A federal appeals court struck down the FCC’s landmark net neutrality rules yesterday, ending a nearly two-decade effort to regulate broadband internet providers like utilities. If they’re not utilities, what the hell are they? I just keep thinking how shocked and surprised they’ll be: if and when the next CEO hits the ground, the question “Why do they HATE us?” can be answered with a printout of THIS ruling. Via the New York Times:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Cincinnati, said that the F.C.C. lacked the authority to reinstate rules that prevented broadband providers from slowing or blocking access to internet content. The decision put an end to the Biden administration’s hallmark tech policy, which had drawn impassioned support from consumer groups and tech giants like Google and fierce protests by telecommunications giants like Comcast and AT&T.
[…] The F.C.C. had voted in April to restore net neutrality regulations, which expand government oversight of broadband providers and aim to protect consumer access to the internet, a move that will reignite a long-running battle over the open internet.
The regulations were first put in place nearly a decade ago under the Obama administration and are aimed at preventing internet service providers like Verizon or Comcast from blocking or degrading the delivery of services from competitors like Netflix and YouTube. The rules were repealed under President Donald J. Trump, and they have proved to be a contentious partisan issue over the years while pitting tech giants against broadband providers.
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