Broadband providers to FCC: Don't Deem and Pass

[teapartysamurai]

Broadband Providers to FCC: Don?t ‘Deem and Pass’ - Big Government

Last week, three major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and five industry trade associations sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski urging him to ditch what has come to be known in some tech policy circles as the FCC’s own version of “deem and pass”—the infamous process that first reared its head in the context of Congress passing Obamacare earlier this year.

Following a recent, unfavorable Appeals Court decision, observers say Genachowski has been eagerly pursuing a back-door, out-of-sight pathway to achieving a long-time, personal objective: Regulation of the Internet via the institution of so-called Net Neutrality rules. Reclassifying Internet services as “telecommunications services” would enable him to do just that—though with increased public opposition to Net Neutrality having been voiced during an FCC public comment period that recently closed, and recent polling showing relatively weak support for the policy, it remains a risky option both from a public relations, and political standpoint.

The letter, signed by AT&T, Verizon, Time Warner Cable and the trade groups both focuses attention on what Genachowski is alleged to be planning, and seeks to debunk some of the talking points being used by supporters of the proposed reclassification. Chief among those is the argument that the current arrangement, whereby Internet services are not classified as telecommunications services, is the specific result of a policy instituted under the Bush administration, as opposed to a standard that has existed for what one tech policy expert with whom Capitol Confidential spoke called “time immemorial.” Per the letter, ”the commission has never classified any kind of Internet access service (wireline, cable, wireless, powerline, dial-up or otherwise) as a … telecommunications service, nor has it ever regulated the rates, terms and conditions of that service — Internet access service has always been treated as a Title I information service.”

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Broadband Providers to FCC: Don?t ‘Deem and Pass’ - Big Government

Who cares if the people support of don't support our policy? We've got an internet to control!!!!!

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - we oughta have broadband like we got the interstate...

Obama in Silicon Valley: Gov't Should Help Build Broadband Infrastructure Like It Helps Build Roads
June 7, 2013 - Speaking at a fundraising dinner held in Silicon Valley for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Thursday night, President Barack Obama said that the government should play a critical role in creating the nation’s “broadband” infrastructure—a role similar to the one the government plays in building roads and bridges.

“[G]overnment has a critical role to play in funding science and research, in creating the infrastructure--not only the old infrastructure of roads and bridges and ports, but the new infrastructure of smartgrids and broadband,” Obama said. Broadband is the medium through which many Americans now get Internet access delivered to their homes and businesses. Obama made his remarks shortly before 8:00 p.m. Pacific time, and shortly after The Guardian and The Washington Post reported on a National Security Agency program—codenamed PRISM—that allowed the government to tap directly into the servers of major Internet companies such as Google, AOL, Yahoo, Skype and Facebook.

The fundraiser, which cost $32,400 per person, was held at the home of venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, who was one of the co-founders of Sun Microsystems. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that only 30 people attended this “intimate” event. According to the official White House transcript of the president's speech there, Obama mentioned Khosla by first name and also mentioned only by first name someone named “Mark” and someone named “Steve.” The transcript does not specify whom the president meant by “Mark” and “Steve”--or clarify if he was referencing people who were actually in the room at the time. “Steve” was the first name of the tech-industry icon Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, who died in 2011. “Mark” is the first name of tech-industry icon Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook.

(Khosla, the Los Angeles Times reported, has criticized Zuckerberg’s political advocacy group, Fwd.us—which is pushing for “comprehensive” immigration reform. “Will Fwd.us prostitute climate destruction & other values to get a few engineers hired & get immigration reform?" Khosla said in a Tweet.) “How do we make sure that every single person in America has access to the platforms and the frameworks that they need so that if they’re willing to work hard they can succeed as well, the way Vinod succeeded, the way Mark succeeded, the way Steve succeeded, the way all of us in this room--so many of us who started with not too much--have been able to live out that American Dream,” Obama said to Khosla’s $32,400-per-plate dinner guests. “In order for us to meet those challenges, though, we’ve got to have a functioning government,” said Obama. “This is not an argument that government can do it all. It’s an argument that government has a critical role to play in funding science and research, in creating the infrastructure--not only the old infrastructure of roads and bridges and ports, but the new infrastructure of smartgrids and broadband.”

On Thursday, the Washington Post had posted a story about a National Security Agency program called “PRISM.” The Post said that “a career intelligence officer” provided the paper with “PowerPoint slides about PRISM and supporting materials” and that he did it “in order to expose what he believes to be a gross intrusion on privacy.” “The program, code-named PRISM, has not been made public until now,” the Post reported. “It may be the first of its kind. The NSA prides itself on stealing secrets and breaking codes, and it is accustomed to corporate partnerships that help it divert data traffic or sidestep barriers. But there has never been a Google or Facebook before, and it is unlikely that there are richer troves of valuable intelligence than the ones in Silicon Valley. Equally unusual is the way the NSA extracts what it wants, according to the document: 'Collection directly from the servers of these U.S. Service Providers: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, Apple.”

Source

 

[waltky]

Investigation launched into broadband speed of big internet providers...

New York launches probe into speeds at big Internet broadband providers
26 Oct.`15 - New York state's attorney general is probing whether three major Internet providers could be shortchanging consumers by charging them for faster broadband speeds and failing to deliver the speeds being advertised, according to documents seen by Reuters.

The letters, sent on Friday to executives at Verizon Communications Inc , Cablevision Systems Corp and Time Warner Cable Inc , ask each company to provide copies of all disclosures they have made to customers, as well as copies of any testing they may have done of their Internet speeds. "New Yorkers deserve the Internet speeds they pay for. But, it turns out, many of us may be paying for one thing, and getting another," Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement. In statements, spokesmen for the three companies expressed confidence in the speeds of their Internet services. “We’re confident that we provide our customers the speeds and services we promise them and look forward to working with the AG to resolve this matter,” Time Warner Cable spokesman Bobby Amirshahi said.

A photo illustration shows a USB device being plugged into a laptop computer​

Cablevision spokesman Charlie Schueler said the company's Optimum Online service "consistently surpasses advertised broadband speeds, including in FCC (Federal Communications Commission) and internal tests. We are happy to provide any necessary performance information to the Attorney General as we do to our customers.” A Verizon spokesman said the company would cooperate with Schneiderman's office. "Verizon is confident in the robust and reliable Internet speeds it delivers to subscribers," the spokesman said. The attorney general's investigation is particularly focused on so-called interconnection arrangements, or contractual deals that Internet service providers strike with other networks for the mutual exchange of data.

In the letters, Schneiderman's office says it is concerned that customers paying a premium for higher speeds may be experiencing a disruption in their service due to technical problems and business disputes over interconnection agreements. A 2014 study by the Measurement Lab Consortium, or M-Lab, found that customers' Internet service tended to suffer at points where their broadband providers connected with long-haul Internet traffic carriers, including Cogent Communications Group Inc . "Internet service provider interconnection has a substantial impact on consumer Internet performance - sometimes a severely negative impact," the study said, adding that business relationships rather than technical issues were often at the root of the problem.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Tough privacy regulations sought for providers of broadband internet services...

Groups want U.S. to adopt strong broadband privacy rules
20 Jan.`16 | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A coalition of U.S. groups on Wednesday urged the Federal Communications Commission to write sweeping privacy protections for the nation's broadband users. The groups want providers of broadband internet services including mobile and landline phone, cable and satellite TV firms to be subject to tough privacy regulations.

Among the firms that would be affected are AT&T Inc, Comcast Corp, Verizon Communications Inc and Cablevision Systems Corp. "As the role of the Internet in the daily lives of consumers increases, this means an increased potential for surveillance," said the letter to FCC chairman Tom Wheeler seen by Reuters and signed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Watchdog Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Citizen and 54 other groups. Critics say broadband providers are already harvesting huge amounts of consumer data for use in targeted advertising, the groups wrote. "This can create a chilling effect on speech and increase the potential for discriminatory practices derived from data use," the letter said.

Wheeler said this broadband providers must make sure information they collect about consumers is secure and that they are informed and have a choice about whether to participate. In November, Wheeler said he expected the FCC would address privacy practices "in the next several months" from companies that "provide network services" and consumers should know what is being collected about their internet use. Wheeler said the FCC questions if consumers "know what information is being collected? Do I have a voice in whether or not that's going to be used one way or another? Those are two very important baseline rights that individuals ought to have."

In November, the FCC rejected a petition from the group Consumer Watchdog to require internet firms called "edge providers" like Google, Facebook, YouTube, Pandora, Netflix, and LinkedIn to honor "Do Not Track" Requests from consumers. The FCC has repeatedly said it has no intention to regulate those firms although Alphabet's Google could fall under the privacy regulations in its pilot project in which it is providing internet service. An FCC spokeswoman declined to comment on the timing of any announcement. A spokesman for USTelecom, a trade association representing major broadband providers, declined to comment, noting that the FCC has not proposed any privacy regulations. Two Republican FCC commissioners wrote in August in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that the "FCC should refrain from imposing its Byzantine privacy regime on broadband and Internet providers."

Groups want U.S. to adopt strong broadband privacy rules

 

[waltky]

Federal appeals court blocks FCC bid to expand public broadband...

U.S. court blocks FCC bid to expand public broadband
Aug 10 2016 | WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court said on Wednesday the U.S. Federal Communications Commission could not block two states from setting limits on municipal broadband expansion, a decision seen as a win for private-sector providers of broadband internet and a setback for FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.

Cities in Tennessee and North Carolina had sought to expand municipal broadband networks beyond current boundaries, but faced laws forbidding or placing onerous restrictions on the expansions. The FCC voted 3-2 in 2015 to issue an order seeking to pre-empt those state laws, saying a 1996 law required it to remove barriers to broadband investment and that the municipalities wanted to expand service into areas with little or no internet service. Wheeler criticized the decision that "appears to halt the promise of jobs, investment and opportunity that community broadband has provided in Tennessee and North Carolina."

He said since 2015, "over 50 communities have taken steps to build their own bridges across the digital divide. The efforts of communities wanting better broadband should not be thwarted by the political power of those who, by protecting their monopoly, have failed to deliver acceptable service at an acceptable price." Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai said that "rather than wasting its time on illegal efforts to intrude on the prerogatives of state governments, the FCC should focus on implementing a broadband deployment agenda to eliminate regulatory barriers that discourage those in the private sector from deploying and upgrading next-generation networks."

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) logo is seen before the FCC Net Neutrality hearing in Washington​

USTelecom, the trade group that represents internet service providers including AT&T (T.N) and Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N), praised the decision as "a victory for the rule of law." The group said the FCC should "concentrate on eliminating federal regulatory impediments to innovation and investment - where there remains to be much that can and should be done." The city of Chattanooga, Tennessee's municipal electricity provider since 2009, has offered high-speed broadband internet service to residential and commercial customers in its 600-square-mile service area. About 63,000 subscribe to the service. Residents in neighboring communities have asked to use the service.

Wilson, North Carolina in 2005 constructed the backbone of a fiber-optic network connecting all city-owned facilities that was expanded to a municipal broadband network now known as "Greenlight." The city offers phone, internet and cable services which it says are cheaper than its private-sector competitors. The city also provides free Wi-Fi service to its entire downtown area and each of the top seven employers in Wilson is a customer. Individuals in five neighboring counties have also sought to join. The FCC has noted that companies in Tennessee, including Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE), use the service in Chattanooga.

U.S. court blocks FCC bid to expand public broadband

 

[bripat9643]

Federal appeals court blocks FCC bid to expand public broadband...

U.S. court blocks FCC bid to expand public broadband
Aug 10 2016 | WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court said on Wednesday the U.S. Federal Communications Commission could not block two states from setting limits on municipal broadband expansion, a decision seen as a win for private-sector providers of broadband internet and a setback for FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.

Cities in Tennessee and North Carolina had sought to expand municipal broadband networks beyond current boundaries, but faced laws forbidding or placing onerous restrictions on the expansions. The FCC voted 3-2 in 2015 to issue an order seeking to pre-empt those state laws, saying a 1996 law required it to remove barriers to broadband investment and that the municipalities wanted to expand service into areas with little or no internet service. Wheeler criticized the decision that "appears to halt the promise of jobs, investment and opportunity that community broadband has provided in Tennessee and North Carolina."

He said since 2015, "over 50 communities have taken steps to build their own bridges across the digital divide. The efforts of communities wanting better broadband should not be thwarted by the political power of those who, by protecting their monopoly, have failed to deliver acceptable service at an acceptable price." Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai said that "rather than wasting its time on illegal efforts to intrude on the prerogatives of state governments, the FCC should focus on implementing a broadband deployment agenda to eliminate regulatory barriers that discourage those in the private sector from deploying and upgrading next-generation networks."

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) logo is seen before the FCC Net Neutrality hearing in Washington​

USTelecom, the trade group that represents internet service providers including AT&T (T.N) and Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N), praised the decision as "a victory for the rule of law." The group said the FCC should "concentrate on eliminating federal regulatory impediments to innovation and investment - where there remains to be much that can and should be done." The city of Chattanooga, Tennessee's municipal electricity provider since 2009, has offered high-speed broadband internet service to residential and commercial customers in its 600-square-mile service area. About 63,000 subscribe to the service. Residents in neighboring communities have asked to use the service.

Wilson, North Carolina in 2005 constructed the backbone of a fiber-optic network connecting all city-owned facilities that was expanded to a municipal broadband network now known as "Greenlight." The city offers phone, internet and cable services which it says are cheaper than its private-sector competitors. The city also provides free Wi-Fi service to its entire downtown area and each of the top seven employers in Wilson is a customer. Individuals in five neighboring counties have also sought to join. The FCC has noted that companies in Tennessee, including Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE), use the service in Chattanooga.

U.S. court blocks FCC bid to expand public broadband

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