Internet/Broadband

Paid prioritization involves a telecommunications company charging an additional fee to transport a video stream or other content at a higher speed through its network. The fee would most likely come from deals struck with websites such as Netflix willing to pay for a competitive advantage over an online rival.

The Federal Communications Commission’s Connect2Health Task Force (C2HFCC) announced that the FCC and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have joined forces, signing a memorandum of understanding that will focus on how increasing broadband access and adoption in rural areas can improve the lives of rural cancer patients.  As an inaugural project under the memorandum of understanding, the agencies have convened a public-private collaboration to help bridge the broadband health connectivity gap in Appalachia, taking another concrete step toward closing the digital divide.

Rep Mike Coffman (R-CO), a staunch conservative in nearly every sense, called on the Federal Communications Commission to delay its upcoming vote in a letter, saying Congress should find a “permanent legislative solution to ensure the continuation of a free and open Internet.” “The Internet has been and remains a transformative tool,” Coffman writes, “and I am concerned that any action you take may alter the rules under which it functions and may well have significant unanticipated negative consequences.”  Rep Coffman then threw FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s own—actually quite elegant—words back

We write to express our strong opposition to the Federal Communications Commission's proposal to abdicate its responsibility under law to uphold Title II of the Communications Act. Voting to undo Title Ii protection for broadband Internet will leave consumers vulnerable to exploitation by ISPs, hinder innovation and free expression, and allow for discrimination against marginalized communities and activists. For these reasons, we urge the commission to not vote for this proposed rule on December 14, 2017. 

On the eve of a pivotal vote that would deregulate the broadband industry, a fresh survey from the University of Maryland shows that large majorities of Americans — including 3 out of 4 Republicans — oppose the government's plan to repeal its network neutrality rules for Internet providers.

Protests to preserve network neutrality, or rules that ensure equal access to the internet, migrated online on Dec 12, with numerous online companies posting calls on their sites for action to stop a vote later this week. Reddit, Etsy and Kickstarter were among the sites warning that the proposal at the Federal Communications Commission to roll back so-called net neutrality rules would fundamentally change the way the internet is experienced.

Commissioner Mignon Clyburn of the Federal Communications Commission is at least keeping her sense of humor as the FCC's planned vote on rolling back net neutrality rules approaches on Dec 14. On Dec 12, a day net neutrality activists and various Web sites are trying to demonstrate how the Web would look without net neutrality rules, Commissioner Clyburn was trying to show what the rule rollback would look like without the language that excises those rules.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) took to the Senate floor to praise the Federal Communications Commission'’s work and transparency while calling on supporters of an open internet to support bipartisan legislation.

House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Mike Doyle (D-PA) says he will propose using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's rollback of net neutrality rules if FCC Chairman Ajit Pai does not stand down. That is the legislative maneuver Republicans used to invalidate a number of Obama-era regs earlier in 2017. “The answer to monopolies has always been regulation and competition, and as much as some of the FCC Commissioners don’t want to acknowledge it, Net Neutrality and the regulation of ISPs under Title II are essential for providing

More than three dozen senators joined Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL) on a letter turging Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai to abandon his plan to repeal the agency’s net neutrality rules in favor of giving internet providers the ability to freely block or slow down consumers’ access to the internet. “Your plan gives a broadband provider the ability to significantly alter their subscribers’ internet experience,” the lawmakers wrote.