The FCC Has Unveiled Its Plan to Repeal Its Net Neutrality Rules

[Megalith]

Federal regulators unveiled a plan Tuesday that would give Internet providers broad powers to determine what websites and online services their customers can see and use, and at what cost. The decision will be put to a vote at the agency's Dec. 14 meeting in Washington. It is expected to pass, with the GOP controlling three of the commission's five seats.

In a release, Pai said his proposal would prevent the government from "micromanaging the Internet." In place of the existing rules, he added, the FCC would "simply require Internet service providers to be transparent about their practices." The proposal would also shift some enforcement responsibility to the Federal Trade Commission, which can sue companies for violating the commitments or statements they have made to the public.

 

[bugleyman]

No biggie. I'm sure we can just trust Comcast to do the right thing.

 

[magoo]

I fear that we are about to see the Cable-TV-ization of the internet as we know it.

Once this passes, and it appears it will, it gives the providers the ability to cost control what we use.
In otherwords......paying a basic fee to "browse" and at what speed and to what sites.
then......
Add on fees to access "streaming websites" such as Amazon, Hulu, Netflix.......
Sports
News
Gaming....like accessing Steam
Information.........as so on.

Im very afraid that the internet will become bloated and just as expensive as cable TV is/was......simply because of the loss of revenue from folks quitting cable TV.

 

[homernoy]

Hey, another reason to love the Republicans. The never fuck over citizens to appease corporate interests, so as an individual I feel safe and secure. Thank goodness for that........

 

[c@Nc3r]

I wonder how much the gaming and streaming video packages are going to cost?

 

[[21CW]killerofall]

If I had some $$ available to invest, I would be throwing it at the VPN providers (that encrypt all of your traffic) right about now...

I vote that we dissolve the FCC because obviously that don't want to do their job anymore...

 

[toddw]

This is going to be even better than tax reform! and by reform I mean yet another tax cut that increases the deficit, because conservative. Hurray!

 

[bigdogchris]

Cable-like packages coming to Internet everywhere, hooray!

Think about it when you pull that lever and maybe we can get this reversed.

 

[fadedlogic]

aside from the imminent price hikes, I am even more concerned by a some unknown doofus at my internet provider determining what i can view on the internet. Who is to stop someone like Comcast from slowing traffic to a crawl for competing Network TV providers? Or what sources of news I can access. This is a deeply troubling event.

 

[sfsuphysics]

100Mbps connection through a cable company on the cheap!? You betcha! Throttling of Netflix and every other streaming service who doesn't pay the cable company!? YOU BETCHA!!

 

[otherweeb]

Well, It's been nice knowing ya'all. Think someone will be shaking down Kyle for 'traffic surcharge'?

 

[John Ransom]

Hey, another reason to love the Republicans. The never fuck over citizens to appease corporate interests, so as an individual I feel safe and secure. Thank goodness for that........

your welcome.

 

[U-238]

How to have Net Neutrality withing 'micromanaging the internet':

Declare that all data that passes through the internet cannot be discriminated against and must be treated equally.

There, just solved that crisis. Next week, we'll talk about how to bring about world peace.

 

[TaintedSquirrel]

I fear that we are about to see the Cable-TV-ization of the internet as we know it.

Once this passes, and it appears it will, it gives the providers the ability to cost control what we use.
In otherwords......paying a basic fee to "browse" and at what speed and to what sites.
then......
Add on fees to access "streaming websites" such as Amazon, Hulu, Netflix.......
Sports
News
Gaming....like accessing Steam
Information.........as so on.

Im very afraid that the internet will become bloated and just as expensive as cable TV is/was......simply because of the loss of revenue from folks quitting cable TV.

I can't believe people think this will actually happen.
What about when Joe Schmo wakes up one day and tries to go watch Netflix and sees a big error that says "If you want to access this website, pay an extra $10/month"? Now imagine that happening TO THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. Imagine it with something like Facebook or Twitter (I've seen people joke about the ISP selling a "Social Media Package").

Site-specific fast lanes will never, ever happen. You can't take away something people had for free for the last 30 years and then try to charge it back to them at extra cost. For-fucking-get about it.

Pissing off every single American is not a great business strategy and not even the big telecoms are that suicidal.

 

[cageymaru]

I can't believe people think this will actually happen.
What about when Joe Schmo wakes up one day and tries to go watch Netflix and sees a big error that says "If you want to access this website, pay an extra $10/month"? Now imagine that happening TO THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. Imagine it with something like Facebook or Twitter (I've seen people joke about the ISP selling a "Social Media Package").

Site-specific fast lanes will never, ever happen. You can't take away something people had for free for the last 30 years and then try to charge it back to them at extra cost. For-fucking-get about it.

Pissing off every single American is not a great business strategy.

Already done. This is exactly how parts of Europe work already. If you want Facebook or EBAY then it is $5 more per month. The end game will be to block all VPN services and map what you can see to protect you.
https://qz.com/1114690/why-is-net-neutrality-important-look-to-portugal-and-spain-to-understand/

 

[Deleted member 83233]

I can't believe people think this will actually happen.
What about when Joe Schmo wakes up one day and tries to go watch Netflix and sees a big error that says "If you want to access this website, pay an extra $10/month"? Now imagine that happening TO THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. Imagine it with something like Facebook or Twitter (I've seen people joke about the ISP selling a "Social Media Package").

Site-specific fast lanes will never, ever happen. You can't take away something people had for free for the last 30 years and then try to charge it back to them at extra cost. For-fucking-get about it.

Pissing off every single American is not a great business strategy and not even the big telecoms are that suicidal.

I would LOVE... LLLOOOOOVVVVVEEEEE to believe that... However, this sort of thing DOES happen every day, and people are getting more and more used to it. People that actually think about this stuff, and get mad enough to say anything about it are few and far between in the overall scheme of people using these services.

You don't think these providers (and I'm talking the Comcasts and Verizons of the world here) will take every opportunity they can the more freedom they're allowed to do it? They've been caught doing this stuff before, and that's before they were given express permission to do so.

 

[Stryke1983]

I can't believe people think this will actually happen.
What about when Joe Schmo wakes up one day and tries to go watch Netflix and sees a big error that says "If you want to access this website, pay an extra $10/month"? Now imagine that happening TO THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. Imagine it with something like Facebook or Twitter (I've seen people joke about the ISP selling a "Social Media Package").

Site-specific fast lanes will never, ever happen. You can't take away something people had for free for the last 30 years and then try to charge it back to them at extra cost. For-fucking-get about it.

Pissing off every single American is not a great business strategy and not even the big telecoms are that suicidal.

We've already had ISPs artifically slowing down access to specific data sources (Netflix, etc) and asking for more money to give that data priority. Why is it suddenly scaremongering to predict companies doing something that they've already done?

 

[MNKyDeth]

I can't believe people think this will actually happen.
What about when Joe Schmo wakes up one day and tries to go watch Netflix and sees a big error that says "If you want to access this website, pay an extra $10/month"? Now imagine that happening TO THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. Imagine it with something like Facebook or Twitter (I've seen people joke about the ISP selling a "Social Media Package").

Site-specific fast lanes will never, ever happen. You can't take away something people had for free for the last 30 years and then try to charge it back to them at extra cost. For-fucking-get about it.

Pissing off every single American is not a great business strategy and not even the big telecoms are that suicidal.

Telecoms, cable providers etc won't give a shit because there all monopolies in there respective markets. There is no competition so they can do whatever they want no matter how much people agree or disagree with them about there services. They are companies and do you think they really care?

 

[homernoy]

I can't believe people think this will actually happen.
What about when Joe Schmo wakes up one day and tries to go watch Netflix and sees a big error that says "If you want to access this website, pay an extra $10/month"? Now imagine that happening TO THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. Imagine it with something like Facebook or Twitter (I've seen people joke about the ISP selling a "Social Media Package").

Site-specific fast lanes will never, ever happen. You can't take away something people had for free for the last 30 years and then try to charge it back to them at extra cost. For-fucking-get about it.

Pissing off every single American is not a great business strategy and not even the big telecoms are that suicidal.

People would have no choice, no matter how pissed off they became. This business is like a monopoly in a way, they don't need to have a business strategy based on customer satisfaction. They want to make as much money as possible, and with total control, they can. That. Is. It.

 

[John Ransom]

People would have no choice, no matter how pissed off they became. This business is like a monopoly in a way, they don't need to have a business strategy based on customer satisfaction. They want to make as much money as possible, and with total control, they can. That. Is. It.

The business was literally a government created monopoly, now people are shocked they try to not compete.

 

[rageFIST]

"Free and open"

 

[Business6]

I can't believe people think this will actually happen.
What about when Joe Schmo wakes up one day and tries to go watch Netflix and sees a big error that says "If you want to access this website, pay an extra $10/month"? Now imagine that happening TO THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. Imagine it with something like Facebook or Twitter (I've seen people joke about the ISP selling a "Social Media Package").

Site-specific fast lanes will never, ever happen. You can't take away something people had for free for the last 30 years and then try to charge it back to them at extra cost. For-fucking-get about it.

Pissing off every single American is not a great business strategy and not even the big telecoms are that suicidal.

I think you underestimate the willingness of people to roll over and take it up the ass.

 

[Jim Kim]

f.u.c.k.

 

[nutzo]

Already done. This is exactly how parts of Europe work already. If you want Facebook or EBAY then it is $5 more per month. The end game will be to block all VPN services and map what you can see to protect you.
https://qz.com/1114690/why-is-net-neutrality-important-look-to-portugal-and-spain-to-understand/

And if they try that here, they will end up with far more restrictive laws being put in place then they currently have.

The Republicans are giving them freedom to manage their business (instead of the government controlling it).
If this these companies are crazy enough to make changes that make most the country angry with them, then they will be committing suicide & end up having their local monopolies broken up.

 

[Stryke1983]

I can see it now. Calling up Comcast because Netflix has started buffering all the time despite my fast connection.

Comcast: "I'm sorry to hear that you've been having trouble. The good news is that we're now offering you DOUBLE the speed for traffic from Netflix for only $5 a month."

Me: "But I'm only getting half of what I was before."

Comcast: "DOUBLE!!!! Because we listen to our customers and strive to accommodate what they want and need in the glorious modern world of deregulation".

 

[Stryke1983]

And if they try that here, they will end up with far more restrictive laws being put in place then they currently have.

The Republicans are giving them freedom to manage their business (instead of the government controlling it).
If this these companies are crazy enough to make changes that make most the country angry with them, then they will be committing suicide & end up having their local monopolies broken up.

So these companies were behaving badly and got hit with more regulations, but you want them to be deregulated and then if they misbehave well just re-regulate them again? Or we could just keep the protections we have in place now and stop them from having a second opportunity to fuck us over?

 

[BSmith]

I think you underestimate the willingness of people to roll over and take it up the ass.

I think it is more along the lines of he is underestimating our politicians ability to ignore what the people want, no matter how pissed off the people get.

We sit around on our collective butts and not do anything about it, then we get what we deserve.

 

[homernoy]

The business was literally a government created monopoly, now people are shocked they try to not compete.

Compete with who? These companies are essentially monopolies, and don't 'compete' with anyone. I'm sorry that some peoples political affiliations blind them from reality. I really am.

 

[bsbllclown]

Sad thing is, there is not much we can do about it. I have 2 options Comcast who keeps jacking up my rates or DSL at super slow speeds. Comcast has no competition in my area (Seattle area). Comcast also owns a lot of content creation which is a major conflict of interest for an ISP. So when net neutrality gets killed, you will see Comcast and their ilk just start jacking up prices to anything that competes with their brands and services. Hulu, netflix, amazon, etc etc. It will likely be a slow process much like the internet prices have been going up over the last few years to make up for the folks trying to cut the cord.

Just gotta follow the cookie crumbs (money) and its pretty easy to see how this will play out.

 

[Shotglass01]

Hey Pai, thanks dickhead!

 

[nysmo]

Site-specific fast lanes will never, ever happen. You can't take away something people had for free for the last 30 years and then try to charge it back to them at extra cost. For-fucking-get about it.

They'll probably do it via zero-rating traffic like what Tmobile started with streaming sites. Rather than throttling specific sites, they just throttle everything and then conveniently unthrottle certain services to win users offer by claiming they are giving you something for free. The net effect is the same but the impression on the consumer is that their service is bundled with free spotify. Free is good right? We've already had forum members here praise the act of offering a la carte plans for $5/month and up geared towards certain services. If all you do is stream netflix then why should you pay $60/month for access to the entire internet?

And conditioning people to an outright "sorry this website is not available under your package, please upgrade" wont be as hard as you think. You already get those messages if you browse to the wrong channel on your TV guide.

The fact that it is this important for ISP's to be able to throttle traffic is evidence of exactly what they intend to do with it.

 

[bugleyman]

The fact that it is this important for ISP's to be able to throttle traffic is evidence of exactly what they intend to do with it.

Bingo! Got it in one.

 

[TaintedSquirrel]

Do we have any detailed info about what they're doing exactly?
All I can find is that they are reversing the 2015 Title II revision (ISPs as a carrier service) which moves regulation from the FCC back to the FTC.

That will take us back to the wild west days of... February 2015. Back when we had fast lanes. Man those were rough times. ... Yawn.

 

[John Ransom]

Compete with who? These companies are essentially monopolies, and don't 'compete' with anyone. I'm sorry that some peoples political affiliations blind them from reality. I really am.

with each other, there is a reason you have only 1 cable provider in the overwhelming majority of the country.

edit: and that being said i just got att fiber in my neighborhood so i now have 2 choices, yay me.

 

[TripleSeven]

And if they try that here, they will end up with far more restrictive laws being put in place then they currently have.

The Republicans are giving them freedom to manage their business (instead of the government controlling it).
If this these companies are crazy enough to make changes that make most the country angry with them, then they will be committing suicide & end up having their local monopolies broken up.

Already done. This is exactly how parts of Europe work already. If you want Facebook or EBAY then it is $5 more per month. The end game will be to block all VPN services and map what you can see to protect you.
https://qz.com/1114690/why-is-net-neutrality-important-look-to-portugal-and-spain-to-understand/

Over here (Portugal) it's not quite like that.
Our mobile data plans have a set amount of internet traffic allotted to them, say 5GB for example. That data plan allows you to visit every site you want, up to a limit of 5GB.
What they are selling now, are add on data plans for specific set of sites, with a data cap for them only.

So, for example, we have our base data plan for 20 euros, that includes comms and 5gb of internet traffic, and then we can add a data plan for 10gb to use on video sites for another 6 euros.
So we end up with a monthly bill of 26 euros, with a cap of 15gb (5 for all around use, plus 10 for videos, like youtube and netflix),
You could use up to the 15gb cap on video sites only if you wish to.
The base 5gb are not restricted in any way.

 

[Deleted member 83233]

Do we have any detailed info about what they're doing exactly?
All I can find is that they are reversing the 2015 Title II revision (ISPs as a carrier service) which moves regulation from the FCC back to the FTC.

That will take us back to the wild west days of... February 2015. Back when we had fast lanes. Man those were rough times. ... Yawn.

No, we don't have detailed information about what they're doing. What this says though, is that they can do a lot more if they feel like it. Which... When was the last time a major telco or ISP did NOT fuck you over if there was a way they could do it and get away with it?

 

[TaintedSquirrel]

No, we don't have detailed information about what they're doing. What this says though, is that they can do a lot more if they feel like it. Which... When was the last time a major telco or ISP NOT fuck you over if there was a way they could do it and get away with it?

The loss of title 2 is not the death of net neutrality and I'm also 99% sure it doesn't open the door for fast lanes, either.
If you're worried about this being a springboard for future regulation rollbacks that's a separate issue entirely.

Admittedly, I'm not as up-to-date on my NN regulations as I could be. -_-

As far as I can tell, articles like this one are outright false.

 

[homernoy]

with each other, there is a reason you have only 1 cable provider in the overwhelming majority of the country.

edit: and that being said i just got att fiber in my neighborhood so i now have 2 choices, yay me.

What part of this regulation makes you think the number of providers are changing for consumer's, when this is all about changing regulations of 'net neutrality?

 

[AltreineirialX]

So does General Talk forums use a special server than General News? They can make the choice if they want to prioritize I don't
know what the government has to due with if you sign up in a "members club" for better service and get your own breadcrumbs.

 

[John Ransom]

What part of this regulation makes you think the number of providers are changing for consumer's, when this is all about changing regulations of 'net neutrality?

Absolutely nothing. I don't believe in net neutrality, net neutrality is only a thing because the main internet providers are mostly monopolies, when they started they were legally enforced monopolies. Today it is maintained mostly through local laws making it extremely hard to do business. Its important context because as usual instead of solving the problem we try to solve the symptom.