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December 2017

What Happens Next with Net Neutrality?

On December 14, 2017, the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to dismantle the agency’s 2015 net neutrality rules. As a long-standing champion of net neutrality and one of the two FCC Commissioners who vociferously objected to the decision, Commissioner Clyburn believes it is important for consumers and small businesses to understand what happens next.

What protections will I lose online as a result of the FCC majority’s repeal of net neutrality? Once the FCC’s net neutrality repeal action goes into effect, broadband providers will be allowed to:

AT&T is being sued by the Trump administration but is now on the president’s good side

3:04 p.m. December 20, 2017: “This just came out,” said President Donald Trump. “Two minutes ago, they handed it to me. AT&T plans to increase U.S. capital spending [by] $1 billion and provide [a] $1,000 special bonus to more than 200,000 U.S. employees, and that’s because of what we did. So that’s pretty good. That’s pretty good.” The Republican lawmakers surrounding the president applauded. The moment represented a big win for AT&T, which Trump's Justice Department is suing to block an $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner.

Eric Schmidt to Step Down as Executive Chairman of Google Parent Alphabet

Google-parent Alphabet said Eric Schmidt will step down from his post as executive chairman in January and transition to a role as technical adviser. Schmidt, who joined Google in 2001 and served as its chief executive until 2011, also will continue to serve on Alphabet’s board. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai “and I all believe that the time is right in Alphabet’s evolution for this transition,” Schmidt said.

Disney to Buy Fox. Was The Repeal of Net Neutrality A Factor?

On the same day the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal its 2015 network neutrality rules, the Walt Disney Company announced a deal to buy most of 21st Century Fox. The all-stock transaction is valued at roughly $52.4 billion. If approved, Disney would go from being “a juggernaut to being a megajuggernaut.” Disney hopes the acquisition of Fox’s sports and entertainment content will give it new market power in the growing online distribution market (streaming services). The FCC’s move is not unrelated.

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