You might have heard? Net Neutrality seems doomed. The FCC is taking a lot of heat for that and related actions. Even though the OPLIN 4Cast has covered net neutrality before, here are a couple fresh views of the current, evolving situation. (And for a library perspective, check out the IFLA Statement on Net Neutrality and Zero-Rating.)
- Sorry, poor people: The FCC is coming after your broadband plans [Ars Technica | John Brodkin] “The FCC voted 3-2 to scale back the federal Lifeline program that lets poor people use a $9.25 monthly household subsidy to buy Internet or phone service. The FCC proposed a new spending cap that potentially prevents people who qualify for the subsidies from actually receiving them.”
- New York attorney general slams the FCC for ignoring net neutrality comments investigation [Tech Crunch | Taylor Hatmaker] “Earlier this year, at least two journalists filed lawsuits against the FCC for its failure to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests on the same topic, one of which sought information about the FCC’s claims that a DDoS attack took its commenting system offline.”
- Here’s How the End of Net Neutrality Will Change the Internet [Wired | Klint Finley] “But even without a dramatic departure from current practices, the future internet, then, could look a more extreme version of today’s mobile plans, with different pricing tiers for different levels of video quality for different apps. That means more customer choice, but perhaps not in the way anyone actually wants.”
- Why the Courts Will Have to Save Net Neutrality [New York Times | Tim Wu] “As the Supreme Court has said, a federal agency must ‘examine the relevant data and articulate a satisfactory explanation for its action.’ Given that net neutrality rules have been a huge success by most measures, the justification for killing them would have to be very strong.“
From the Ohio Web Library:
- Wireless Bureau Finds ‘Significant Risk’ In Zero-Rating Practices of AT&T, Verizon. (Telecommunications Reports, vol. 83, no. 2, 15 Jan. 2017, pp. 3-5. | Carolyn Puckett)
- Don’t let the FCC take away net neutrality. ( USA Today, 17 November 2017. | Tim Berners-Lee)
- Counterpoint: As Private Companies, Internet Service Providers Have the Right to Profit from Their Investment in Network Infrastructure. (Points of View: Internet Neutrality, 30 Sept. 2016, p. 1. | Micah Issitt)
