The federal court wants to decide on this, and decided it doesn’t like “vacillations” that happen at the FCC because of… democratic elections.
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT IN RE: MCP No. 185; FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION, IN THE MATTER OF SAFEGUARDING AND SECURING THE OPEN INTERNET, DECLARATORY RULING, ORDER, REPORT AND ORDER, AND ORDER ON RECONSIDERATION, FCC 24-52, 89 FED. REG. 45404, PUBLISHED MAY 22, 2024. OHIO TELECOM ASSOCIATION, et al., Petitioners, v. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondents. The Safeguarding Order once more imposes net-neutrality policies on Broadband Internet Service Providers by reclassifying broadband Internet as a telecommunications service subject to common-carrier regulation under Title II. 89 Fed. Reg. at 45404.3 This order—issued during the Biden administration—undoes the order issued during the first Trump administration, which undid the order issued during the Obama administration, which undid orders issued during the Bush and Clinton administrations. Cf. Loper Bright, 144 S. Ct. at 2288 (Gorsuch, J., concurring) (lamenting that “Chevron deference engender[ed] constant uncertainty and convulsive change even when the statute at issue itself remains unchanged”). Applying Loper Bright means we can end the FCC’s vacillations. Various Broadband Internet Service Provider associations filed petitions across the circuits challenging the Safeguarding Order.
Clearly we need to get this done another way I guess. There’s nobody besides telecoms and tech tycoons who don’t like net neutrality. WTF.
My letter to federal and state reps:
Net neutrality should be enforced because having fast lanes and slow lanes are bad for people who depend on the internet for absolutely everything anymore. If people can’t load government websites unless huge amounts of taxpayer money goes into the pockets of tech platform tycoons, that’s not ok. If people can’t access information and life threatening news from public interest organizations, poor municipalities, and news organizations on shoestring budgets, because business interests have paid to throttle those websites, that’s not ok. This isn’t just about playing games online, it’s about the ability of people to get important information fairly and quickly when we need it. Net neutrality may have been opposed by an activist federal judge who works for business interests, but you work for your constituents, we the consumers, the humans who have to use the internet for essential things, and I expect you to do something to rectify this and force the tech companies – which are telecoms by any rational definition – to act with fairness and in the interest of public safety.
Please feel free to copy or repurpose the contents of my letter for your own letters to reps.
Heard about this on Law and Chaos podcast Jan 3, 2024 Ep 95 — The Blake Lively/Justin Baldoni.
“Allowing carriers to have fast and slow lanes for the internet is super bad for consumers because everyone needs the internet to live and work.”
— Andrew Torrez
Yeah it isn’t like this is just about video games. But you know what, even if it was, I don’t want a slow lane while I’m playing Gran Turismo either. Nobody wants these internet providers to be throttling access. Nobody wants this.
