The courts turned down big Telecom’s demands to immediately kill Net Neutrality and somehow the Internet still works. But big Telecom’s House Republican stooges continue their war against consumers and the open Internet. The telecom lackeys have buried riders in a budget bill that would stop the FCC from enforcing the Net Neutrally regs until courts decide several challenges.
According to FierceCable, the GOP’s 2016 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill, unveiled recently, has three riders buried in the budget rules that:
Prevent the FCC from enforcing its net neutrality rules, pending what could be years of litigation.- Cut the FCC budget by $73 million.
- Prohibits the FCC from regulating rates for both wireline and wireless Internet services.
Harold Feld, senior VP at Public Knowledge, in a responding statement told FierceCable:
Worst of all, the Appropriations Committee ban on FCC enforcement that ‘directly or indirectly’ regulates prices would prevent the FCC from 
performing even the most basic consumer protection action, such as the recent FCC enforcement against wireless carriers requiring them to refund charges for services customers did not order or had discontinued.
Public Knowledge VP Feld concludes:
The Appropriations Committee would rather declare open season to rob American broadband subscribers with overcharges and ripoffs than allow the FCC to do its job.
Related articles
- So Far Net Neutrality Hasn’t Broken The Internet (techcrunch.com)
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.