FCC approves plan to consider paid priority on Internet (updated headline)

[TalkingDog]

Source: Washington Post

The next phase will be four months of public comments, after which the commissioners will vote again on redrafted rules that are meant to take into account public opinion. But the enactment of final rules faces significant challenges.

Read more: http://m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/05/15/fcc-approves-plan-to-allow-for-paid-priority-on-internet/%3Fwpsrc%3DAG0003336

---

Here's a link to the FCC proceeding #14-28 Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet.

Fill out the form, let them know what you think.

http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/upload/display;jsessionid=zw2VT0vXtzxGn3TzygJvGdJywxCz5KG01hXRQTHL3J1S47hGFhMp!-571432918!-1944200849?z=6bppb

[TalkingDog]

1. Proceeding 09-191 In the Matter of Preserving the Open Internet Broadband Industry Practices.

Posting on this one couldn't hurt either: http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/upload/display?z=7yxqn

[kristopher]

16. The headline was altered to "FCC approves plan to consider paid priority on Internet"

Perhaps you could update the OP.

FCC approves plan to consider paid priority on Internet


..."Agencies almost always change their rules from the initial proposal -- that is why we have a whole notice and comment period, so that the agency can hear from the public and be educated into making the right decision (or at least the least bad decision)," said Harold Feld, a vice president at Public Knowledge, a media and technology policy public interest group. "Do not freak about the tentative conclusion and proposed rules."

The next phase will be four months of public comments, after which the commissioners will vote again on redrafted rules that are meant to take into account public opinion. But the enactment of final rules faces significant challenges....

Edit: I thought you had changed the headline, but I see now it was altered by the Washington Post. I presume that is because it was inaccurate and sensationalistic.

[TalkingDog]

21. Will Do. Thanks nt

[NorthCarolina]

46. I've tried posting my comment on that but it is apparently down.

I keep receiving an error "Cannot Open Connection".

OK - Persistence is the key. Their system is apparently handling a number of submittals. I kept trying, and at about the 50th reload it finally went through.

[leftyohiolib]

2. they already know the public's opinion and they just gave you the finger

so for 4 months they'll let the public vent and then they'll give a b.j. to these providers and you , the public, can go to hell

[RKP5637]

31. The USA is not about "we the people. "We the people" get fucked over all the time, and this will

be one more time. Until money is removed in politics, this same old shit will go on and on and on and on.

[leftyohiolib]

35. just like background checks for guns and money in politics the majority of the

"american people " want net neutrality and we're not gonna get it so why the spectacle. 4 months of people complaining and they will still get rid of it. and while we're at it wtf is obama doing putting in the fcc a corporate whore

[RKP5637]

44. In USA, Inc. we are treated like disgruntled employees of USA, Inc. And we have no union! n/t

[Nihil]

53. It's the only type he knows ...

> while we're at it wtf is obama doing putting in the fcc a corporate whore

A "world leader" these days isn't going to do anything he/she isn't being told
to do by his/her owners.

Now as to who is the "whore" in that relationship, that's for you to decide ...

[leftyohiolib]

59. im glad u put leader in quotes

[PumpkinAle]

3. It’s Not Complicated: To Maintain a Truly Free and Open Internet, Maintain True Net Neutrality

Snip.....

Wheeler has felt the heat. His revised approach embraces some of the language of critics, and expresses an openness to debate about what a growing consensus among responsible members of Congress and advocacy groups says is the right response to the issue: reclassification of Internet providers as “telecommunications services” that can be regulated in the public interest.

But Wheeler has not moved as far as the official pronouncements might suggest. Indeed, according to The Wall Street Journal, despite the talk of “tweaks” to the initial plan, the chairman “is sticking to the same basic approach.”

An analysis from Matt Wood, a public interest lawyer who formerly worked with the Media Access Project and now works with the media reform group Free Press, concludes that the revisions proposed by Wheeler “fall far short.” Indeed, argues Wood, “Unless the chairman reverses his fundamentally failed approach, we won’t have real Net Neutrality—and we will have rampant discrimination online.”


http://www.thenation.com/blog/179864/its-not-complicated-maintain-truly-free-and-open-internet-maintain-true-net-neutrality

[villager]

4. "Change You Won't Believe!"

I guess they needed some copyedits on their slogans, when they were campaigning...

[myrna minx]

5. This is so outragous. Even when we "win" we lose.

I sure would like the President to weigh in on this. So all of this "public comment" was just for show and we can all go pound sand? Yep, that's some democracy we have here. I certainly didn't vote for this.

[grahamhgreen]

8. I think he is weighing in - on the wrong side.

[Ash_F]

28. He weighed in by appointing a cable company lobbyist with clear conflict of interest to the FCC

Tom Wheeler.

[RKP5637]

32. I wouldn't hold my breath for him to side with "we the people." "We the people"

get change we don't want and little hope IMO.

[leftyohiolib]

36. but but but hope and change, hope and change.

[NorthCarolina]

6. The decision for a tiered internet is already made, the "public opinion" period is just a formality

that means nothing to a group determined to do the bidding of their pay masters. Money talks, public opinion be damned.

[truebrit71]

7. So the FCC basically told us to go fuck ourselves?

Gotta love that "Change & Hope" stuff....

[grahamhgreen]

9. Not just the FCC - Tom Wheeler and the man he was appointed by.

[NorthCarolina]

12. The blame rests SOLELY with Obama...he knew who he was appointing, AND

Last edited Thu May 15, 2014, 04:44 PM - Edit history (1)

he knew why. Now, so do we.

[grahamhgreen]

42. He's the long-con candidate, apparently.

[msongs]

10. obama's appointees doing their jobs nt

[840high]

29. ....

[RKP5637]

33. Yep, business as usual, the people get screwed. n/t

[mindwalker_i]

11. Yeah like they give a fuck what we think

[rurallib]

13. write your congress critter

time to get them involved.

[Triana]

14. [e-mail]

I see a link right at the top of FCC.gov that goes to this email address. I encourage EVERYONE to bombard this agency with messages that Net Neutrality MUST be preserved, and that ISPs should therefore be classified by the FCC AS UTILITIES and regulated as such.

They CAN do this. But it's evident they don't want to. All that's stopping them from putting a further crimp in the hose of free and open internet (the ISPs are already doing it) is US.

RAISE. HELL.

PeeEss: There's also a blog post here which contains many comments. Add yours: http://www.fcc.gov/blog/preserving-ever-free-and-open-internet

[PumpkinAle]

15. And make sure you insert net neutrality and ever free because

to Tom Wheeler open internet = it is open for those who want to charge and the minions be damned.

[KoKo]

22. Recommend...!

[EEO]

17. Fools.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

18. The assholes are relentless

Too much money to be made by the profiteers. I'd rather do away with my computer and the Internet altogether if they make it too complicated and expensive. I can live without it.

[Ed Suspicious]

27. That's where I am right now. I'll just use my library internet and read more book

while I sort of hermit live. Blood pressure can't take this shit anyway.

[brooklynite]

19. Here's a hint: if you oppose the FCC policy proposal, DON'T SIGN A PETITION...

In the near future you'll receive a lot of emails asking you to sign one or more petitions in support of Net Neutrality. Don't bother with any of them.

First many of them are what are known as "butterfly nets": the petition itself is meaningless; it's just a way to collect your name and email address for the group posting the petition.

Second, even those that are well-meaning are a worthless exercise. I work on Public Hearings, and while dropping a stack of "10,000 signatures" looks dramatic and sounds good in a press release, it doesn't move the needle.

Instead, turn off DU, open your email program and write a letter, in your own words, about what you want and why the proposal is flawed. Regulations generally require that every single submission be read in entirety, and it's key point responded to in the hearing record.

Additionally, write another letter, also in your own words, to each of your elected officials, even if they're Republican. They will also reach out to the FCC if they think their constituents care enough, and their input will get extra attention by the FCC staff (i.e. they know where their budget comes from).

Absolutely the worst thing you can do is assume "the fix is in". If you do nothing, I guarantee you nothing will change.

[groundloop]

20. ^^^^^ Very good information ^^^^^^

I wonder if it would be worth sharing a few key talking points we should include in our emails.

[KoKo]

23. Recommend!

[TalkingDog]

25. Or.... go directly to their site via the links I provided in the OP

Yeah... reading.

[KoKo]

26. Agree, but it helps now to have the ruling to have the FCC filing/Link to contact them personally...

Signing Petitions on the first go was still important for people to get aware and engaged. I signed the "Common Cause" petition because I'm a member and know this is an issue for them. Others may have signed petitions at "Free Press" etc. because they already are members and donate. So, it isn't that it's wasted effort but, agree if you don't belong to those groups then you might not want to get e-mails for donations, etc.

So...the hard work now is contacting the FCC Directly as has been said in the OP and here.

Thanks for your post about this!

[leftyohiolib]

38. yes we know the drill remember the background check for guns everyone wrote

their congress critter, that got us our background check so that.... oh wait we didnt get that. oh wait i have one remember how we all wrote to our Congress that money wasnt speech and that's what saved us from citizens united and .... oh oops well ok those were bad examples but surely the fcc would heed the words from their colleagues

A group of 11 United States Senators told him Friday that rules allowing companies to pay an Internet service provider for express-lane access to consumers, as the rules are widely expected to do, would violate the principle of an open Internet
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/10/a-tough-stretch-for-tom-wheeler-on-net-neutrality/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0#

Not long after FCC Commissioner Jennifer Rosenworcel asked agency chair Tom Wheeler to delay bringing his controversial net neutrality proposal to the table next week, another commissioner has also come out against the plan. "I have grave concerns about the Chairman's proposal on Internet regulation and do not believe that it should be considered at the Commission's May meeting," said Ajit Pai in a short statement


while im all for writing your congress critters they will say that the president appoints these people and there's nothing they can do about it. potus is going to stick it to you like we stuck it to him in 2010

[Skittles]

51. worthy of its own thread

[deutsey]

24. I'm shocked. Shocked.

[randys1]

30. Wall Street controls both political parties

Has for some time now, while I wish Obama would do the right thing here, he will do what the people who have financed him for 20 yrs tell him to do, otherwise he would not be President.

Our political system is not just broken but it HATES us, the people.

It exists solely to service the rich and powerful and most of them in power consider us annoyances.

I want to have hope that President Obama will do the right thing and until he doesnt, I will still have hope.

[vi5]

34. I'm dying to hear the apologists spin on this one.

I'm sure somehow it has nothing to do with anything Obama did, even if it was his appointee and currently his FCC.

[Jackpine Radical]

37. He had no choice. He had to destroy the Internet in order to save it.

You never liked Obama. You're a racist.

You think you'd get a better deal with Romney or Rubio?

The Republicans forced him into it.

It hasn't happened yet.

This is just the first move in an n-dimensional chess game that's too complicated for you to understand.

Obama's got this.

Ummm…

[Skittles]

50. HE'S ONLY BEEN PREZ FOR 5.5 years

CHANGE TAKES, YOU KNOW, AT LEAST 9.5 YEARS

[QC]

39. He doesn't have a magic wand!!!

[NorthCarolina]

45. I tend to think this thread is likely one they will choose to avoid.

Commenting would only serve to keep the thread alive longer. Better to just let it sink...there's other battles to be had.

[QC]

54. It takes a long time to turn a big ship around!!!

[vi5]

55. That's a good one.

We don't mock that one enough on here.

[QC]

56. We're still waiting for the turn to begin. n/t

[vi5]

57. It's amazing how quickly we can turn the ship...

When it's something Wall Street and the money men want though.

[QC]

58. We can turn on a dime for Jamie and Lloyd.

For the people, not so much.

[cstanleytech]

40. The cynic in me is wondering how much $$$ it took to buy off the FCC. nt

[Jackpine Radical]

41. The FCC was not bought!

It was just leased. A 99 year renewable lease.

[pansypoo53219]

43. shouldn't we be UPGRADING OUR TUBES???

[maddezmom]

47. Kick

[DeSwiss]

48. At this point......

...it's easier to list the things he didn't lie to us about.

- Saves time.

K&R

[Earth_First]

49. Thanks, Obama! nt

[Prophet 451]

52. Five bucks says...

... that the only public comments they will pay any attention to are the ones saying that they should do what they already have planned. "Public consultation" usually means they invite comments, ignore the vast majority of the comments and do what they want anyway.

[workinclasszero]

60. Bend over Americans

Our overlords have spoken and THEIR government is all ears, with hands out of course for campaign cash, etc.