How Many Legs Does A Dog Have...

FCC's Net Neutrality

,,, if you call FCC's proposed new Section 706-based rules "net neutrality"? Well, surely not more than three. As Michael Weinberg, vice president of Public Knowledge, paraphrased by Juan Cole at Informed Comment, said (as best I can parse it), "The FCC’s proposal still falls well short of real net neutrality rules," and [b]ecause of its emphasis on Section 706, “[i]t would create a two-tier internet where ‘commercially reasonable’ discrimination is allowed on any connections that exceed an unknown 'minimum level of access' defined by the FCC. A two-tier internet is anathema to a truly open internet, and rules under section 706 authority are insufficient to prevent harmful paid prioritization."

For what it's worth, the Commission voted for this proposed rule 3-2 along party lines. I.e., for one rare time, I find myself siding with the Commission's Republicans, though I suspect they voted against the rule because Obama proposed it, and they are determined to oppose his every move from now until the end of his term. Still, there is no one on the Commission who truly backs the apparent public majority view, favoring genuine net neutrality. There is still a four-month public comment period, but in Obama's administration, as in Bush Junior's before him, one needn't hold one's breath hoping public comments will affect a damned thing.

In short: it was your internet; it isn't yours anymore. Bite deep into the shit and try to like it.