FCC Repeals Net Neutrality Rules

Silicon Valley lost this one:

“WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission voted on Thursday to dismantle landmark rules regulating the businesses that connect consumers to the internet, granting broadband companies the power to potentially reshape Americans’ online experiences.

The agency scrapped the so-called net neutrality regulations that prohibited broadband providers from blocking websites or charging for higher-quality service or certain content. The federal government will also no longer regulate high-speed internet delivery as if it were a utility, like phone service. …

The discarding of net neutrality regulations is the most significant and controversial action by the F.C.C. under Mr. Pai. In his first 11 months as chairman, he has lifted media ownership limits, eased caps on how much broadband providers can charge business customers and cut back on a low-income broadband program that was slated to be expanded to nationwide carriers. …

“There is a lot of misinformation that this is the ‘end of the world as we know it’ for the internet,” Comcast’s senior executive vice president, David Cohen, wrote in a blog post this week. “Our internet service is not going to change.”

What have we won here? Nothing.

At a time when our community is acutely concerned about digital platform censorship, the debate over Net Neutrality had nothing to do with us. It is an argument between Silicon Valley and the cable companies in which we have only been cited as a talking point. It is really just another example of how neither side in mainstream politics represents our interests.

Based regulation slayer Ajit Pai has destroyed the liburals with muh deregulated conservative free market! Yeah, BUT we are still being censored by the ADL on social media platforms. Conservatism hasn’t done shit for us because it is too busy catering to donors and corporate lobbyists.

FCC votes 3-2 to abolish #NetNeutrality https://t.co/xojueriUyx

— Mike Cernovich ?? (@Cernovich) December 14, 2017