1. Monthly archive
  2. October 2019

October 2019

Net Neutrality Focus Shifts to States, Hill

Broadband providers and virtually everyone else is calling for Congress to finally step in and clarify just what authority the Federal Communications Commission has and should use over internet access. The FCC has to come back to the court with a better justification for its assertion that its deregulatory moves would not adversely affect public safety, pole-attachment regulations and Lifeline broadband subsidies. FCC officials said they had no concerns about providing those explanations.

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New America

Date 
Tue, 10/08/2019 - 17:30 to 19:00

A push for comprehensive privacy legislation is in full force in Washington, D.C. Aside from the contents of a new law, legislators will need to decide on a key question: who should have the responsibility and power to enforce a new federal privacy standard?

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), charged with policing unfair and deceptive business practices, is currently the primary federal agency responsible for protecting the privacy of commercial data. Additionally, the FTC enforces some specific privacy laws, including the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.


Related Headlines 
Who Should Enforce Privacy Protections?

Net neutrality is alive and well after this week’s crushing court defeat

The net neutrality victory for the telecommunications industry may have just actually delivered them into a hell they’ve tried to avoid for decades: a balkanized regulatory landscape even more restrictive than the one they just escaped. In its repeal, the Federal Communications Commission preempted states from imposing their own net neutrality laws. “No dice,” the majority opinion responded. If the US government chooses to abdicate regulatory authority, the judges argued, it can’t simultaneously take that authority from states.

The Court Allowed the FCC to Kill Net Neutrality Because Washing Machines Can't Make Phone Calls

What really and truly stands out about the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit’s decision in the net neutrality case: net neutrality at the federal level has turned into a legal quagmire with almost no relationship to the real issues regular people face in the market for internet access. The heart of the net neutrality policy debate is incredibly simple and easy for almost anyone to understand: do you think internet providers should have the power to block, throttle, or otherwise interfere with internet traffic outside of normal network management?

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