UPDATED POST Association of Research Libraries Urges US House of Representatives to Restore Net Neutrality (June 11, 2018)
UPDATED POST Not Quite the End of Net Neutrality (via ALA District Dispatch)
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From Bloomberg:
The Obama-era net neutrality regulations that barred broadband providers from slowing or blocking internet traffic expired Monday, a major milestone in a debate that continues in the courts and Congress as Democrats press to restore the rules.
Democrats are less than 50 votes from advancing a resolution in the House of Representatives to reinstate the 2015 rules. The measure already passed the Senate. Meanwhile, web companies, 22 states and the District of Columbia are suing to overturn the December decision by the Republican-led Federal Communications Commission.
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From Slate:
Under the new network neutrality rules, internet service providers like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T are allowed to throttle traffic that travels over their network or even block access to entire websites as long as the companies alert their subscribers in their terms of service that they reserve the right to do so. But since most people in the United States don’t have more than one or two internet providers to choose from for broadband service, that means if users don’t wish to accept those terms, many won’t have anywhere else to go for their internet. Without net neutrality rules stopping them, internet providers will also be able to charge websites a fee to reach users faster.
Those internet providers stand to win the most from the net neutrality repeal, since they’ll be able to operate what is essentially a two-way toll, collecting money from both subscribers and websites that want priority access to users.
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From The NY Times
Several states have taken measures to ensure the rules stay in effect. For example, in March, Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington, a Democrat, signed a law that effectively replaced the federal rules. Others, including the governors of Montana and New York, used executive orders to force net neutrality.
As of late May, 29 state legislatures had introduced bills meant to ensure net neutrality, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Still, several of these measures have failed, some are still pending, and not every state has taken such actions.
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See Also: Four Ways to Survive the End Of Net Neutrality Today (via Co.Lab)
See Also: Roundup: Net Neutrality Rollback (Reports, Statements, Documents)
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