[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4cast #532: What is the FCC doing with our internet?

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OPLIN 4cast #532: What is the FCC doing with our internet?
March 1st, 2017

[image: FCC -Realistic Neon Sign on Brick Wall background] People didn’t
seem to pay much attention in days gone by to what the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) was doing. Most of the FCC’s business
seemed to be none of our business, but the FCC regulates many aspects of
the internet in the United States, and since the internet has become so
important to us, so too have the FCC’s activities become consequential.
Over the past decade, the FCC has become politically divided and made many
decisions that are now being rescinded by the new administration in
Washington. Recent policy reversals affecting the Lifeline program,
internet privacy and net neutrality are concerning to advocates for a
consumer-friendly internet, and the retraction of an FCC report on E-rate
modernization has alarmed the American Library Association
<http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2017/02/ala-denounces-recent-fcc-lifeline-revocations-report-retractions>.
While it is not yet clear if the FCC will be making any changes to E-rate,
in the past few weeks it has certainly become clear that the new FCC will
be very different from the old FCC in its approach to the internet.
- Think the internet is polarized? Just look at the FCC these days
<https://www.wired.com/2017/02/polarized-fcc-become-mirror-internet/>
(Wired | Klint Finley)  “[…Former FCC Chairman Tom] Wheeler pursued an
agenda more in line with that of consumer advocacy groups, regardless of
what the telco industry wanted. First, Wheeler embraced reclassifying
internet providers to increase the FCC’s ability to enforce net neutrality.
Then, under his leadership, the FCC passed strict privacy rules
<https://www.wired.com/2017/02/republicans-trying-let-internet-providers-sell-data/>
for internet providers, expanded the Lifeline program to subsidize internet
access in addition to phone service, and was set to vote on a proposal
<https://www.wired.com/2017/02/comcast-looks-set-keep-controlling-cable-box-yay/>
that could have ended pay TV’s providers’ cable box monopoly. Republicans
on the commission opposed each of these acts.”
- FCC Chairman and his predecessor set the stage for another battle over
net neutrality
<http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/fcc-net-neutrality-aji-pai-tom-wheeler-1201998906/>
(Variety | Ted Johnson)  “Speaking at the Mobile World Congress in
Barcelona, [current FCC Chairman Ajit] Pai said that it has become ‘evident
that the FCC made a mistake’ in its passage of net neutrality rules in
2015, in which the agency reclassified internet service as a common
carrier. Pai, along with other critics of the move, consider the approach
‘last-century, utility-style regulation to today’s broadband networks.’ […]
In his speech, he said that they ‘recognize that government does have a
role to play when it comes to broadband.’ ‘So our approach will be not zero
regulation, but light-touch regulation — rules backed by long-standing
principles of competition law,’ he said. Pai, however, will likely face
opposition to any effort to repeal or weaken the rules, as Democrats on
Capitol Hill already have held a press conference to warn of such a move
and public interest groups have been mobilizing for a new battle for the
open internet.”
- FCC rescinds claim that AT&T and Verizon violated net neutrality
<https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/02/fcc-rescinds-claim-that-att-and-verizon-violated-net-neutrality/>
(Ars Technica | Jon Brodkin)  “[FCC Democratic Commissioner Mignon] Clyburn
pointed out that Pai was previously critical of the FCC ‘for not providing
sufficient reasoning behind its decisions.’ ‘My office requested more than
the allotted two days to review the dozen items released today. We were
rebuffed,’ Clyburn said. […] Pai issued a statement of his own, saying the
FCC’s previous leadership ‘released a series of controversial orders and
reports’ during ‘the waning days’ of the Obama administration. ‘In some
cases, commissioners were given no advance notice whatsoever of these
midnight regulations,’ Pai said. ‘In other cases, they were issued over the
objection of two of the four commissioners. And in all cases, their release
ran contrary to the wishes expressed by the leadership of our congressional
oversight committees.’”
- Thune open to moving new broadband infrastructure spending through FCC
<https://morningconsult.com/2017/03/01/thune-open-moving-new-broadband-infrastructure-spending-fcc/>
(Morning Consult | Brendan Bordelon)  “The Universal Service Fund [program
of the FCC] allocates $4.5 billion annually, from user fees, for rural
broadband investment. Additional congressional appropriations would be on
top of that, and [Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John] Thune said he
believes the USF could administer congressional funds appropriately given
their experience in the broadband marketplace. ‘I like what the FCC is
doing, I think that’s a step in the right direction,’ Thune said. ‘Having
visibility into that — into all those funds — and figuring how best to
streamline them and be able to have some accountability measures, I think
is something I’d like to see the FCC do more with.’”

*Articles from Ohio Web Library <http://ohioweblibrary.org>:*

   - The political economy of net neutrality regulation.
   <http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=108673355>
   (*Economists’ Voice*, Aug.2015, p.13-18 | Dennis L. Weisman)
   - Adding broadband to Lifeline program gets broad support, but views
   vary on other reforms.
   <http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=114543045>
   (*Telecommunications Reports*, 9/15/2015, p.1,36-45 | Brian Hammond)
   - The downside of the FCC’s new internet privacy rules.
   <http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=118683664>
   (*Harvard Business Review Digital Articles*, 5/27/2016, p.2-6 | Larry
   Downes)

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