Commission in the past decade, and then some, is net neutrality. That’s the idea that internet service providers have to treat all content equally and can’t slow down or charge more for certain kinds of content. Rules have ping-ponged between administrations. Obama’s FCC put neutrality rules in place in 2015 and Trump’s appointee repealed them in 2017. New Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel supports net neutrality rules. She said, "I think things are always sturdier when they’re written into law.

FCC Signals Potential Different Outcome for Net Neutrality Remand

As expected, the Federal Communications Commission has asked the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit to hold off on hearing a challenge to its response to the court's remand of its Restoring Internet Freedom net neutrality deregulation order, suggesting that challenge could ultimately be moot depending on how the new FCC deals with multiple petitions to reconsider that response. "Only one of the three Commissioners who voted for the Remand Order remains on the Commission, while two of the remaining Commissioners dissented, and one of those dissenters has since become the Acting Chairwoma

Why cable hates Biden's $100 billion broadband plan

Some key details of the broadband measures in the American Jobs Plan have internet service providers up in arms.

Tom Wheeler: ISPs Wanted Internet Oversight to Get 'Lost' at FTC

Former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said broadband providers pushed for reclassification of internet access as a Title I service so that authority over their service could get put in the Federal Trade Commission and "lost" among all that agency's other responsibilities, which is what he said the Trump administration ended up doing.

Talking net neutrality and the digital divide with Gigi Sohn, former FCC counselor

A Q&A with Gigi Sohn, a distinguished fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy, a Benton Senior Fellow & Public Advocate, and former Federal Communications Comission counselor.

Reinstating net neutrality in the US

Mozilla together with other internet companies ADT, Dropbox, Eventbrite, Reddit, Vimeo, Wikimedia, sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission asking the agency to reinstate net neutrality as a matter of urgency. With the recent appointment of Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to lead the agency, there will be a new opportunity to establish net neutrality rules at the federal level in the near future, ensuring that families and businesses across the country can enjoy these fundamental rights. “By using its authority to restore net neutrality at the federal level, the FCC can

In a Win for the Open Internet, AT&T Drops Zero-Rating

AT&T Wireless announced it will be suspending its Sponsored Data program nationwide. Under this program, AT&T Wireless exempts AT&T’s video services like DirectTV Now from the data caps of its wireless Internet customers who subscribe to those services. This practice is known as “zero-rating.” All other data on the internet, including from competing video services, counts against users’ caps.

FCC Commissioner Starks Keynote at ACI Team Telecom Conference

I’m excited to discuss Team Telecom and the Federal Communications Commission with you.

Impact of California ‘Net Neutrality’ Law on Free Data Services

California has enacted a “net neutrality” law banning “sponsored data” services that allowed companies to pay for, or “sponsor,” the data usage of their customers who are also AT&T wireless customers. Unfortunately, under the California law we are now prohibited from providing certain data features to consumers free of charge. Prior to California’s law, sponsored data customers were able to browse, stream and enjoy applications from sponsors without using their monthly data allowance.

Baltimore city council members call on FCC to help in fight to address digital divide

Three Baltimore city council members are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to help in the fight to close the digital divide.

Spanning the Digital Divide

As incoming Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, I’m making the case that broadband needs to be at the center of any infrastructure or relief package Congress passes in 2021. It is not dreaming too big to demand, right now: Every community should be connected to the twenty-first century shipping lane and communications pipeline—the Internet.

Democrats are gearing up to fight for net neutrality

A new bill to bring back net neutrality is on its way, spearheaded by Sen Ed Markey (D-MA), one of the open internet’s most fervent advocates. If a legislative solution isn’t viable, Democrats are preparing to pressure the Federal Communications Commission to take measures into its own hands (again).

Net Neutrality! (Just in California)

How do we ensure that broadband service providers enable access to all lawful content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites? This now-decades-long debate added a new chapter this week when Judge John Mendez of the U.S.

The long, painful path of net neutrality

A Q&A with New York Times reporter Cecilia Kang. Why does the net neutrality fight matter? Many Americans have only one or possibly two options for home internet providers. Those companies can in theory decide whether we can view Netflix or YouTube crystal clear or if we see the pinwheel of death as those sites stutter.