Last Thursday, Verizon proudly announced that it would begin offering "data-free streaming," joining a growing number of carriers that are letting customers stream videos and music from specific services without it counting against monthly usage caps. That might sound like a sweet deal, but it also undermines the basic principles of Net Neutrality.
Internet privacy rules just got a step closer to being rolled back. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Friday added his name to the list of co-sponsors of a resolution that would undo FCC rules preventing broadband internet providers from collecting certain kinds of customer information.
You might think that the head of the Federal Communications Commission would object to President Trump's incendiary description of news organizations as "the enemy of the American people." But you'd be wrong.
A coalition of 171 public interest groups have sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission and Senate leaders urging them not to kill the agency's 2015 Net Neutrality rules. In the letter, groups including Consumers Union, Public Knowledge, the ACLU, EFF, Free Press and more note that the rules have massive public support.
The nation's largest broadband companies, including Comcast, AT&T and Verizon, hate federal rules approved last year that require them to obtain "opt-in" consent before using, sharing or selling private consumer data.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai claimed that even if the agency’s privacy rules are undone, the FCC would still be obligated by communications law to protect consumer information.
The FCC is asking the public for comment on a recent decision to revoke nine companies’ participation in a subsidy program designed to help low-income households gain internet access.
Donald Trump, who has never been shy about demanding that the media do his bidding, now has the power to shape the rules that define the future of newspapers, broadcast media and the internet.