This Thursday, FCC to Announce: Internet to be Regulated as Public Utility (?)

[Triana]

I followed the subject line with (?) because I have no other corroborating sources for this. Has anyone else heard anything? This article is dated 2/02/15 6:26am

LINK: http://crooksandliars.com/2015/02/fcc-announce-internet-will-be-ruled-public

Internet To Be Regulated As Public Utility. Thank You, John Oliver!

This Thursday, FCC Chair Tom Wheeler is going to announce that under Title II, broadband companies will be regulated as utilities. I can't tell you what an enormous win this is, and that we should be grateful to Wheeler and President Obama for listening to the public as we made our wishes known.

But mostly, we should thank John Oliver, who turned his audience into a well-oiled net-neutrality commenting machine that turned the tide:

Monday, Nov. 10, didn’t start out well for Wheeler. Protesters from one of the more radical pro-net neutrality groups had blocked the driveway of his home in Georgetown. That same day, the president released a statement and video in which he came out squarely in favor of regulating the broadband companies like utilities. Obama had always been a proponent of net neutrality (Open Internet planks had been nailed into the Democrats’ platform in 2008 and 2012, after all), but he had never uttered the words Title II, the federal rule that gives the FCC direct authority over telecommunications services.

Wheeler, who had a week’s worth of meetings scheduled at which he had intended to sell his hybrid plan, was knocked on his heels. At a meeting with public interest advocates and representatives from the likes of Tumblr, Etsy and Google, Wheeler appeared frazzled but professional, attendees said. At one point he told a meeting of wireless executives that there was no sunlight between him and the president on the issue. By the end of the week, it was clear to attendees that he was turning away from his hybrid plan.

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(PS: Everything I read says FCC will vote on Net Neutrality on FEBRUARY 26TH - not "this Thursday" - so not sure where the author of the article got 'this Thursday' from?).

[tk2kewl]

1. now if water, heat and electricity could follow...

[Takket]

2. i hope it is true

This would be a RARE win for the public majority over corporations. I wonder if Comcast et al looked at the backlash that would come from lost customers if they rammed this down the public's throat and decided it wasn't worth it anymore.

[GoneFishin]

3. I hope very much that this is true. But Lucy has yanked that goddamned football away

so many friggin' times now I have trouble believing anything I hear when it comes to the struggle between GigantaCorp and the working class.

[Triana]

4. That was my hope and my feelings exactly.

This is why I'm asking "could this be true - this time?"

I don't see it mentioned anywhere else. I do see stuff that says the FCC will vote on Net Neutrality on 2/26 - but nothing else.

[Triana]

5. Apparently it's true. Just got an email from freepress.org

Dear ....

According to multiple news reports today, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler will use Title II to protect real Net Neutrality.1

This. Is. The. Biggest. Deal. Ever.

We’re not being hyperbolic here. Title II would be a watershed victory for people like you who have pushed the FCC — some of you for an entire decade — to protect the open Internet.

So here’s what we do now:

1) Get excited. We're closer than ever to the biggest public policy victory in decades.

2) Get ready to fight. Over the next three weeks the cable and phone industries are going to try and destroy everything we’ve worked for.

The big Internet service providers will pressure the FCC to weaken its proposal. They'll round up their buddies in Congress. They'll flood the Web and the airwaves with lies and misinformation.

Creating policy change is hard. Winning Title II will be a huge victory that protects the rights of Internet users at a time when companies like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon are trying to control the market and strengthen their monopoly status.

Title II gives the FCC the authority it needs to preserve the foundational principles of universal access, competition, interconnection and consumer protections that are core parts of the Communications Act.

As long as the FCC continues down this path — and also keeps the final order free of loopholes and industry meddling — the chairman should be cheered by the millions who have mobilized to save the Internet.

As the details of the FCC’s rules emerge over the next three weeks, the push from the cable and phone industries will become even more aggressive. There will be enormous pressure on the FCC to weaken its proposal before the final vote on Feb. 26.

We'll need to be vigilant to ensure the rules remain as strong as possible.

We've proved that organized people can trump organized dollars and that industry is no match for activists like you.

Thanks for all you’ve done to save the Internet. If we keep pushing in the weeks ahead, this is a fight we can win once and for all.

Onward,

Craig, Candace and the rest of the Free Press Action Fund team
freepress.net

P.S. It takes more than energy and commitment to go up against the phone and cable companies. Help fuel our campaign to save the open Internet with a donation of $10 (or more!) today. Thank you!

1. "FCC Chairman Reportedly Moving Forward with Real Net Neutrality Protections," Free Press, Feb. 2, 2015: http://act.freepress.net/go/16251?t=4&akid=5081.8978378.6SG67i