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  2. June 2016

June 2016

FCC's Wheeler confident Supreme Court will back net neutrality

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said he's confident new rules requiring equal treatment of all Internet traffic — which were upheld by a federal appeals court in Washington — can survive a review by the US Supreme Court.

"As (US cable and telecom giants) keep making record profits, it will get harder and harder to argue against it," said Chairman Wheeler. He noted that the appeals court recognized high-speed Internet service is a utility, similar to water or electric service, that all Americans should have equal access to. "This was a decision written for the Supreme Court" to review, he said.

Limbaugh Conspiracy: Obama Will Use Situations Like Orlando To "Take Control Of The Internet"

After President Barack Obama said that recent terrorist attacks were carried out by “deranged individuals warped by the hateful propaganda that they had seen over the Internet. Now we're going to have to do more to prevent these kinds of events from occurring.” Rush Limbaugh said, “Uh oh, you hear that? It's the internet's fault. Yeah, all this hatred on the internet, yeah. Was all that propaganda on the Internet. We're going to have to do more to prevent these kinds -- Can you say the words "net neutrality"? If you can, then you might be aware of how Obama intends to take control of the internet, using this as justification, which sadly many low-information Americans and propagandized Americans themselves will applaud. But it will not be, Obama's takeover of the internet will not be to prevent these kinds of things from happening. He's got an entirely different agenda. All the Democrats do. It's total control. It's limiting access to information. It's about shutting down opposition. That's why they want control of the Internet.”

Verizon workers sign off on new contract after strike

Verizon workers who were on strike voted to ratify a new four-year contract. The Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers said that their striking members had voted “overwhelmingly” for the contract. Verizon wireless technicians held their own vote on a separate contract, according to the CWA.

A Canadian Telecom Is Limiting a Free WiFi Program For Low-Income Families

Canadian telecoms are refusing to offer more data for a program that gives digitally disenfranchised people a lifeline when they need it.

“Unlimited data plans aren’t really available in Canada,” said Sara Tavakolian, the project lead on the Toronto Public Libraries’ WiFi program. “Our goal was to get an unlimited data plan, but we weren’t given any option.” “Hopefully the publicity about this, and the support from the city and Google, will allow us to negotiate a more affordable and flexible data plan going forward,” said Tavakolian. Library patrons may borrow devices for up to six months, but if they go over the allotted 10 gigabytes, the device automatically shuts off until the first of the next month. To give you an idea of how little data per month that is, even Bell's most basic home internet plan offers 75 gigabytes of usage.

Beijing: Apple iPhone Violated Chinese Patent

In Dec 2014, a small Chinese startup posted a letter online accusing Apple of infringing its patent for smartphone exterior design. In a sign of an increasingly challenging landscape for Western companies, the Chinese company—the little-known Shenzhen Baili, founded by a former Huawei Technologies Co. executive—won a surprise injunction against sales of Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in Beijing, although Apple said the order had been stayed pending appeal and sales remain unaffected.

The patent win is a hint of the growing challenges that Western companies are likely to face in China in coming years on multiple fronts. Chinese companies are becoming stronger competitors in their own right, and Chinese regulators are increasingly insistent that foreign firms play by Beijing’s rules. As a company geared to consumers and one of China’s favorite brands, Apple has long seemed to get a pass from regulators on the strict scrutiny that has fallen on makers of more sensitive equipment like servers and routers. Industry watchers mused over why Apple was able to sell mobile content while other foreign companies couldn’t. Many chalked it up to Chinese officials’ love for iPhones. But under President Xi Jinping, China has taken a stricter view of technologies and content that it previously gave wider berth.

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