Equal protection of data under the law could be removed from the internet for US users. At a recent Keweenaw County Board meeting, Pasty.Net president Charles Hopper discussed the probability that net neutrality laws would be repealed in November by the Federal Communications Commission. Hopper offered one example of the burdens placed on his company as a result of being placed under Title II.
Being an amateur radio operator I pay a little more attention to the goings-on at the Federal Communications Commission than the average person might. So, when President Trump selected Buffalo-born Ajit Pai to chair the FCC back in January, I cringed. The former associate general counsel of Verizon is more aligned with larger broadcasters and communications companies than most of the other commissioners are. Ten months into watch, the FCC hasn’t failed to disappoint.
Since 2012, Facebook has repeatedly copied or acquired social-media apps that gain traction. There’s the Instagram deal, and more astonishingly, its $22 billion acquisition of WhatsApp. Facebook attempted to acquire Snap for $3 billion, was turned down, and made at least 10 attempts to copy its most distinctive features. Recently, Facebook acquired tbh, an anonymous app for teens that has bubbled up in recent months. Facebook likely found out about tbh through one of its other acquisitions.
ADT filed a letter to urge the Federal Communications Commission to maintain core net neutrality protections for alarm providers, including preventing blocking or throttling and precluding anticompetitive prioritization schemes. ADT asserted the FCC has ancillary jurisdiction to adopt these specific net neutrality protections based on the FCC’s mandated responsibility in Section 275 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Verizon has asked the Federal Communications Commission to preempt any state laws that regulate network neutrality and broadband privacy. It is possible that state governments might impose their own rules to protect consumers in their states.
Axios
Friday, November 3, 2017
08:00 am
Axios Executive Editor Mike Allen hosts a conversation on the collision of infrastructure and innovation in cities of the future
© 1994-2024 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.
