Welp, Net Neutrality Is Dead

Photo credit: FCC
Photo credit: FCC

From Popular Mechanics

Today, the FCC Commission officially repealed net neutrality protections despite protests, bipartisan opposition from Congress, and strong opposition from members of the FCC Commission's own members.

In a powerful statement against repeal given during the hearing, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn put it this way:

Many have asked, what happens next? How will all of this – Net Neutrality, my internet experience, look after today? My answer is simple. When the current protections are abandoned, and the rules that have been officially in place since 2015 are repealed, we will have a Cheshire cat version of net neutrality. We will be in a world where regulatory substance fades to black, and all that is left is a broadband provider’s toothy grin and those oh so comforting words: we have every incentive to do the right thing. What they will soon have, is every incentive to do their own thing.

Now the results of throwing out your Net Neutrality protections, may not be felt right away. Most of us will get up tomorrow morning and over the next week, wade through hundreds of headlines, turn away from those endless prognosticators, and submerge ourselves in a sea of holiday bliss. But what we have wrought will one day be apparent and by then, when you really see what has changed, I fear, it may not only be too late to do anything about it, because there will be no agency empowered to address your concerns. This item insidiously ensures the FCC will never be able to fully grasp the harm it may have unleashed on the internet ecosystem.

Nonetheless, the repeal passed at approximately 1:15 PM EST with a vote of 3 to 2 after a bomb threat briefly disrupted the hearing.

You Might Also Like