No, Bert. What the FCC did in 2015 was to act unilaterally to SET policy
rather than implement it. Chairman Pai, who was on the board at the time of
this 'activist' action by the FCC Commission, simply 'unrung' the bell that
Chairman Wheeler took upon himself, with explicit direction from the
executive branch, rang. If Net Neutrality is vital to the operation of the
internet, then Congress and the President need to set policy for the FCC to
implement. To date, Congress has not.
With all of the hand-wringing over Chairman Pai's action, it's a wonder the
internet ever made it to 2015 in the first place.
Please be careful with political name-calling, Bert. I'd hate for this
forum of discussion to degenerate into the childish name-calling shouting
matches that Facebook and Twitter have devolved into.
Regards,
John
----- Original Message -----
From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2018 3:56 PM
Subject: [opendtv] Multichannel News: New York Governor Mandates Net
Neutrality in Contracts
Things are looking up. Just like the case of Montana, there is no reason yet, at least, to fear that these individual state mandates should be incompatible with one another, or hard to comply with.
And again I have to wonder, are all Republican suddenly brain-dead? How can they allow this issue to become partisan? What the FCC did in 2015 was totally logical and sensible, and legal, and the entire country (minus 3 or 4 companies, crooks on the take, and a few hopeless half-wits) was perfectly happy with the outcome. Why do Republicans feel obliged to put their minds in neutral, and slavishly repeat the mantra of self-serving crooks? It's truly beyond me.
Bert
---------------------------------------------------
http://www.multichannel.com/news/fcc/ny-governor-mandates-net-neutrality-contracts/417718
FCC
New York Governor Mandates Net Neutrality in Contracts
Cuomo says broadband suppliers must adhere to no blocking, throttling or prioritization
1/25/2018 1:54 PM Eastern
By: John Eggerton
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed an executive order that mandates net neutrality in state contracts for broadband service.
That follows a similar order signed earlier this week by Montana's Gov. Steve Bullock, also a Democrat.
The New York order's "whereas" clauses include a knock on the FCC and the ISPs who support the FCC's network neutrality regulations rollback: "Whereas the FCC recently chose to do away with fee and open internet protections in order to satisfy corporate interests that are not aligned with those of New Yorkers," it says.
On Dec. 14, a divided FCC -- the Democrats fiercely dissented -- voted to eliminate the FCC's rules against blocking, throttling and paid prioritization of internet traffic, saying the Federal Trade Commission could enforce any violations of fairness or competitiveness in the delivery of broadband service. ISPs have almost universally pledged not to block or throttle, while leaving the option open of paid prioritization.
The New York order requires that contractors adhere to network neutrality principles, defined as: "ISPs will not block, throttle, or prioritize internet content or applications or require that end users pay different or higher rates to access specific types of content or applications."
State entities can only enter into contracts with ISPs who sign that pledge, as it were.
The order affects any new contracts or contract renewals after March 1, 2018.
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