BIG NEWS: It's official: the FCC will seek to reclassify the internet as a utility

Today, in a statement given to Wired, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler revealed his plan to reclassify ISPs as common carriers under Title II of the Telecommunications Act. It's a striking victory for net neutrality advocates who have been fighting for years to solidify internet protections using Title II authority — and it's the first time the FCC has shown enough backbone to draw a line in the sand against companies like Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon, who are sure to fight viciously in courts to reverse this action.

It’s time to put in place rules to preserve the #OpenInternet that has become an indispensable part of our daily lives. #TitleII
— Tom Wheeler (@TomWheelerFCC) February 4, 2015

"I am submitting to my colleagues the strongest open internet protections ever proposed by the FCC," Wheeler wrote. "These enforceable, bright-line rules will ban paid prioritization, and the blocking and throttling of lawful content and services."

"My proposal assures the rights of internet users to go where they want, when they want."

The biggest revelation from the proposal is the decision to lump wireless networks in with wired broadband, something the FCC has avoided doing for years thanks to enormous pressure from Verizon and AT&T. "I propose to fully apply — for the first time ever — those bright-line rules to mobile broadband," Wheeler wrote. "My proposal assures the rights of internet users to go where they want, when they want, and the rights of innovators to introduce new products without asking anyone's permission." Including wireless providers in the rules is a hugely important move, since we've seen that the biggest players have been willing and able to abuse internet openness. AT&T once blocked FaceTime for completely arbitrary reasons, and most recently, T-Mobile has disregarded the principles of net neutrality by giving some music companies special exemptions from data caps.

Wheeler specifically calls out AT&T in his statement as justification for the kind of regulation the FCC now seeks, noting that the internet as we know it wouldn't exist if the commission had not established open access rules in the 1960s. "Before then, AT&T prohibited anyone from attaching non-AT&T equipment to the network," Wheeler wrote. "The modems that enabled the internet were usable only because the FCC required the network to be open."

"The modems that enabled the internet were usable only because the FCC required the network to be open."

http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/4/7977569/its-official-the-fcc-will-seek-to-reclassify-the-internet-as-a-utility

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Comment by Aka Anonymous on February 5, 2015 at 11:15pm: welcome to the real world

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and

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Comment by Amaterasu Solar on February 5, 2015 at 3:53pm: Well, as most of You readers know, removing the use of money from society would make this a non-issue. The ONLY purpose of ALL corporations is profit, and that's the only motive here. Whether it is money or, as is clear it really is, power over Others, some few on this planet want the legal ability to profit in control of the rest of Us.

Given that all this is happening within this system of "authority" under "law," with money giving the power to enforce, and that money systems promote any psychopaths in the society to the top of the heap... This is better than than the opposite.

So, maybe We might want to consider a system in which We earn respect through Our contribution to betterment as free Individuals creating the best of what We love to do, solving problems within Ethics. I'm guessing that We would see better - MUCH better - emerge from Humanity.

The hour is getting late, dear Ones. We best might stop pointing at the symptoms and minor remedies, and instead, move towards solutions.

I think, anyway. [smile]