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FCC Begins Crafting New Neutrality Rules
Watch FCC hearing stream live...

Today's the day that the FCC will begin the long and arduous process of hashing out the new network neutrality rules they announced they'd be expanding back in September. You can expect the signal to noise ratio today to be pretty high as lobbyists fire up their bullhorns and the talking points fly, but despite all of the coverage today, actual rules won't really be hashed out until next year. There will be a lot of analysis today, but very little of it is going to differ from the last half-decade of debate you've already observed.

Again, the primary motivation for expanding these rules is so the FCC has the authority to act in extreme cases of anti-competitive or anti-consumer behavior. The FCC's currently being sued by Comcast who claims the FCC lacks the authority to impose neutrality restrictions on carriers. Comcast of course had their wrist slapped last year for throttling all user upstream P2P traffic (and lying about it).

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While carriers are busy pretending that the sky is falling with the crafting of these new rules, you can be fairly certain that after said rules run the DC lobbyist gauntlet, they'll be something considerably less than tough consumer protections.

Still, the rules will likely require that network management is made transparent to consumers, while giving the FCC a base authority to act in cases of outright anti-competitive action (an ISP blocking a competing service). Consider the rules a foundation of sorts.

If you're interested, a live stream of the FCC hearing is available here. The "guts" of the FCC neutrality rule making process can be examined here (pdf).
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houselog442
join:2005-10-05

houselog442

Member

It's a communist conspiracy!

I wonder if Glenn Beck will explode tonight on tv over this? Last night he claimed net neutrality was a marxist/communist conspiracy for the government to take over the internet! Got to hand it to Fox Noise, they sure know how to create lunatic conspiracy theories!

NOVA_Guy
ObamaCare Kills Americans
Premium Member
join:2002-03-05

NOVA_Guy

Premium Member

Re: It's a communist conspiracy!

Fox News is good for a lot of things. For one, the perspective it presents (although conservatively biased) is a lot closer to balanced than anything broadcast over CNN (the Communist News Network), NBC (Nothing But Communism), or ABC (the All Barack Channel).

That being said, Glenn Beck does take it over the top every now and then. I'm still not sure why they're so concerned about network neutrality-- if implemented properly, this seems like a very pro-consumer idea... and that's good for everyone, right?

Bill Neilson
Premium Member
join:2009-07-08
Alexandria, VA

Bill Neilson

Premium Member

Re: It's a communist conspiracy!

There isn't anything remotely balanced in FakeNews

Whether it is editing clips, changing clips, etc....it's obvious they only want to distort what is said and show it the way they want to.

NOVA_Guy
ObamaCare Kills Americans
Premium Member
join:2002-03-05

NOVA_Guy

Premium Member

Re: It's a communist conspiracy!

And the others don't do so even more wildly for the other side? I don't think CNN, ABC, or NBC has aired a story critical of Obama yet.

PapaMidnight
join:2009-01-13
Baltimore, MD

1 edit

PapaMidnight

Member

Re: It's a communist conspiracy!

said by NOVA_Guy:

And the others don't do so even more wildly for the other side? I don't think CNN, ABC, or NBC has aired a story critical of Obama yet.
Then you should probably watch more often as CNN has been highly critical of Obama if the opportunity is present and warranted.

But hey, with a thought process like this:
quote:
CNN (the Communist News Network), NBC (Nothing But Communism), or ABC (the All Barack Channel).
[sarcasm]
I guess FOX is pretty darn balanced now isn't it?
[/sarcasm]

metro305
join:2002-05-31
Cary, NC

metro305 to Bill Neilson

Member

to Bill Neilson

It's a Konspiracy!

Your last sentence pretty much describes most commercial media outlets.

Effectively control and manage the message and polarize the population to into a never ending struggle of non-compromising ideological demagoguery.

-metro305
nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD

nasadude to NOVA_Guy

Member

to NOVA_Guy
said by NOVA_Guy:

...For one, the perspective it presents (although conservatively biased) is a lot closer to balanced than anything broadcast over CNN (the Communist News Network), NBC (Nothing But Communism), or ABC (the All Barack Channel).

...
hahahahahahahaha! funniest thing I've seen all day (not your juvenile names, the fox is balanced thing).

Fox is balanced to the same extent the moon is made of green cheese.
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

Skippy25

Member

Re: It's a communist conspiracy!

Maybe you should read his post again because he said nothing of the sort that you are spouting off about.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: It's a communist conspiracy!

no no nasadude is right on

NOVA_Guy
ObamaCare Kills Americans
Premium Member
join:2002-03-05

NOVA_Guy

Premium Member

Re: It's a communist conspiracy!

Please re-read my post. I believe you'll see that I said Fox was conservatively biased.

All the other news media outlets are also biased too, in favor of Obama and his agenda. Pick the flavor of Kool Aid you like to drink.

It's time for the Obamabots begin to improve their reading comprehension skills on this site.

HotRodFoto
Premium Member
join:2003-04-19
Denver, CO

HotRodFoto

Premium Member

Re: It's a communist conspiracy!

said by NOVA_Guy:

Please re-read my post. I believe you'll see that I said Fox was conservatively biased.

All the other news media outlets are also biased too, in favor of Obama and his agenda. Pick the flavor of Kool Aid you like to drink.

It's time for the Obamabots begin to improve their reading comprehension skills on this site.
lol Obamabots. I think it's time maybe you start watching a news channel who didn't fight in court that they should be allowed to misinform the general public with slanted journalism »ceasespin.org/ceasespin_ ··· lic.html

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList to NOVA_Guy

Premium Member

to NOVA_Guy
sorry i thought you just said that glenn beck was biased, not fox news in general... i see what you said now.

lolololol
@comcast.net

lolololol to NOVA_Guy

Anon

to NOVA_Guy
Good show, old chap. Exemplary use of sarcasm there.

fatness
subtle

join:2000-11-17
fishing

fatness to NOVA_Guy

to NOVA_Guy
said by NOVA_Guy:

CNN (the Communist News Network), NBC (Nothing But Communism), or ABC (the All Barack Channel).
Don't forget Santa Claus. He wears a red suit.
Pv8man
join:2008-07-24
Hammond, IN

Pv8man

Member

Re: It's a communist conspiracy!

yeah, I don't think that ANY mainstream news tells 100% of the truth.
Weather It be NBC, FOX or CNN

They always tell you 90% of the truth but not the last 10%, in order to give it a spin.

Or only report on a certain story for a very very short period of time, only to scrutinize it and spin it.

which makes all the difference.
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

patcat88 to fatness

Member

to fatness
said by fatness:

Don't forget Santa Claus. He wears a red suit.
Verizon is owned by the Soviets, thats why their logo is red.
Pv8man
join:2008-07-24
Hammond, IN

1 edit

Pv8man to houselog442

Member

to houselog442
Yeah, look at this Idiot "Marsha Blackburn" from Tennesee.

She claims that "Net Neutrality" is the "Fairness doctrine of the internet"

»thehill.com/hillicon-val ··· nternetq

well she is either an idiot...
or she knows exactly what she is doing and does not care because she probably gets kickbacks from AT&T.

knightmb
Everybody Lies
join:2003-12-01
Franklin, TN

knightmb

Member

Re: It's a communist conspiracy!

said by Pv8man:

Yeah, look at this Idiot "Marsha Blackburn" from Tennesee.

She claims that "Net Neutrality" is the "Fairness doctrine of the internet"

»thehill.com/hillicon-val ··· nternetq

well she is either an idiot...
or she knows exactly what she is doing and does not care because she probably gets kickbacks from AT&T.
I know her and her family personally, she really is that clueless. Kickbacks? I venture to say they all do in some way, shape, or form. What she does have though is a lot of people telling her that the sky is falling, exa-flood, whatever. She is about as technical as the average grandmom. Her son though is much more technical in that he's worked with governments and companies on large technology projects. One of those being AT&T as well; wonder where mom gets her technical advice from?

PapaMidnight
join:2009-01-13
Baltimore, MD

PapaMidnight

Member

Re: It's a communist conspiracy!

said by knightmb:

said by Pv8man:

Yeah, look at this Idiot "Marsha Blackburn" from Tennesee.

She claims that "Net Neutrality" is the "Fairness doctrine of the internet"

»thehill.com/hillicon-val ··· nternetq

well she is either an idiot...
or she knows exactly what she is doing and does not care because she probably gets kickbacks from AT&T.
I know her and her family personally, she really is that clueless.
When you said, "I know her and her family personally", I almost thought you were going to go off on a rampant defense. When you said "she really is that clueless", I damn near died of laughter.
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

patcat88 to Pv8man

Member

to Pv8man
Why doesn't she protest common carrier laws? They violate the human right of telephone companies by forcing them to have their networks exploited by pedophiles and child molesters to seduce young children to murder them.

knightmb
Everybody Lies
join:2003-12-01
Franklin, TN

knightmb

Member

Re: It's a communist conspiracy!

said by patcat88:

Why doesn't she protest common carrier laws? They violate the human right of telephone companies by forcing them to have their networks exploited by pedophiles and child molesters to seduce young children to murder them.
She really just doesn't know anything about it more than the surface. She's a sharp woman in some respects, but others I hear her just towing the company line for whatever flavor of the week company has told her. I don't know where she gets *all* of her advice or counsel from, but know that her family is no stranger to working with big companies like AT&T or Comcast.

I can say though that we all have day jobs here and wouldn't have to time to buddy up with everyone we wanted influence with. I can say for certain though, that the job of some *people* is to do exactly that. They have no day job, they aren't registered lobbyist, they are people that just have more money than time.

It annoys the crap out of me to see so many fake people buddy up to the whole family. Makes me wonder if I'm in the wrong line of work.
FrontirCynic
join:2006-10-25
Long Beach, CA

FrontirCynic to houselog442

Member

to houselog442
could we apply current "rules" (or lack of rules) to throttle down Beck's bandwidth and reach as we disagree with his speech and his network? As they say whats good for the goose is good for the gander. Maybe that would change his tone?
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

patcat88

Member

Re: It's a communist conspiracy!

Can't we say Beck's suit is licensed, not sold, and its negatively affecting sales because we had a bad quater, so time to sue him for damages?

NOVA_Guy
ObamaCare Kills Americans
Premium Member
join:2002-03-05

1 recommendation

NOVA_Guy

Premium Member

Let's hope they get it right

Carriers like AT&T should be relegated to "dumb pipe" status, with their only action being that of carrying data-- whether that be voice transmission or requests for the latest news from your favorite web site.

Their network management policies should have to be clearly stated to their customers. This means no more vague "if you use too much" when it comes to caps, fictitious "bandwidth hog" accusations without proof, and general surprises (like changing DNS servers and not giving customers a choice). People have the right to know what activity is being monitored, and what actions will trigger what responses. Software used for network management should be clearly noted to make this as transparent a process as possible.

Networks should be opened up to all traffic. Prioritization should only be done on the basis of service quality levels that customers pay for, not on the type of application or traffic it generates. Service tiers should be clearly stated in terms of what can be typically expected, and what burst speeds are available, and avoid using this "up to xxx speed" crap used to intentionally confuse users and cloud the acceptable service issue. ISPs should be required to post average speeds on at least a weekly basis (perhaps daily) as measured at certain points on their network, and make at least one year of archived data available to all users.

Lastly, any media portals and the like offered by ISPs should be split off from their online service and treated as separate entities. Comcast should not be able to give priority to their proposed "TV Everywhere" video on demand service over, say, Hulu or any other such site. All should be treated equally.

Just a few ideas for what might constitute a fair and good idea of network neutrality in favor of consumers for once.

AnonDOG
@kaballero.com

AnonDOG

Anon

Shades of The Can Spam Act

Which was supposed to reduce or eliminate UCE, but which in fact actually did nothing much at all.

The problem today is that the name of a thing often has little or nothing to do with defining what that thing actually does.

I'll wait to see what the liberals who run the FCC today actually define "net neutrality" to be.

The Fox bashing going on in this thread has absolutely nothing to do with neutrality that's for sure. It is also completely irrelevant.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: Shades of The Can Spam Act

your anon, your completely irrelevant +1
60529262 (banned)
join:2007-01-11
Chicago, IL

60529262 (banned)

Member

It doesn't matter

John McCain has already introduced a bill to take away the FCC's ability to regulate anything about the Internet should any such Network Neutrality rules be adopted, so it doesn't really matter what the FCC does.

»mccain.senate.gov/public ··· ssue_id=

Good to see he still thinks he's right on top of things.
houselog442
join:2005-10-05

houselog442

Member

Re: It doesn't matter

See, that's what is destroying this country is that the mentally retarded (aka conservatives) like Glenn Beck are running conspiracy theories that net neutrality is a communist conspiracy to take over the internet and that Onstar is a secret government plot to take over your car! This scares the old farts and other micro-cephalic conservatives into crying to their Republican members of congress that are being bribed by the telecom industry to write these stupid bills like McCain has written. But in the end the people who are scared by this nonsense are really just useful idiots to the telecom companies just like they are to every other major corporation.
jay_rm
join:2002-04-12
Netville

jay_rm

Member

Re: It doesn't matter

said by houselog442:

the mentally retarded (aka conservatives)
yes, yes...we can all see you're a beacon of un-biased truth. Please move along.
60529262 (banned)
join:2007-01-11
Chicago, IL

1 edit

60529262 (banned) to houselog442

Member

to houselog442
Please tell me Beck hasn't actually stooped to the level of tinfoil-hat babble accusing Onstar of being a government plot. I don't listen to him mostly due to his circus sideshow antics but unfortunately some of my acquaintances do...

edit/added: Oh god. You weren't kidding. OnStar may have grounds for a very juicy lawsuit.
SuperWISP
join:2007-04-17
Laramie, WY

SuperWISP

Member

Vague and overreaching rules

the primary motivation for expanding these rules is so the FCC has the authority to act in extreme cases of anti-competitive or anti-consumer behavior.
Not at all. The rules in the Notice of Proposed Rule Making are not only vague (so vague that they don't pass Constitutional muster) -- they also set the FCC up to intervene even in situations where there is no anticompetitive or anticonsumer behavior and pass arbitrary judgment.