Chairman Tom Wheeler, of the Federal Communications Commission, has hinted that the agency might be interested in increasing Internet broadband competition by stopping local and state laws, often imposed with pressure by big incumbent Internet service providers, that outlaw municipal broadband.
Netflix's public disputes with ISPs have lead the Federal Communications Commission to take a look at paid interconnection deals, and a little light is already being shed on the contentious issue of paid peering.
To help protect net neutrality, comedian John Oliver on his HBO show Last Week Tonight called on internet lovers to do what they do best: trolling. The result? They probably crashed the FCC's servers.
In the wake of news that the Federal Communications Commission had decided to look into the issue of paid peering on the internet, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts took the stage at Re/code's Code Conference Wednesday. Doing his best to talk about anything but broadband, Roberts was forced to give his opinion about the issue.
The same group that brought us the strong message from Senator Al Franken calling net neutrality the "free speech issue of our time," the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) and NoSlowLane.com, is keeping up the pressure against "fast lanes." This time, they're targeting a younger audience.
What's been a side show to the general battle over net neutrality, the possible Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger, and the FCC is the more technical issue of network interconnects and "paid peering." Google Fiber -- which has been seen as the only hope for a fair, open internet if the FCC allows "fast lanes" and the largest cable merger in history -- just announced it doesn't and won't charge for peering.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak published an open letter on Tuesday calling the current action on Net Neutrality one of the "most important times ever" for the FCC. At the same time, reports that Apple has made interconnection deals with ISPs might indicate that the company he helped found doesn't have a problem with the proposed "fast lanes" of the internet.
At the Federal Communications Commission's meeting on Thursday to take the first step towards controversial new Open Internet rules, it seemed no one on either side of the political spectrum -- inside or outside of the building -- was entirely satisfied by the proposal. Nevertheless, the FCC voted to advance the process of adopting new rules that may drastically reshape the way the Internet works.
Netflix now takes up about a third of North America's peak downstream traffic, according to a new report by network analysis company Sandvine. The company's report also purportedly shines a light on "cord cutters," a segment of internet users which it says is using more than seven times the data of typical internet users.
Amid a large and growing backlash from advocacy groups and top Internet companies to the Federal Communication Commission's draft Open Internet proposal, the FCC is considering yet a new draft to mollify critics. The changes reportedly emphasize the FCC's willingness to reclassify broadband providers if anti-net neutrality practices become widespread.
Earlier this week, a large coalition of internet companies released an open letter to the Federal Communications Commission warning that its purported new Open Internet rules, ostensibly meant to protect net neutrality, actually "represents a grave threat to the Internet." Now a large coalition of interest groups, including some prominent Latino organizations, has done the same.
Do you remember the day the internet went on strike against a bad piece of legislation? It may happen again. The internet dream team behind 2011's SOPA protests has sent what may be the opening salvo in another pressure campaign, this time to stop the Federal Communications Commission's reportedly proposed "Open Internet" rules.
In the wake of leaks about new, weaker, Open Internet rules proposed by the Federal Communications Commission, and soon after Netflix had to pay two internet service providers for better access to their customers, Netflix has taken its concerns directly to the FCC. Meanwhile, Google, Yahoo, and other internet heavies may be planning a SOPA-like grassroots protest for net neutrality.
The Federal Communications Commission will propose new Open Internet rules supposedly meant to protect consumers and internet businesses later this month. They will do nothing of the kind, giving big broadband companies exactly the kind of anti-net neutrality power they've wanted for years, at a time when the concept of net neutrality desperately needs enforcement.
The proposed takeover of Time Warner Cable (the nation's second largest cable provider) by Comcast (the first) has attracted criticism and consternation from media advocates, as well as some companies like Netflix and Charter. As of this week, you can Latino television giant Univision to the list of companies that are concerned about the merger.
