FCC
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The FCC’s dangerous proposal to classify mobile as broadband hides a good idea
There’s an FCC proposal that everyone is up in arms about, but it’s not net neutrality. Or the privacy thing. Or prison calling reform. This one proposes equating mobile and fixed broadband for the purposes of tracking the health of internet access in America. That’s a bad idea for several reasons — but there’s a good one hiding right next to it. Read More
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Apple defends the open internet in a letter to the FCC
On the heels of setting the date for its big fall iPhone event, Apple is coming out swinging for net neutrality. In a letter to the FCC, Apple’s U.S. Vice President for Public Policy Cynthia Hogan advocates for the open internet, cautioning against practices that would allow providers to favor some forms of traffic while throttling the speed of others. Read More
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Today is your last chance to comment on the proposal to kill net neutrality
With more than 20 million comments, the FCC’s inaptly named “Restoring Internet Freedom” proposal to gut net neutrality rules as we know them, is the most controversial measure the agency has ever taken. Hardly a company or trade group has failed to make its opinion known in one form or another, and millions of individuals have weighed in as well. If you haven’t yet, now… Read More
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Independent inquiry called for in FCC’s secretive cyberattack claims
The FCC’s claim that its commenting system was attacked on the night of May 7 has been the subject of considerable controversy, but not because of the attack itself. The agency has been so reluctant to release any substantive details about the attack or the countermeasures it has taken since that Congress is calling for an independent investigation by the Government Accountability Office. Read More
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FCC’s favors for Sinclair are the natural byproduct of a pro-industry agenda
Several Representatives are asking for an explanation for why so many of the FCC’s actions seem to benefit Sinclair Broadcast Group, and a New York Times report details a rather cozy relationship between the two. There’s no big conspiracy, though. Sinclair benefits because the FCC is deregulating these industries at their request and on their terms — as Chairman Pai has… Read More
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FCC adds 2 weeks to comment period for the proposal to eliminate net neutrality rules
The comment period for the FCC’s proposal to roll back the net neutrality rules established in 2015 was originally August 16 — next Wednesday. But after advocacy organizations asked the agency to add time to the clock in order to look through existing comments, the deadline has been extended (against the strenuous arguments of the broadband industry) by two weeks, to August 30. Read More
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10 Members of Congress rake FCC over the coals in official net neutrality comment
How and to what extent the FCC should regulate the internet has been a hot question for years, and the present administration is proposing to eliminate the 2015 Order that created net neutrality rules. But Congress isn’t going to take that lying down: 10 Representatives who helped craft the law governing the FCC itself have submitted an official comment on the proposal ruthlessly… Read More
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FCC fills vacant seats as Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendan Carr are confirmed by Senate
You might not think it from the amount of controversy the agency has generated recently, but the FCC has been operating on a skeleton crew of three commissioners since the beginning of the year. That will soon no longer be the case, however, as the Senate has just confirmed Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendan Carr into the vacant positions, bringing the Commission to its five-person maximum. Read More
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FCC says its cybersecurity measures to prevent DDoS attacks must remain secret
The FCC has provided a few — very few — details of the steps it has taken to prevent attacks like the one that briefly took down its comment system in May. The agency has faced criticism over its secrecy regarding the event, and shows no sign of opening up; citing “the ongoing nature of the threats,” to reveal its countermeasures would “undermine our… Read More
Latest Crunch Report
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Comcast’s FCC filing pits pet economists against net neutrality rules
Comcast has filed its official commentary on the FCC’s proposal to roll back 2015’s Open Internet Order, and it’s about what you’d expect: a selectively thorough takedown that relies heavily on analysis by friendly economists to support the ISP’s view. Read More
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Net Neutrality Day of Action spurs millions to speak out for online freedoms
Yesterday was the much-ballyhooed “Net Neutrality Day of Action,” an online protest day on which thousands of websites, people and services called attention to the impending revocation of net neutrality rules by the FCC. And the turnout, it turns out, was quite impressive. Read More
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Accessibility and communication apps take FCC honors
It may seem strange to see a headline with “FCC” in it that doesn’t concern net neutrality. But the Commission has a wide variety of responsibilities, among which is promoting and enabling tech that empowers people with disabilities to take advantage of the internet and its many services. Several companies creating such tech just got accolades from the FCC today. Read More
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Senators ask FBI to look into FCC’s cyberattack claims
The FCC claimed earlier this month that the comment system by which people can weigh in on the proposal to kill net neutrality had been on the receiving end of a distributed denial-of-service attack. Today, a group of Senators asked that the FBI look into it. Read More
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Commission Impossible: How and why the FCC created net neutrality
The conflict over net neutrality we see playing out today is just the latest part of a complex dance of dispute that has been going on for quite a long time — longer than you might think. In order to understand what’s happening to the internet today and how we can keep it free and open in the future, we have to consult its past. Read More
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The FCC’s case against net neutrality rests on a deliberate misrepresentation of how the internet works
The FCC has just published the notice of proposed rulemaking that would roll back the 2015 Open Internet Order establishing net neutrality. Their first and primary justification for doing this is a way of defining broadband access that’s so backwards it’s ridiculous. It would be funny, if the future of the internet didn’t depend on this incredibly disingenuous maneuvering. Read More
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These are the arguments against net neutrality — and why they’re wrong
The next few months will be full of bitter dissent regarding the FCC’s net neutrality rules, how they should be enforced, and indeed whether they should exist at all. Several primary arguments against the rules as they stand have appeared as talking points or recurring themes; they are worth considering seriously and refuting definitively if possible. That’s what I’m hoping… Read More
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Weekly Roundup: WannaCry ransomware attack, Google I/O, RecordGram wins Startup Battlefield
This week the TechCrunch team threw another successful Disrupt conference, this time in New York City. 20 companies took the stage at TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield, where they presented their products and took questions from our expert judges. The judges narrowed the competition down to five finalists. But RecordGram, a mobile recording studio where aspiring artists can find… Read More
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The FCC officially proposes to end net neutrality rules (but it’s not over yet)
Today the FCC voted to officially propose an order that would eliminate net neutrality rules as we know them. To be clear, the rules are not being adopted today — that vote will be about three months from now, during which time the proposal is open for comment. Read More
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