4 ms·

The FCC can regulate the internet under title II. They are simply refusing to.

mikeyouse 13y ago
In 2002, Colin Powell's son, Michael, was the Chairman of the FCC. He determined that broadband services weren't covered by Title II, and that they could be regulated 'better' under different statutes. That is the genesis for all of these problems. Today, Michael Powell is the President of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.[1] Of course, today's FCC could walk that Title II ruling back, and reclassify ISPs from Title I to Title II, but that would be met with lawsuits for years. 1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Powell_(politician) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Powell_(politician)
- dragonwriter 13y ago
  Whatever the FCC does (well, except maybe not regulating at all) is going to be met with lawsuits for years.
  - jessaustin 13y ago
    I'm pretty confident there would be lawsuits following a decision not to regulate at all, as well. "But, but, if the FCC isn't there to slow down unlicensed spectrum tech, all our exurban and rural customers will just sign on with their local WISP, and we won't be able to charge them lots of money for crappy service anymore! Then after that tech is in use for a couple of years, pretty soon it will be good enough even for densely-packed suburbs, and there goes that captive market! What would be left for us, running fiber to the inner city? What have we been paying you people for?!"
- noobermin 13y ago
  Are the lawsuits the only difficulty? Is precedent so important for something like the FCC? I can imagine it, I guess. I'm asking out of curiousity.
  - mikeyouse 13y ago
    The FCC has a pretty wide mandate, so yeah the lawsuits would be the biggest stumbling block. If their board of commissioners wanted to, they could reclassify all ISPs tomorrow and assert their authority. If however, their reclassification was overturned, it would significantly weaken their stance on all other regulatory matters. I half wonder if the reason they haven't reclassified yet is to hold that threat over the telecoms to make them play nice.

In 2002, Colin Powell's son, Michael, was the Chairman of the FCC. He determined that broadband services weren't covered by Title II, and that they could be regulated 'better' under different statutes. That is the genesis for all of these problems. Today, Michael Powell is the President of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.[1] Of course, today's FCC could walk that Title II ruling back, and reclassify ISPs from Title I to Title II, but that would be met with lawsuits for years. 1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Powell_(politician) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Powell_(politician)

dragonwriter 13y ago
Whatever the FCC does (well, except maybe not regulating at all) is going to be met with lawsuits for years.
- jessaustin 13y ago
  I'm pretty confident there would be lawsuits following a decision not to regulate at all, as well. "But, but, if the FCC isn't there to slow down unlicensed spectrum tech, all our exurban and rural customers will just sign on with their local WISP, and we won't be able to charge them lots of money for crappy service anymore! Then after that tech is in use for a couple of years, pretty soon it will be good enough even for densely-packed suburbs, and there goes that captive market! What would be left for us, running fiber to the inner city? What have we been paying you people for?!"
noobermin 13y ago
Are the lawsuits the only difficulty? Is precedent so important for something like the FCC? I can imagine it, I guess. I'm asking out of curiousity.
- mikeyouse 13y ago
  The FCC has a pretty wide mandate, so yeah the lawsuits would be the biggest stumbling block. If their board of commissioners wanted to, they could reclassify all ISPs tomorrow and assert their authority. If however, their reclassification was overturned, it would significantly weaken their stance on all other regulatory matters. I half wonder if the reason they haven't reclassified yet is to hold that threat over the telecoms to make them play nice.