FCC

Feds move to block China-owned telecom service from operating in US

The Justice Department and other executive branch agencies recommended Thursday that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revoke and terminate China Telecom Corp.’s authorizations to provide international telecommunication services to and from the U.S. “Today, more than ever, the life of the nation and its people runs on our telecommunications networks,” said John C. Demers, assistant attorney general for national security. “The security of our government and professional communications, as well as of our most private data, depends on our use of trusted partners from nations that share our values and our aspirations for humanity,” Demers said in a statement. The Justice Department reviewed China Telecom’s authorizations and determined the company had failed to comply with the terms of an existing agreement with the department. China Telecom is a subsidiary of the People’s Republic of China state-owned telecommunications company. In its recommendation, the executive branch agencies cited “increased knowledge of the PRC’s role in malicious cyber activity targeting the United States” and “concerns that China Telecom is vulnerable to exploitation, influence, and control by the PRC government.” The FCC last May voted unanimously to deny another Chinese state-owned telecommunications company, China Mobile Ltd., the right to provide service in the U.S., saying the Chinese government could use the company to conduct espionage on the U.S. government. It said then it was “looking” at China Telecom’s license. Earlier Wednesday, the DOJ gave Google clearance to build and operate a subsea cable between the U.S. and Taiwan, which is governed separately from China but which China asserts sovereignty over. The DOJ however banned any connection to Hong Kong, where the Chinese government has strengthened control in recent years, much to the ire of hundreds of thousands of protesters in 2019.

Kudos to our DOJ for taking this common-sense stance for our national security.  We cannot afford to trust the communist Chinese government with our telecom infrastructure.  For more, click on the text above.

 

White House: Net Neutrality Repeal Raises Annual Incomes by $50 Billion

A White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) report released this week found that the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) repeal of the agency’s 2015 net neutrality regulation raised annual incomes by $50 billion. According to the CEA’s February “Economic Report of the President,” the FCC’s repeal of net neutrality regulation raised real annual incomes by more than $50 billion per year and consumer welfare by nearly $40 billion per year. Net neutrality passed under former Democrat FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in 2015. The rule, known as the Open Internet Order, reclassified the Internet as a public utility. Critics criticized the rule, stating that it would diminish the freedom of the Internet. Proponents argue that the regulations prevent Internet service providers (ISPs) from discriminating against content providers. The Restoring Internet Freedom Order reclassified the Internet as an “information service” and requires Internet service providers (ISPs) such as Comcast or Verizon to release transparency reports detailing their practices on blocking, throttling, and data prioritization for consumers and businesses. The FCC’s net neutrality repeal order restored the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) traditional authority and expertise to regulate and litigate unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive telecommunications practices without onerous regulations and increased cost. The CEA said that FCC’s regulations against blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization as well classification of ISPs as public utilities “restricted the vertical pricing arrangements of ISPs—that is, monetary transactions between ISPs and the providers of Internet content such as Netflix and Yahoo.” The council added that the rule “imposed government oversight on communication services, making it difficult for these companies to quickly respond to competition and provide new goods and services on the market.” The CEA also found that Congress’ repeal of the Wheeler broadband privacy rule would raise incomes by $22 billion every year. The council found that Congress’ repeal of the rule led to lower broadband prices. “Wireless service prices fell at the same time that Congress was considering the resolution of disapproval, and wired Internet prices fell a couple of months later,” the CEA wrote.

So, to be clear..  When Dems are in power, they take away our freedoms, regulate everything, and make things more expensive.  Then, when someone like Trump comes along, he gets rid of such red tape nonsense, and the private sector does better and we all make more money.

FCC Repeals Obama-Era Net Neutrality Rule

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed the FCC’s “Restoring Internet Freedom Order” on Thursday, which will repeal the agency’s 2015 net neutrality regulation. Chairman Pai told Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Monday, “I think what net neutrality repealed would actually mean is we once again have a free and open Internet. The government would not be regulating how anyone in the Internet service providers, how anyone else in the internet economy manages their networks.” The FCC’s Restoring Internet Freedom order will reclassify the Internet as an “information service” compared to the FCC’s 2015 net neutrality order, which regulated the Internet as a public monopoly. The order will also require Internet service providers (ISPs) such as Comcast or Verizon to release transparency reports detailing their practices towards consumers and businesses. The FCC’s net neutrality repeal order will also restore the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) traditional authority and expertise to regulate and litigate unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive telecommunications practices without onerous regulations and increased cost. On Monday the FCC and the FTC agreed to share the responsibility to police unfair ISP practices regarding unfair or deceptive practices to block, throttle, or promote web content. Chairman Pai explained in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal why repealing net neutrality will preserve a free and open internet. Pai wrote: ” We have proof that markets work: For almost two decades, the U.S. had a free and open internet without these heavy-handed rules. There was no market failure before 2015. Americans weren’t living in a digital dystopia before the FCC seized power. To the contrary, millions enjoyed an online economy that was the envy of the world. They experienced the most powerful platform ever seen for permission-less innovation and expression. Next month, I hope the FCC will choose to return to the common-sense policies that helped the online world transform the physical one.”

And they apparently did, today.  Excellent!!  To read the rest of this story, click on the text above.

Opinion: How the FCC Can Save the Open Internet

As millions flocked to the web for the first time in the 1990s, President Clinton and a Republican Congress decided “to preserve the vibrant and competitive free market that presently exists for the Internet.” In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the government called for an internet “unfettered by Federal or State regulation.” The result of that fateful decision was the greatest free-market success story in history. Encouraged by light-touch regulation, private companies invested over $1.5 trillion in nearly two decades to build out American communications networks. Without having to ask anyone’s permission, innovators everywhere used the internet’s open platform to start companies that have transformed how billions of people live and work. But that changed in 2014. Just days after a poor midterm election result, President Obama publicly pressured the Federal Communications Commission to reject the longstanding consensus on a market-based approach to the internet. He instead urged the agency to impose upon internet service providers a creaky regulatory framework called “Title II,” which was designed in the 1930s to tame the Ma Bell telephone monopoly. A few months later, the FCC followed President Obama’s instructions on a party-line vote. I voted “no,” but the agency’s majority chose micromanagement over markets. This burdensome regulation has failed consumers and businesses alike. In the two years after the FCC’s decision, broadband network investment dropped more than 5.6%—the first time a decline has happened outside of a recession. If the current rules are left in place, millions of Americans who are on the wrong side of the digital divide would have to wait years to get more broadband. The effect has been particularly serious for smaller internet service providers. They don’t have the time, money or lawyers to cut through a thicket of complex rules. The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, which represents small fixed wireless companies that generally operate in rural America, found that more than 80% of its members “incurred additional expense in complying with the Title II rules, had delayed or reduced network expansion, had delayed or reduced services and had allocated budget to comply with the rules.” They aren’t alone. Other small companies have told the FCC that these regulations have forced them to cancel, delay or curtail upgrades to their fiber networks. The uncertainty surrounding the FCC’s onerous rules has also slowed the introduction of new services. One major company reported that it put on hold a project to build out its out-of-home Wi-Fi network partly because it wasn’t sure if the FCC would approve of its business model. Nineteen municipal internet service providers—that is, city-owned nonprofits—told the this past May that they “often delay or hold off from rolling out a new feature or service because we cannot afford to deal with a potential complaint and enforcement action.” This is why I’m proposing today that my colleagues at the Federal Communications Commission repeal President Obama’s heavy-handed internet regulations. Instead the FCC simply would require internet service providers to be transparent so that consumers can buy the plan that’s best for them. And entrepreneurs and other small businesses would have the technical information they need to innovate. The Federal Trade Commission would police ISPs, protect consumers and promote competition, just as it did before 2015. Instead of being flyspecked by lawyers and bureaucrats, the internet would once again thrive under engineers and entrepreneurs. The FCC will vote on this proposal on Dec. 14. If it passes, Washington will return to the bipartisan approach that made the internet what it is today. Consumers will benefit from greater investment in digital infrastructure, which will create jobs, increase competition, and lead to better, faster, and cheaper internet access—especially in rural America. In the next few weeks, anti-market ideologues are going to try to scare the American people. They’ll argue that government control is the only way to assure a free and open internet. They’ll assert that repealing utility-style regulation will destroy the internet as we know it and harm innovation. They’ll allege that free speech online is at risk. Don’t fall for the fearmongering. We have proof that markets work: For almost two decades, the U.S. had a free and open internet without these heavy-handed rules. There was no market failure before 2015. Americans weren’t living in a digital dystopia before the FCC seized power. To the contrary, millions enjoyed an online economy that was the envy of the world. They experienced the most powerful platform ever seen for permission-less innovation and expression. Next month, I hope the FCC will choose to return to the common-sense policies that helped the online world transform the physical one. -Mr. Pai is the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

Mr. Pai is 100% right here.  Let’s hope the FCC reverses Obama’s disastrous, and fascist,  big government restrictions that have stifled freedom on the internet.

Senate Confirms Ajit Pai for FCC Chairman

The Senate confirmed Ajit Pai to serve as the chairman for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Monday. The Senate confirmed Pai on Monday 52-41. Pai served as a commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission for five years before President Donald Trump nominated him to serve as the chairman of the agency in January 2017. Pai’s confirmation will allow him to serve as the chairman of the federal agency for five years. On the Senate floor, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) described Pai as a person of “strong character and conviction” as well as an “intelligent, and articulate public servant.” In May 2015, Pai started the process to repeal the FCC’s 2015 net neutrality order to regulate the internet as a public utility. Net neutrality passed under former Democrat Tom Wheeler’s FCC in 2015. The rule, known as the Open Internet Order, reclassified the internet as a public monopoly. Critics chided the rule, stating that it would diminish the freedom of the internet. Proponents argue that the regulations prevent Internet service providers from discriminating against content providers. Pai also argued that Congress should enact legislation to enshrine the principles of a free internet in law. Pai explained, “We don’t want the regulatory winds to keep shifting every four or eight years. We want to provide some level of consistency to the marketplace so that consumers and companies alike can enjoy the digital revolution.” One of Pai’s main goals at the FCC is to close the “digital divide” between those who have Internet access and Americans who still do not get to enjoy the modern wonder of the Internet.

U.S. FCC Votes 2-1 to Advance Repeal of Obama-era Internet Rules

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted 2-1 on Thursday to advance a Republican plan to reverse the Obama administration’s 2015 “net neutrality” order. FCC chairman Ajit Pai has proposed the commission repeal the rules that reclassified internet service providers as if they were utilities. He thinks the open internet rules by President Barack Obama, a Democrat, were unnecessary and harm jobs and investment. “We propose to repeal utility-style regulation,” Pai said Thursday. “The evidence so far strongly suggests that this is the right way to go.” The public will have until mid-August to offer comments before the FCC votes on a final plan. Pai wants public input on whether the FCC has the authority or should keep its “bright line” rules barring internet companies from blocking, throttling or giving “fast lanes” to some websites. He has not committed to retaining any rules, but said he favors an “open internet.” Pai said he would make a final proposal public before a final vote and said the FCC will conduct a cost-benefit analysis. Democratic FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, who voted against the plan, said the end game appears to be an internet without FCC regulatory oversight. She said the proposal “jeopardizes the ability of the open internet to function tomorrow, as it does today.” The FCC, which has already received more than 1 million comments, is also seeking comment on whether U.S. states should be able to set their own broadband privacy or other regulations. Facebook Inc, Alphabet Inc and others back net neutrality rules, saying they guarantee equal access to the internet. Broadband providers AT&T Inc, Verizon Communications Inc and Comcast Corp oppose the 2015 order, saying it would discourage investment and innovation. Internet providers insist they will not engage in blocking or throttling even in the absence of rules, but critics are skeptical. Senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat, said “it will take millions of people standing up, just like they did before, to say that the internet needs to stay free and open. That’s what it will take to win.” Comcast, Charter Communications Inc and Altice NV’s U.S. unit signed an advertisement Wednesday saying they are “committed to an open internet that gives you the freedom to be in charge of your online experience…. We do not block, throttle or otherwise impair your online activity.” USTelecom, an industry trade group, said the FCC “is moving the conversation beyond the merits of net neutrality to how best to safeguard this universally embraced value with a modern, constructive policy framework.”

Trump names new FCC chairman: Ajit Pai, who wants to take a ‘weed whacker’ to net neutrality

President Trump on Monday designated Ajit Pai, a Republican member of the Federal Communications Commission and an outspoken opponent of new net neutrality rules, to be the agency’s new chairman. Pai, 44, would take over for Tom Wheeler, a Democrat who stepped down on Friday. Wheeler’s term had not expired but Trump gets to designate a new chairman as Republicans gain the FCC majority. “I look forward to working with the new administration, my colleagues at the commission, members of Congress, and the American public to bring the benefits of the digital age to all Americans,” Pai said. A telecommunications lawyer who has served on the FCC since May 2012, Pai is a free-market advocate who has been sharply critical of new regulations adopted by Democrats in recent years. He takes the chairman’s office amid reports that Trump’s advisors want to scale back the FCC’s authority. “We need to fire up the weed whacker and remove those rules that are holding back investment, innovation and job creation,” Pai said in a speech last month looking ahead to Republican control of the FCC. Pai, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from India, was associate general counsel of Verizon Communications Inc. from 2001-03 before working as a staffer at the U.S. Senate, the Justice Department and the FCC. He sprinkles his speeches with pop-culture references and is adept at social media. During the net neutrality debate, he tweeted a photo of himself with the 332-page proposal and lamented that FCC rules didn’t allow him to make it public. Pai has pushed for FCC proposals to be released before commissioners vote on them.

Sounds good to me!!  We look forward to seeing some of Ajit’s reforms come to fruition over at the FCC.  It’s long overdue!   🙂

FCC kept ‘Obamaphone’ fraud under wraps until after it expanded program

Federal regulators were instructed to keep a massive fraud investigation – concerning the “Obamaphone” program, meant to help get low-income families cellphone access – under wraps until a day after a controversial vote to expand the program, one of those regulators claims. The Federal Communications Commission on Friday announced that it would seek $51 million in damages from a cellphone company that allegedly defrauded the federal Lifeline program of nearly $10 million. The commission’s five members unanimously backed the Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL), but Republican commissioner Ajit Pai parted from his colleagues in a partial dissent. According to Pai, he and other commissioners were told not to reveal the details of its investigation until April 1, a day after the FCC voted to expand the Lifeline program. “Commissioners were told that the Notice of Apparent Liability could not be released or publicly discussed until April 1, 2016, conveniently one day after the Commission was scheduled to expand the Lifeline program to broadband,” Pai wrote. “That’s not right.” Pai did not say who issued that directive. However, it had the effect of preventing public knowledge of widespread fraud in the Lifeline program ahead of a contentious vote on expanding it despite persisting concerns about a lack of internal safeguards. FCC spokesman Will Wiquist insisted that the timing was completely coincidental. “The timing of the enforcement action was in no way related to the timing of the vote on the program modernization,” he said in an email. Lifeline has faced controversy over enrollment requirements that its critics say are too lax and vulnerable to fraud. The service, which subsidizes cellphone plans for low-income Americans, allows beneficiaries to enroll using cards issued for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a welfare program that has also faced fraud allegations. Critics of the Lifeline program began calling its subsidized cellphones “Obamaphones” early in the Obama administration in response to viral YouTube videos of beneficiaries thanking the president for their free phones.

Remember those nauseating videos?  Just more waste, fraud, and abuse of our hard-earned tax dollars under this big-government president.

FCC commissioner: U.S. tradition of free expression slipping away

The American traditions of free expression and respectful discourse are slipping away, and college campuses and Twitter are prime examples, according to a member of the Federal Communications Commission. “I think that poses a special danger to a country that cherishes First Amendment speech, freedom of expression, even freedom of association,” FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai told the Washington Examiner. “I think it’s dangerous, frankly, that we don’t see more often people espousing the First Amendment view that we should have a robust marketplace of ideas where everybody should be willing and able to participate. “Largely what we’re seeing, especially on college campuses, is that if my view is in the majority and I don’t agree with your view, then I have the right to shout you down, disrupt your events, or otherwise suppress your ability to get your voice heard,” Pai added. “Private actors like Twitter have the freedom to operate their platform as they see fit,” Pai said, “[but] I would hope that everybody embraces the idea of the marketplace of ideas. The proverbial street corner of the 21st century, where people can gather to debate issues is increasingly social media, which serves as a platform for public discourse.” Twitter announced last week it was establishing a “Trust and Safety” panel to police speech on the site. Pai concluded that if voters and institutions fail to defend free speech within their own spheres, it could lead to more government regulations curtailing that freedom. “The text of the First Amendment is enshrined in our Constitution, but there are certain cultural values that undergird the amendment that are critical for its protections to have actual meaning,” Pai said. “If that culture starts to wither away, then so too will the freedom that it supports.” Pai, who was appointed to the FCC in 2012, has consistently opposed the agency’s efforts to impose more restrictions on speech. The commission ruled last year that the First Amendment did not apply to Internet service providers, a precedent that Pai and others pointed out could lead to more regulations on political speech, particularly on websites like the Drudge Report, in the future. “It is conceivable to me to see the government saying, ‘We think the Drudge Report is having a disproportionate effect on our political discourse,” Pai noted shortly after the ruling. “The FCC doesn’t have the ability to regulate anything he says, and we want to start tamping down on websites like that.” “Is it unthinkable that some government agency would say the marketplace of ideas is too fraught with dissonance? That everything from the Drudge Report to Fox News … is playing unfairly in the online political speech sandbox? I don’t think so,” Pai added.

Rep. Blackburn Rips FCC Internet Takeover: If It Ain’t Broke Don’t Fix It

Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee is firing back at President Obama for his Federal Communications Commission (FCC) led internet takeover–which the administration bills as “net neutrality” and critics call “net neutering”–saying it can lead to censorship. Still Democrats are backing the President, saying his policies mean equal access for all. The FCC responded to President Obama’s push for Net-Neutrality to regulate the internet with a 3-2 vote over objections from some Republicans. According to Blackburn’s office, the courts have previously rejected the FCC’s attempts to regulate the internet. Net neutrality supporters say the regulations will increase investment in internet based services. The rules prohibit broadband providers from blocking or regulating internet traffic in a selective manner. According to the Tennessee Republican, there is no need for the FCC to be preceding internet service providers because the internet has worked effectively for decades. “The internet is not broken, it does not need the intervention of the FCC,” Blackburn said. “What this in essence does is to give the federal government the right to determine priority and value to content – so they’re ultimately going to be able to censor everything that you have.” Blackburn added. “We don’t need this. It will run up costs and lead to new regulations and new taxes,”

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is exactly right!! Obama and his fascist FCC have won round one in his battle to have the federal government take over control of the internet, which is an awful notion. But, it’s FAR from over as it’s already in court, and the federal courts, thus far, have pushed back on Obama’s nazi-istic aspirations as it relates to the internet. Let’s hope that the they give Obama and the FCC’s latest ruling yet another epic smackdown. The internet is working just fine. And, if someone doesn’t like their carrier, they can go with another one. That’s how the free market works…and everyone wins when it’s left alone. Each time Obama and his big government liberals have taken over anything, it’s been a complete disaster. Just look at Obamacare, and the web site, and on and on. It’s been nothing but a trainwreck from day one. Why on earth would we want to impose on the internet what those morons in the White House have done to our healthcare?!?