Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler on Thursday introduced a proposal to subsidize Internet access for low-income Americans, marking the agency’s strongest and most recent recognition that broadband services are an essential public utility. The plan seeks to expand the FCC’s $1.7 billion Lifeline program, which has helped more than 12 million low-income households pay…
A deal that would have given cable giant Comcast domination over nearly two-thirds of the American broadband market has fallen through. Comcast’s proposed $45 billion merger with Time Warner Cable took a hit this week when federal regulators told the company that they opposed the deal. The news comes after months of intense lobbying efforts…
Internet activists won a major victory on Thursday as the Federal Communications Commission approved its strongest net neutrality rules yet. The FCC commissioners voted to approve a plan that reclassifies both home broadband and mobile Internet as a utility. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler unveiled the proposal earlier this month in an op-ed featured on tech…
Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler confirmed on Wednesday that the FCC will have the chance to enact the strongest possible protections for the internet at its February 26 meeting. In an op-ed for Wired, Wheeler detailed some of the proposals he would present to the FCC, including reclassifying the Internet as a public utility…
In what could be a major victory for public alternatives to internet service giants, the Federal Communications Commission introduced a draft proposal to kill municipal broadband limits in two states this week. Commissioners are expected to vote on the proposal on February 26, the same day they are likely to vote on net neutrality regulations….
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will soon vote on a new set of net neutrality rules. The vote is likely to come at the FCC’s monthly meeting in February, which is scheduled to occur on February 26. The Washington Post’s Brian Fung reports: President Obama’s top telecom regulator, Tom Wheeler, told fellow FCC commissioners before…
We have long had a debate in the United States about the proper balance of government regulation. Some of these debates are legitimate concerns about government overreach; others have been perpetuated in the private sector to advance narrow economic interests, often at the expense of the general public. Right now, we are having a debate…
The Koch brothers will reportedly spend at least $250 million on the 2014 midterm elections — and that’s a conservative estimate. While the Kochs may have the fattest wallet in the game, they’re hardly alone: In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, spending on elections has skyrocketed. The Court’s more recent ruling…
