The gauntlet has been thrown down and a show down is brewing. On April 6th, A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit unanimously tossed out the FCC’s August 2008 cease and desist order against Comcast, which had taken measures to stop their ‘management’ of BitTorrent transfers.
Because the FCC “has failed to tie its assertion” of regulatory authority to an actual law enacted by Congress, the agency does not have the power to regulate an Internet provider’s network management practices, wrote Judge David Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. [But Your Honor, isn't the whole concept of Network Management as it pertains to the Internet contrary to the fundamental tenets of Net Neutrality?]
So, what is this “Net Neutrality” that everyone is making such a fuss about? Here’s a quick and dirty video to give you the run down.
So that sounds simple enough, right? Well here’s the rest of the story…
The April 6th decision could doom the whole initiative to empower the FCC along these lines. Comcast (and other ISPs for that matter) can now BLOCK ANY AND ALL WEB SITES without any fear of repercussions and could eliminate the agency’s ability to write new open- Internet rules.
Fortunately this is not the end. The FCC may appeal the case, and may seriously consider placing Internet services into a stricter regulatory classification by moving Internet service under telephone rules which could happen with a simple simple majority vote within the agency. [To some this might seem like a step backward, but from a political standpoint, it may be a necessary evil to get the job done]
The large ISPs claim that such a reclassification of Internet service would have far-reaching and destructive consequences including years of investment-deterring uncertainty and litigation. [Whatever! The bottom line is that if we want The Internet to continue to be The Internet, then someone need to keep these big boys on a leash]
So what can you do you ask? Go to “Save The Internet” which is sponsored by Free Press and sign the petition. Let the FCC know that you are on their side. Tell them that you want the regulations needed to insure that the Internet will not be turned into something else altogether. Tell them you want regulated pricing for Internet services. Let them know that we believe in the free market, but the large ISPs refuse to compete on price which creates an artificially inflated cost to the consumers.
Click here >>>> “Save The Internet”
[...and Thank You for your support]