So for those one either side who think this will kill the internet, this is a solid read:
I just swam through 83 pages of dogshit (out of 210) for you autistic sperglords yall better get this to the front page.
jk just finished swimming through all 210 pages of the 2017 Net Neutrality Repeal and the 400 pages of the original 2015 Net Neutrality Regulations lol what if i was actually autistic that would be so funny lmao amirite guys rite amirite somebody gimme a high five im not actually autistic tho haha no way not me haha
Everyone here agrees that ISPs should not throttle/paywall/censor/restrict our content. Period. End of story. ISPs are notoriously shady, but here are some reassurances the FCC has given us:
FTC Privacy Regulation, sec.177 aka MARK SUCKERSPERG CAN’T STEAL YOUR PRIVATE RARE PEPE FETISH PORN COLLECTION:
Restoring FTC [Federal Trade Commission] jurisdiction over ISPs will enable the FTC to apply its extensive privacy and data security expertise to provide the uniform online privacy protections that consumers expect and deserve.*651
Direct quote from the homies: No throttling. FCC release, p.83
Many of the largest ISPs (Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, Cox, Frontier, etc.) have committed in this proceeding not to block or throttle legal content.507 These commitments can be enforced by the FTC under Section 5, protecting consumers without imposing public-utility regulation on ISPs.*508
b-but im an ISP I don’t wanna be transparent I just wanna bait-and-switch my customers while they watch intergalactic bdsm porn SORRY HUNNY U GETTN REGULATED (FCC release p.82):
The FTC’s unfair-and-deceptive-practices authority “prohibits companies from selling consumers one product or service but providing them something different,” which makes voluntary commitments enforceable.502 The FTC also requires the “disclos[ur]e [of] material information if not disclosing it would mislead the consumer,” so if an ISP “failed to disclose blocking, throttling, or other practices that would matter to a reasonable consumer, the FTC’s deception authority would apply.”*503
Conspiracy theorists put down your pitch-forks, ISPs cannot conspire. (FCC invokes Sherman Act Antitrust Laws, Section 144, p.85, FCC release)
Section 1 of the Sherman Act bars contracts, combinations, or conspiracies in restraint of trade, making anticompetitive arrangements illegal. If ISPs reached agreements to unfairly block, throttle, or discriminate against Internet conduct or applications, these agreements would be per seillegal under the antitrust laws.*518
**UNLIMITED NETFLIXXX, [UNCENSORED EDITION] **
If an ISP that also sells video services degrades the speed or quality of competing “Over the Top” video services (such as Netflix),526 that conduct could be challenged as anticompetitive foreclosure.
Obama & The Globalist Friendship Squad attempted to create a communist takeover safe space on the internet.
We also conclude that the Commission should have been cautioned against reclassifying broadband Internet access service as a telecommunications service in 2015 because doing so involved “laying claim to extravagant statutory power over the national economy …"
AT&T got uppity, tried to slide a fat & nasty nude into America’s DMs and the FCC said behave yourself hunny. FCC now reserves the right to return to Title II (Obama Net Neutrality) regulations if ISP fuckers get uppity.
176.We also reject AT&T’s assertion that the Commission should conditionally forbear from all Title II regulations as a preventive measure to address the contingency that a future Commission might seek to reinstate the Title II Order.647 Although AT&T explains that “conditional forbearance would provide an extra level of insurance against the contingency that a future, politically motivated Commission might try to reinstate a ‘common carrier’ classification [2015 Net Neutrality Regulations],”648 we see no need to address the complicated question of prophylactic forbearance and find such extraordinary measures [are] unnecessary.
TLDR
- Regulatory rollback throwback to 90’s.
- FCC claims the 2015 Regulations gave the government “extravagant statutory power over the national economy”. * laughs in Kenyan *
- Regulatory oversight of the ISP industry shifts back to FTC (Federal Trade Commission) as it has been since the invention of the internet.
- FCC is enforcing against throttling, censorship, restriction, etc. by invoking consumer protection and anti-trust laws (via FTC).
- If ISPs collectively conspire to paywall a content-provider, they are subject to FTC anti-trust penetration.
- FCC has reduced its own jurisdiction, because they’re typically geared toward stricter and narrower regulations (censoring profanity on the radio, cable, etc.) as opposed to regulating the entire internet service-provider industry.
- FCC repeatedly acknowledges that its new policy is deliberately business-friendly in hopes to expand the economy (internet plays a huge role obviously). Acknowledges that potential abuse of this friendliness will result in stricter policy.
- America has some of the shittiest internet in the world because our infrastructure is antiquated and fiber-optic trenching projects keep getting killed. Hopefully this provides the investment needed to fix that. Better infrastructure means faster speeds and cheaper service.
- Remember all the Congressmen who wanted to sell out our personal information earlier this year? Allegedly this FCC repeal will block that, because of FTC consumer privacy protection regulations don’t allow it.
How this will negatively affect you:
The major loophole lies here:
Many of the largest ISPs have committed to not to block or throttle legal content.507 These commitments can be enforced by the FTC…
FTC can only prevent throtting/blocking/etc because that’s what ISPs are advertising. If multiple ISPs each individually stop advertising it, it’s not immediately clear that the FTC can hold them all accountable to it. However, if the ISPs collude to collectively enact abusive policies, then the FTC can fuck them up. But if an ISP paywalls websites, they must explicitly notify consumers. If customers have no alternative ISP and are forced to obey their one ISP’s abusive policies, then the FTC can declare them a monopoly. That would whip up a shitstorm for the ISP, but it could still happen.
Later in the report the FCC admits that they are eliminating the Bright-Line Rules, which is bad for us.
FCC Bright-Line / Open Internet Rules
No Blocking
No Throttling
No Paid-Prioritization
The FCC Bright Line Rules are replaced with FTC regulations:
No monopolies. (lookin at you comcast)
No collusion. (still lookin at you)
No consumer abuse
No unfair business practice. (holy fuck comcast)
The report clarifies that the repeal of FCC Bright Line does not inhibit the FTC from enforcing an open internet, and regulation enforcement is delegated to the FTC heretofore. (FTC has a good record protecting consumers).
In the unlikely event that ISPs engage in conduct that harms Internet openness, despite the paucity of evidence of such incidents, we find that utility-style regulation is unnecessary to address such conduct. Other legal regimes—particularly antitrust law and the FTC’s authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act to prohibit unfair and deceptive practices—provide protection for consumers.
The FCC admits that this has the potential to become a problem. They claim it is highly unlikely because the FTC can come in and penetrate ISPs who act as monopolies. Plus, content providers (Google, Amazon, etc.) have an obscenely higher market capitalization than ISP’s (Google alone has higher market cap than all ISP’s combined), and that they can easily pressure ISPs to obey.
For example:
Comcast tries to throttle Netflix.
Netflix says fuck you we won’t serve any of your Comcast kind here.
Comcast customers can’t watch Stranger Things.
Comcast customers screech autistically.
Everyone (who can) leaves Comcast.
If nobody can leave Comcast, the FTC can declare Comcast a monopoly and bust their nuts.
Thus the FCC concludes it is unlikely that ISPs will paywall their content providers because content-providers will easily prevent them from doing it. FCC asserts that monopolies like Comcast will be combated with FTC anti-monopoly regulation, increased competition, and more ISP choices for customers that will drive price down and quality up. FCC will address individual ISP violations case by case if/when they arise.
I can't imagine anything more unfair than Comcast monopolizing your internet and restricting it.Consumer Protection. The FTC has broad authority to protect consumers from “unfair or deceptive acts or practices.”*495
The FCC could have done more, to be honest, since the nonzero possibility still exists that paid-prioritization of content may emerge in the future if the FTC fails to bust monopolies like Comcast, and/or if the markets fail to produce enough ISP competitors. Keep your eyes open and stay vigilant.
CONCLUSION: The repeal is better than we thought, but could be better keeping Open-Internet Rules.