{"id":14658,"date":"2015-02-05T11:55:37","date_gmt":"2015-02-05T19:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=14658"},"modified":"2015-02-05T11:55:37","modified_gmt":"2015-02-05T19:55:37","slug":"good-news-from-the-fcc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/05\/good-news-from-the-fcc\/","title":{"rendered":"Good News from the FCC"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not that often that I get to share good news, so I\u2019ll bask in the pleasure of doing so.  It wasn\u2019t long ago that the FCC was talking about a dual tier Internet system, ruled by giant corporations.  But the public outcry, urged and abetted by so many people like you and me, followed by Obama\u2019s string stance for net neutrality, seems to have worked.<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"100033462\"<\/p>\n

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission just said he’s proposing the "strongest open Internet protections" the Web has ever seen.<\/p>\n

In a Wired op-ed<\/a>, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler announced he wants to regulate Internet providers with the most aggressive tool at his disposal: Title II of the Communications Act. In addition to covering fixed broadband providers such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable, the draft rules would cover wireless providers such as T-Mobile and Sprint. The rules would also make speeding up or slowing down Web traffic \u2014 a tactic known as prioritization \u2014 illegal<\/strong>. And it would ban the blocking of Web traffic outright<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It all adds up to the most significant intervention ever undertaken by federal regulators to make sure the Web remains a level playing field. It is, depending on your ideology, either an unprecedented example of government overreach that will ruin the republic or the most egalitarian, pro-competitive thing the FCC may do in the 21st century.<\/p>\n

"My proposal assures the rights of Internet users to go where they want, when they want," Wheeler wrote, "and the rights of innovators to introduce new products without asking anyone\u2019s permission."<\/p>\n

The FCC is expected to vote on Wheeler’s proposed rules on Feb. 26\u2026 [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <Washington Post<\/a>><\/p>\n

Al Franken, a long time Net Neutrality champion, explains.<\/font><\/p>\n