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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Net Neutrality

Open Thread: Net Neutrality

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From Bobby Caina Calvan, at the Boston Globe‘s Political Intelligence blog:

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats rejected a Republican bid today to overturn FCC rules that are set to go into effect later this month to enforce so-called “net neutrality.”
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Advocates of net neutrality called it a victory for consumers and the free flow of information in the Internet age.
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“Today’s Senate vote is a major victory for the public and sends a resounding message: The American people don’t want companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon blocking websites or interfering with our ability to access whatever we want, whenever we want it, from wherever we are,” said Craig Aaron, president of the Free Press Action Fund, which has offices in Florence, Mass.
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The Senate rebuked the GOP effort, 52-46. The House had already passed an earlier bill to overturn the Federal Communications Commission rules, but President Obama had said he would have vetoed the bill if it reached his desk.
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“This is a victory for innovation, consumers, and common sense. Today, the Senate refused to hand over the Internet to a small group of corporate interests, and we need to keep up the fight because we know this isn’t the last we’ve heard of the assault on net neutrality,” said Senator John Kerry…

This is good news, am I correct?

Reader Interactions

43Comments

  2. 2.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    Yes, because otherwise Reality Check would pay so that he could get his comments on here even faster.

  4. 4.

    middlewest

    Another win for Senator Al Franken, along with getting the DOMA repeal passed in the Judiciary Committee. This what happens when you elect comedians instead of clowns.

  5. 5.

    Fwiffo

    It’s not bad news… It’s good news in that the rules are better than no rules. Unfortunately, they’re written a bit like Michigan’s anti-bullying law. By specifically excluding wireless services, they basically endorse non-neutral behavior by wireless carriers.

  6. 6.

    pjcamp

    It would be good news if the rules actually did anything, but they don’t.

    The rules don’t cover wireless, were written largely by industry, and can be wiggled out of if a carrier simply claims they were engaging in some behavior to protect the integrity of the network.

  8. 8.

    Linda Featheringill

    Ahh, open thread.

    For those who would like to participate in the upcoming book club but find that the chosen book is a bit pricey:

    1. You can download Kindle for PC from Amazon for free.

    2. When you’ve done that, click on shopping for kindle tab. This will take you to the Kindle section of Amazon.

    3. The book chosen for the book club is The Reactionary Mind. You can buy it for your PC Kindle for 9.99. No tax. No shipping.

    4. Available almost instantly.

    And, of course, you can set up the Kindle so it’s easy for you to read.

  12. 12.

    Steve

    Obama was going to veto this anyway, but it’s definitely good news that all the Democrats stuck together, even the generally unreliable ones. All the people who like to whine about how Nelson, Manchin, et al. are no better than Republicans must have the day off.

    And for those who don’t think the FCC rules are perfect, well they’re not, but the industry didn’t mount a full-blown lobbying press on this one because these are industry-friendly regulations that they love.

    Also, too, I know plenty of younger voters who don’t care a lot about most political issues but follow net neutrality very closely. It is extremely helpful for the Dems to draw a contrast on this issue, which they have done.

  18. 18.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    This is good news, am I correct?

    I’d like to think so…

    Half-arsed rules are prolly better than none…

    And apart from that bit of wisdom, I’m going w/ what Fwiffo & pjcamp said…

    W/ the addition of pointing out that I doubt Republicans are going to just say, “Alright, gov, you win” and go away…

  20. 20.

    James Hare

    Now we need to defeat Senate bill 968, the “Great Firewall of the US” act. They ain’t calling it that, but that’s what it would establish. I’m going to try to have a frank conversation with the the sponsor’s staff tomorrow. Patrick “Go Fuck Yourself” Leahy just happens to be my new Senator.

  21. 21.

    Ed Dane Defender of Donuts

    Yes and no on the net neutrality “rules”. They could have been a lot better but they could have been worse.

    As long as the free markets don’t take away my access to this webs-

  22. 22.

    James Hare

    @PeakVT:
    Just joined you in the Green Mountain State. Let Leahy know that you don’t support the Stopping Online Piracy Act. He is listed as the Senate sponsor, and that bill is the beginning of a making the Interent just another place for corporations to bowl over regular people.

  24. 24.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Southern Beale:

    Ohhhh. That little niblet needs a forever home. You can see it in those gorgeous eyes. Hope it turns out to be healthy and non-communicable.

    What will you name it?

  25. 25.

    tBone

    It’s good news in that the NN rules, as weak tea as they may be, are still better than nothing. And the telco industry fucking hates them, so I enjoy seeing their noses rubbed in it.

    Some truly good news: Obama and the State Department have decided to delay a decision on the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline until 2013. It was a tricky spot for the admin, with environmentalists and labor on opposite sides of the issue, and the more cynical among us will say that Obama is just kicking the can down the road until after the election. But some estimates say the delay will cost TransCanada a million dollars a day, and could very well end up killing the project altogether due to sunset clauses in the contracts TC has with refineries on the Gulf Coast.

  26. 26.

    Jenny

    More good news.

    * The Labor Department on Thursday said initial jobless claims fell by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 390,000 in the week ended Nov. 5, below forecasts and to the lowest level in six months.

    * Senate Judiciary committee pass repeal of DOMA. Now it goes to the Senate floor.

    * Senate approves Obama’s Veteran’s Job bill, 95-0. The bill extends tax credits to businesses that hire unemployed veterans. It would also provide new dollars for retraining older unemployed veterans for high-demand field.

    * Robert Redford and National Resource Defense Coucnil thank the President for decision on keystone pipeline http://youtu.be/Y9bbpfKX9Kk

    * The federal budget deficit was down sharply in October as compared to last October.

    * Romney caught lying, saying he opposed Mississippi’s so-called personhood amendment.

    * Herb Caen threatens to sue every blonde white woman he has sexually harassed, if they come forward.

  30. 30.

    Cris (without an H)

    @tBone: And the telco industry fucking hates them, so I enjoy seeing their noses rubbed in it.

    I work for a telco, and I really resent it when the regional manager sends out emails to all us employees asking us to call our Congressthing and urge them to support whatever industry-friendly legislation is on the table. I’m like dude, we are employees, but we’re also customers, and I’ll look out for my interests and let Legal look out for the company’s, mkay?

  34. 34.

    tBone

    @Cris (without an H):

    I work for a telco, and I really resent it when the regional manager sends out emails to all us employees asking us to call our Congressthing and urge them to support whatever industry-friendly legislation is on the table.

    “We’re going to fuck you in the ass now. Please thank your Congresscritters for supplying the sandpaper lube.”

  36. 36.

    JGabriel

    Anne Laurie:

    This is good news, am I correct?

    So far. But as John Kerry points out, the people against net neutrality aren’t going away. What concerns me is what happens if the GOP gets control of both branches of Congress in 2012.

    .

  38. 38.

    dww44

    @middlewest:Indeed, Franken’s a real gem of a Senator and a person. Today I received his email about Tuesday’s election results and here’s a portion, offered as a salute to Kay:

    There’s going to be a lot of talk about what those results meant. But let’s not get big heads just yet. We have a lot of work to do. There are still a lot of workers whose basic rights are under attack, a lot of states where reproductive rights are in jeopardy, a lot of voters who may be disenfranchised by new Republican-backed laws, and a lot of work to do before 2012.

    I hope that, if you were part of one of these fights, you took yesterday to celebrate and rest up. But today, it’s back to work. We have big fights ahead. And I’m proud to have you on my side

  40. 40.

    Caz

    Boy are you misinformed about what net-neutrality is all about. It’s not about freedom for consumers; it’s about govt censorship and control of free speech on the internet. You ought to really look into this and see what a scam the govt is pulling on us with this net-neutrality. They are basically attempting to gain control over one of the last bastions of true free speech so that they can filter out those points of view that don’t support further govt expansion, curbing of freedoms, and control over our lives.

    The Cato Institute has written several really thorough articles about the issue which I would urge you to read to learn what this is really all about. Don’t worry, they present plenty of facts and actual quotes from politicians, so you’ll actually learn something rather than just be propagandized by rhetoric like MSNBC or Huffington Post.

  42. 42.

    A.J.

    You said it yourself:

    “Senate Democrats rejected a Republican bid….”

    What can go wrong? The Dems finally did something.

  43. 43.

    Richard Bennett

    Net neutrality is a scam. It doesn’t protect free speech or preserve any significant feature of the Internet. It’s a stumblebum, random attempt by some clueless law professors to assert control over the Internet that’s not constructive at all. But it’s become part of America’s tribal politics and has achieved loyalty oath status.

    Nobody can even define net neutrality, let alone demonstrate its nexus with free speech or innovation. And BTW, he FCC doesn’t have legal authority to regulate the Internet, as the courts have said over and over.

    Good news? Not so much.

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