Pirate's Cove

This is excellent. Net Neutrality is a bad idea, that will damage innovation, increase prices, and give the federal government way too much power over the Internet, classifying it as a public, just like the energy sector. The minute the government took their hand off home phone service, along with long distance, that sector exploded, leading to the explosion of wireless phones. The internet has just been fine without the helping hand of government

Net neutrality dealt a final defeat in a blow to Democrats

A U.S. appeals court ruled on Thursday the Federal Communications Commission did not have legal authority to reinstate landmark net neutrality rules.

The decision is a blow to the outgoing Biden administration that had made restoring the open internet rules a priority. President Joe Biden signed a 2021 executive order encouraging the FCC to reinstate the rules.

A three-judge panel of the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the FCC lacked authority to reinstate the rules initially implemented in 2015 by the agency under Democratic former President Barack Obama, but then repealed by the commission in 2017 under Republican former President Donald Trump.

Net-neutrality rules require internet service providers to treat internet data and users equally rather than restricting access, slowing speeds or blocking content for certain users. The rules also forbid special arrangements in which ISPs give improved network speeds or access to favored users.

The court cited the Supreme Court’s June decision in a case known as Loper Bright to overturn a 1984 precedent that had given deference to government agencies in interpreting laws they administer, in the latest decision to curb the authority of federal agencies. “Applying Loper Bright means we can end the FCC’s vacillations,” the court ruled.

Good thing that Trump was able to put all those Constitutional judges on the Supreme Court, eh? Further, there is zero chance that the FCC will try to reinstate it over the next 4 years, and no way would it be possible for Congress to pass it, if the Democrats happen to take back the House and Senate after the 2026 elections.

FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel called on Congress to act after the decision. “Consumers across the country have told us again and again that they want an internet that is fast, open, and fair. With this decision it is clear that Congress now needs to heed their call, take up the charge for net neutrality, and put open internet principles in federal law,” Rosenworcel said in a statement.

Yeah, not happening, Democrat Jessica. If you explain the realities of what NN means most will say “nope. Keep your dirty stinking hands off the Internet, you damned Fascists!”