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Democrats Government The Internet United States Technology

Democrats Will Introduce Bill To Bring Back Net Neutrality (thehill.com) 291

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Hill: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Monday that Democrats will introduce a net neutrality bill to replace the open internet rules that were repealed in 2017. In a letter to her Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said a bill called the "Save the Internet Act" will be unveiled Wednesday and will be introduced in the Senate as well. The text of the legislation has not been released, and it's unclear what will be included in the bill. Democrats have railed against the Trump administration's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) vote to repeal the net neutrality rules, which happened more than a year ago. The 2015 regulations prohibited internet service providers from blocking or throttling websites or creating internet fast lanes.
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Democrats Will Introduce Bill To Bring Back Net Neutrality

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  • Should have been law in the first place, not policy decided by 5 unelected guys in a closed room. Trump himself even said so much.

    Now, the problem with the Democrats doing it is the bill will probably be 5000 pages long and include all kinds of other bullshit having nothing to do with net neutrality.

    • Congress gave the FCC power to make rules. Including rules on net neutrality.

      If you want to strip the FCC of that power, what's the point of having an FCC?

      • If you want to strip the FCC of that power, what's the point of having an FCC?

        So they aren't busy making rules that have nothing to do with technical standards or coordinating the use of limited resources like radio frequencies. So the FTC can make the rules regarding trade issues.

        Don't jump the gun and assume this new NN law is going to be a solution to any perceived problems. It's very likely that you'll find that the law that Pelosi doesn't want you reading to see what it contains will contain things like California's NN law that defines broadband Internet to be anything except d

        • It's very likely that you'll find that the law that Pelosi doesn't want you reading to see what it contains will contain things like California's NN law that defines broadband Internet to be anything except dialup. Is that the kind of technical law you like?

          Hmmm...it sounds like you think it would be better Net Neutrality regulations were made by a technically-savvy body with open rule-making policies.

          Like the FCC.

          • When you start putting words in my mouth, I stop talking to you. You don't need me if all you want to do is make up stuff you want me to have said.
            • When you start putting words in my mouth, I stop talking to you.

              You do realize that the text indented with the little vertical line is a quote, right?

              You decried rules being made by non-experts, in secret. There's an alternative where a technically-savvy entity could make those rules, and they are required to do so in public. Which would fix exactly what you described as bad. But they're bad because......well, you didn't really bother to say. (The FTC does not have the FCC's required level of public rule-making, btw. Which would make them seem a bad alternative if

  • If there is anything I've learned about these types of bills, the title is the opposite of what the bill is intended to do.

    So this bill should be titled, "Stopping Net Neutrality"

  • by Proudrooster ( 580120 ) on Monday March 04, 2019 @09:06PM (#58216774) Homepage

    What if the Democrats actually "got smart" and were trying to woo the tech community back into the fold with real net neutrality legislation?

    • Tell me, is the sky blue on your planet like it is here on Earth? Sun come up in the east, too? It must be very odd living on a Bizzaro world where you think your politicians are any good at writing laws about technical things.
  • This is just another "appeasement" gimmick. This does nothing to harm the monopolies and unless it has been changed still allows for Zero Rating so no... its more like net neutrality wannabe while people that support it act like its any kind of a solution and cheer.

    Destroy the monopolies, stop trying to manage them, they only buy your regulators in a tug of war that keeps you busy fighting for crumbs instead of having choice. Both parties have gotten good at mouth breathing how much they care about you...

    • by Shotgun ( 30919 )

      I agree. Not being sarcastic when I say that the local governments should have total control of any network that requires imminent domain to implement. That would include roads, railways, and communication networks. If it is important enough to the community for government to forcefully take someones property for it, it should be important enough for the government to retain control of it.

  • Be afraid. Be VERY afraid.
  • Until we have the text of the bill, I remain skeptic of the content. There's no mention of who wrote the bill, or who's sponsoring or co-sponsoring it. If Progressives aren't on board with it (AOC, Ro Khanna, Sanders, etc), then it's going to be a load of corporate horse crap.
    • If Progressives aren't on board with it (AOC, Ro Khanna, Sanders, etc), then it's going to be a load of corporate horse crap.

      And if "progressives" are on board with it, then it's going to be a load of warm-fuzzy feel-good virtue-signaling technobabble that imposes social sanctions on technical problems.

  • Read it and weep (Score:5, Insightful)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Monday March 04, 2019 @10:15PM (#58217054)

    I do hope everyone here will read what the bill ACTUALLY SAYS, rather than merely the claims that are going to be made about the bill...

    • by dgatwood ( 11270 ) on Tuesday March 05, 2019 @01:37AM (#58217624) Homepage Journal

      Unfortunately, this is true. It's a safe bet that it was written by lobbyists for their corporate masters, and that the American public will get totally and thoroughly screwed. I mean, I could be wrong, but statistically speaking, I'm probably not.

    • by x0 ( 32926 )

      I do hope everyone here will read what the bill ACTUALLY SAYS, rather than merely the claims that are going to be made about the bill...

      With Pelosi sponsoring the bill, no doubt you'll only be able to read it after it's been signed into law.

      m

  • The Internet is free and open.

    If you ever wondered how anyone will continue to believe in doomsday cult after supposed day of rapture come and goes with nothing happening, just look at "net neutrality" folks still bravely fighting to save the internet.

    • Actually, the un-title-II'ing went into effect far after the official FCC vote. So your day count is off.

      Also, the ISPs are aware of the public relations disaster that awaits them if they exploit the new rules at this moment. So they're not dumb enough to do much yet.

  • can we forever dispense with the "both parties are the same" nonsense ?

    my guess is not.

    and BTW, if you give a shit about the environment, they are most definitely not the same.

    • "Both parties are the same" is required to maintain the status quo. It also makes being a pundit way easier since it sounds intelligent and informed. You don't have to actually understand any issue, you can just type up a "both sides!!" op-ed and move on to the next cocktail party.

      You don't want those poor pundits to miss their cocktail parties by actually understanding the issues they cover, do you?

  • by Solandri ( 704621 ) on Tuesday March 05, 2019 @12:40AM (#58217502)
    The ISPs do not have natural monopolies. They have government-granted monopolies. Instead of passing Net Neutrality, which only attempts to address one of the symptoms of these monopolies, why not just solve the problem altogether? Pass legislation prohibiting local governments from granting monopolies. Require at least two cable and two phone companies in every local jurisdiction. Then if one of them tries something stupid like throttle Netflix as a ploy to extort Netflix into paying them, their customers will simply cancel and switch service to the competitor ISP.
    • by dgatwood ( 11270 ) on Tuesday March 05, 2019 @01:34AM (#58217620) Homepage Journal

      The ISPs do not have natural monopolies. They have government-granted monopolies.

      For the majority of the country, the monopoly is, indeed, a natural monopoly. The average lifespan of a second cable company in most of America is measured in single-digit years. We've seen it time and time again. A new company comes in because the old cable company is charging extortionate prices. The existing company drops their prices, undercutting the new company and preventing them from getting enough subscribers to pay off the interest on their physical plant (all those cable lines). After three to five years, the newcomer gives up and sells off its assets to the incumbent, who gets a new (often government-subsidized) network infrastructure at a fraction of the cost of building it themselves.

      A local government can "require" two cable companies all it wants to, but in practice, the only way that is ever going to happen is if that government steps in and pays for the cost of running the cable lines. Otherwise, there is way too much first-mover advantage for a second company to ever succeed. And this is true very nearly everywhere, with the possible exception of major cities.

      And if the government is building out the infrastructure anyway, then doing it for a for-profit company is just corporate welfare. Why not instead create competition the right way — by leasing the use of that infrastructure non-preferentially to any competitor that wants to do business in your community? This approach, unlike competing wire providers, actually works in practice.

      • The ISPs do not have natural monopolies. They have government-granted monopolies.

        For the majority of the country, the monopoly is, indeed, a natural monopoly. The average lifespan of a second cable company in most of America is measured in single-digit years.

        You make the same mistake of jumping from "ISP" to "cable company". Cable television infrastructure is just one way of delivering Internet services. If you want to talk about monopolies for ISPs, stick to ISPs. Then count the number of ISPs there are and see if "a lot more than one" doesn't put a crimp in the claim that there is any monopoly for ISPs.

        The OP makes the mistake of ignoring that there are NO government-granted monopolies for ISPs. Not a single one. There USED to be "exclusive franchises" for c

    • by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Tuesday March 05, 2019 @06:31AM (#58218174)

      You're viewing this to narrowly. Yes the ISP's monopoly is government granted, but it is also most definitely natural. Being an ISP has an incredibly expensive cost of entry which creates the natural monopoly. How do you fix that by legislation? You can't legislate a company into existence. Mandating competition where naturally none exists doesn't work. The only alternative is for the government to enter the field directly and pay for the infrastructure which is how countries get into this situation in the first place when the result gets privatised.

      There's a word for that: Duopoly and it's no better than a monopoly.

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Local loop unbundling (LLU). The company that owns the infrastructure is required by law to make it available to other ISPs at the same price it charges itself.

        LLU has worked in a number of countries. For example in the UK you have a choice of ISPs using BT's copper phone lines. Your ISP of choice installs their own hardware at the local exchange or in the cabinet near your house.

        It's far from perfect and there can be issues with the infrastructure owner not investing enough in the network (BT is definitely

        • LLU is not a silver bullet. It's a bandaid for a horrible situation. LLU reduces the incentive for any investment while at the same time creates a situation where the local loop is slowly left to rot. You can see that in Australia where they introduced LLU in the mid 00s only to steadily drop in world rankings for internet connection quality to say nothing of the brief drop in price which has now crept up way higher than it was when Telstra had their monopoly in the first place.

          • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

            The issues with lack of investment can be fixed by requiring a certain proportion of the fees to be used for investment, or better yet by forcing the fees on old technology down while keeping them higher for new stuff, creating an incentive to upgrade speeds and infrastructure.

            • At what point do you stop throwing regulation at it and just nationalise the infrastructure? After all you're suggesting the government should run it as it is. Throwing money at the problem while being run by private companies hasn't worked in the USA or Australia in the past, what makes you think the future looks any different?

              Plus careful. If you use that "R" word here the republicans may lynch you.

      • Yes the ISP's monopoly is government granted

        No, it isn't.

        Cable TV monopolies were granted by many municipalities in the 1970s and 1980s. Almost all of those monopolies had expiration dates that passed by 2000.

        Also, a cable TV monopoly is not an Internet Service monopoly. You can tell this because both the cable company and the phone company are offering to sell you Internet service.

        You can't legislate a company into existence

        Sure you can. [tva.gov] The TVA is a corporation created by the government. The government owns the company via being the primary (only?) shareholder.

        • No it isn't but yes it is?

          A government granted monopoly doesn't just expire if the result is that the recipient of it retains a natural monopoly as a result. It is still very much government granted. Also you're missing the last line of my post. Just because another alternative exists doesn't mean everything is magically okay. Having a duopoly between a cable provider and a phone based ISP is not much better than having a monopoly.

          Sure you can. [tva.gov] The TVA is a corporation created by the government. The government owns the company via being the primary (only?) shareholder.

          That's not legislating a company into existence. That's the government using

    • They have government-granted monopolies.

      No, they don't.

      Local governments granted cable TV monopolies in the 1970s and 1980s to spur the rollout of cable TV. Almost all of those monopolies had expiration dates, and those dates have passed.

      Also, a monopoly for cable TV does not grant a monopoly for Internet service. You can tell this by the fact that both the cable TV company and the phone company are offering you Internet service. If the old cable TV monopolies applied, the phone company couldn't offer you service.

      The "last mile" is the expensi

      • Almost all of those monopolies had expiration dates, and those dates have passed.

        The "monopolies" did not have expiration dates; the franchises had expiration dates. Had there not been federal law prohibiting exclusive franchises more than two decades ago, it would have been possible, and likely even, for those existing exclusive franchises to have been renewed as exclusive franchises. They could not legally be renewed as such, and so the "government-granted monopoly" status died with the renewed non-exclusive franchise.

        No one does it because the incumbent's natural monopoly will make it a money-losing proposition.

        It's not just the natural monopoly from being an incumbent that lim

  • STIA? Come on Democrats, you can do better
  • It appears that the future of ISPs is 5G wireless. If this net neutrality does not address wireless Internet connectivity, it will be of limited use going forward. My understanding is that the previous net neutrality declaration mostly did not apply to wireless. Many of the ISPs have stopped building out their wired infrastructure because they expect to be able to provide service wirelessly saving the large expense of maintaining the last mile to peoples homes.
  • Do people think this bill has any chance of passing if it's simply the same thing the FCC removed? Of course it won't! So this is just a political game. Dems will cry: Look the other guys don't want net neutrality!! The Republicans will cry: We want net neutrality, we just don't want it implemented the way it is. And the argument goes round and round. It's simply about D vs R. Nothing more. NEITHER care a bit about net neutrality. (sorry I'm sure there is a few in there but I'm a bit jaded)

    I have

    • I have an idea: Stop pushing legislation that is DOA and find some common ground and do some work.

      What, exactly, is the common ground between putting an immigrant child in a cage and not putting a child in a cage?

      What, exactly, is the common ground between government control of every woman's uterus and believing women are adults with the ability to make decisions?

      What, exactly, is the common ground between going to war and not going to war?

      There are very large differences in the beliefs of our two parties. Common ground is not possible on many of those differences. The "middle" of the policy differenc

  • As I see it, no one that maintains the Internet Backbone has a gun to their head. That means anytime these winy dogs want to step away, no one will stop them. Or better yet! Those who maintain the board rooms that lobby for doing to the Internet anything they please, create their own separate Backbone, and go it alone. And, god speed them along their way.
  • This is how it should be done -- supine, cowardly Congress changing the law rather than letting unelected regulators arrogate control of a trillion dollar industry based on phone control wording from the 70s.

    You know, the same casting off of other powers to the president you bitch, rightly, about now.

  • Noble, but It's such a lightning rod issue, and voting against it looks so bad that they will sneak all sorts of ugly into the bill. It's just too perfect an opportunity to slip in something for Safe spaces, Bullying, or ID politics.

    There's also the spooky way that the phrase "Legal Content" always gets used. I can't help but imagine the different ways this can be used to enable mass censorship of the net just by declaring such-and-such discussion illegal. An easy precedent would be 3d printed firearms.

    At t

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