House Passes Net Neutrality Bill, McConnell Promises It Won't Survive Senate

from the ill-communication dept

Yesterday the House voted 232-190 to approve the Save The Internet Act, three-page legislation that would fully restore not just the FCC's 2015 net neutrality rules, but its authority to police the telecom sector. As we've long noted, the Ajit Pai FCC's repeal involved effectively neutering the FCC at the telecom sector's behest, then shoveling any remaining oversight authority to the FTC, which lacks both the authority and attention span to effectively police telecom giants. The idea that telecom oversight would be lost in the cracks was, of course, the entire point of the telecom lobbying gambit.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where Mitch McConnell has already stated it will be "dead on arrival." The bill also needs to somehow avoid a Trump veto, which the White House all but guaranteed with a statement this week saying Trump would be advised to veto the measure. Why? The administration proclaimed it was because killing net neutrality had resulted in incredible benefits to American consumers:

"Since the new rule was adopted in 2018, consumers have benefited from a greater than 35 percent increase in average, fixed broadband download speeds, and the United States rose to sixth, from thirteenth, in the world for those speeds. In 2018, fiber was also made available to more new homes than in any previous year, and capital investment by the Nation’s top six Internet service providers increased by $2.3 billion."

As I noted over at The Verge some of those statistics are a bit shaky, and there's zero evidence any of them had anything to do with killing net neutrality. The 35% bump in broadband speeds, for example, is pretty well in line with past growth, and is courtesy of a lot of things, ranging from relatively inexpensive Cable DOCSIS 3.1 upgrades, to the rise of community broadband efforts (which the Trump FCC opposes). And the "record fiber" growth that the White House credits to "light touch regulatory" policies was courtesy of fiber build out merger conditions affixed on the AT&T DirecTV merger by the previous FCC.

There's some hope among activists that the bill passes the Senate, then avoids a Trump veto by appealing to his "populist" streak (whatever that means any more), given that the rules have overwhelming, bipartisan support. That's always seemed like a long shot given Trump's blind fealty to these companies so far. Still, even if the vote fails, the loss will provide a voter scorecard ahead of the 2020 elections, making it abundantly clear which politicians actively respect the will of the public and the need for level internet playing fields, and which prioritize the revenues of giant natural telecom monopolies.

The best chance to reverse the repeal has always been with the courts. Especially given the numerous, often utterly bizarre procedural missteps the FCC made during the repeal. If the lawsuit filed against the FCC by 23 state AGs, consumer groups, and a handful of smaller companies like Mozilla is victorious (a ruling could pop up within months), it could immediately restore the 2015 rules and the FCC's full authority over ISPs.

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Filed Under: donald trump, fcc, house, mitch mcconnell, net neutrality, senate, veto


Reader Comments

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  1. identicon
    Dikfore65, 11 Apr 2019 @ 9:57am

    I really miss the Dingo.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2019 @ 9:59am

    At this point I’m more convinced it’s actually easier to set up your own ISP and prepare to out legal the bastards when. They inevitably try to do what is in their nature once they get paid to stop you.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2019 @ 10:02am

    "House Passes Net Neutrality Bill, McConnell Promises It Won't Survive Senate"

    I doubt Mitch will survive 2020

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Annonymouse, 11 Apr 2019 @ 10:10am

    Authority?

    How about responsibly with some big hammers at the ready?

    Service with a smile only goes so far.
    Service with a smile and a hammer gets things done.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    Nathan F (profile), 11 Apr 2019 @ 10:14am

    It really bothers me when a politician won't even CONSIDER a bill simply because it doesn't follow the party line or someone from another party put it forward. Even more so when there is evidence that many citizens are in favor of what the bill is seeking to correct, or even worse, when there are close to two dozen States who are writing and passing their own laws regarding the matter.

    Once enough states get their own law passed the telecoms are going to start screaming that 'every state has different laws, it is impossible for us to comply with each state individually! (so we just wont comply with any of them!)'

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. icon
    lucidrenegade (profile), 11 Apr 2019 @ 10:16am

    Re:

    He will win in 2020. El Tortuga cannot be stopped!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2019 @ 10:18am

    the House voted 232-190 to approve the Save The Internet Act

    the rules have overwhelming, bipartisan support

    That isn't what I'd call "overwhelming".

    And McConnell needs to retire. This idiot is so anti-public it's amazing he's survived this long in the Senate and even risen to his current position.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Michael, 11 Apr 2019 @ 10:20am

    Re:

    Never underestimate the ability of the US voting population to continue to vote for incumbents that don't care what their constituents want.

    People get incredible amnesia around voting day.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2019 @ 10:22am

    Re:

    The overwhelming support being referenced is by the public at large, not Congress critters.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. icon
    Jeffrey Nonken (profile), 11 Apr 2019 @ 10:24am

    "The 35% bump in broadband speeds, for example, is pretty well in line with past growth, and is courtesy of a lot of things, ranging from relatively inexpensive Cable DOCSIS 3.1 upgrades..."

    I just moved, and when I did I upgraded from a pair of 12/1 Mbps lines (through a local company with awesome customer service, who resells Sonic) to Comcast gigabit service (nominally 1000/35, measured 973/42). So, yeah, I've done my part to boost that statistic.

    (Yes, I sold my soul. I've gotten really tired of trying to stream and upload through a straw.

    (Yes, I bought my own DOCSIS 3.1 modem and provided my own router... I may owe my soul to Satan, but I'm not stupid, and I could afford it up front.

    (For the record, I can now stream Twitch at full resolution and highest quality while logged into a server-based multiplayer game or hosting my own games (depending on the game) while doing whatever on my laptop and while my daughter is doing her own thing and I have yet to drop One. Single. Packet. It is GLORIOUS.)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2019 @ 10:29am

    guess it pays then to fuck the public, the ones you're supposed to be representing, rather than the massive corporations that are fucking the public as well! all politicians who admit to this needs voting out of office asap!!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2019 @ 10:42am

    Remind me again...

    Why is Ajit Pai not registered as a lobbyist for the telecom sector?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2019 @ 11:14am

    When we were kids they told us crime doesn't pay.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. identicon
    Baron von Robber, 11 Apr 2019 @ 11:19am

    Re:

    He protected the baby. Very very rare thing to have lost.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. identicon
    David, 11 Apr 2019 @ 11:35am

    "Dead in the water"

    You probably don't get what Mitch O'Connell is saying here. He does not say that the bill won't survive Senate. What he says is that Senate will not get to vote in it in the first place since it is his decision what bills are voted on.

    This guy is the horse apple on top of a broken political system, and that is giving horses a bad name.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  16. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2019 @ 11:40am

    Re:

    "When we were kids they told us crime doesn't pay.'

    That because "They" don't like the competition.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  17. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2019 @ 11:44am

    Re: Remind me again...

    Because to be a lobbyist you have to dump wheelbarrows full of cash at your politician's feet. He'd rather others dump cash at his feet, now or in the future once he's established his reputation for being an ISP cock holster and needs a job.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  18. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2019 @ 11:45am

    Re: Re:

    Truly a good dingo.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  19. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2019 @ 11:45am

    Re: "Dead in the water"

    To be fair, he does look a bit like a horse apple. If he laid down on the ground you would be forgiven for making that mistake.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  20. icon
    Thad (profile), 11 Apr 2019 @ 11:51am

    Re:

    Do you think he'll be primaried, or are you legitimately suggesting that Kentucky will elect a Democrat?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  21. icon
    Thad (profile), 11 Apr 2019 @ 11:53am

    Re: Re:

    "Don't care what their constituents want"? He blocked an Obama nominee to the Supreme Court and changed the rules to push two Trump nominees through.

    Mitch McConnell is doing exactly what Kentucky voters want. What do you think is higher-priority for them -- net neutrality, or Trump's agenda?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  22. icon
    Bamboo Harvester (profile), 11 Apr 2019 @ 12:21pm

    Re: Re:

    Voter Memory was calculated at two weeks decades ago.

    Which basically means that if you can keep away from negative headlines for the two weeks before Election Day, whatever you've been up to before then won't be at the top of voter's minds when they hit the polls.

    I'd shorten it from two weeks to a single week now. The internet speed of dissemination means Joe Voter is getting hit with a thousand more "news articles" than they were getting from print and TV.

    When trump was still kicking the crap out of all the "official" republican candidates, there were more stories about him than could be kept up with - many on the order of space alien conspiracy. None of them with any standing, just throwing out every ludicrous statement anyone against him getting the nomination could think up in the hopes some idiot would believe them.

    That went super-viral just before Election Day. And it drove any actual negatives about him from the minds of the voters.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  23. icon
    Bamboo Harvester (profile), 11 Apr 2019 @ 12:26pm

    Re:

    McConnell, Pelosi, Boxer, Schumer, the list goes on.

    They've been in power long enough to know where damned near ALL the bodies are buried.

    Makes it next to impossible to get rid of them. Term limits of say... dunno, three, maybe four terms would fix that problem. Of course, the dinosaurs are the ones who would have to vote it into law, so....

    link to this | view in thread ]

  24. icon
    freakanatcha (profile), 11 Apr 2019 @ 12:26pm

    Dead in the Water

    According to Microsoft, broadband access and broadband adoption are 2 very different things.
    https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/08/microsoft-says-its-data-shows-fcc-reports-massively-overstate-bro adband-adoption/

    link to this | view in thread ]

  25. icon
    Bamboo Harvester (profile), 11 Apr 2019 @ 12:28pm

    Re: "Dead in the water"

    Be fair, now. If there wasn't a deciding vote on what gets to the floor, EVERY pipe-dream bit of idiocy would require a floor vote, meaning NOTHING would get done.

    Hey! Wait a minute....

    /s for the humor impaired

    link to this | view in thread ]

  26. icon
    That One Guy (profile), 11 Apr 2019 @ 12:53pm

    Uhhh...

    Once enough states get their own law passed the telecoms are going to start screaming that 'every state has different laws, it is impossible for us to comply with each state individually! (so we just wont comply with any of them!)'

    Wrong tense, they've already been doing that, throwing epic tantrums that the gutting of federal rules at their behest has led to various states taking up the slack.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  27. identicon
    Glenn, 11 Apr 2019 @ 2:54pm

    Coming soon...
    Senate kills Net Neutrality Bill, consumers promise to vote McConnell out of office (along with the rest of the GOP corporate shills)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  28. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2019 @ 3:35pm

    Re: Re:

    I dont know, either one would a step in the right direction.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  29. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2019 @ 3:37pm

    Re: Re:

    Certainly you do not consider the others to be as bad as McConnell.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  30. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2019 @ 3:38pm

    Re:

    Crime does pay apparently

    link to this | view in thread ]

  31. icon
    Thad (profile), 11 Apr 2019 @ 3:47pm

    Re:

    ...in last November's elections, in a blue-wave year, the biggest pro-telecom rep in the House got a promotion to the Senate.

    If you think southern states are going to oust Republicans over net neutrality, I don't think you're paying attention.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  32. identicon
    Richard Bennett, 11 Apr 2019 @ 5:35pm

    Want to know why you'll always lose, Bodeface?

    It's because you and your pirate fucks don't know the meaning of effort and hard work.

    Like lobbying. Or getting down and dirty on your knees.

    Fuck you, Bode!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  33. identicon
    dickeyrat, 12 Apr 2019 @ 4:01am

    It takes two parties to form a scam: the scammer, and the scammee. What amazes here, is that there are millions of idiots who have sniffed enough Elmer's, or bonged an adequate number of paint chips, to actually believe Blump and his henchman Bitch McYertle are anything but out-and-out prostitutes--albeit not respectable enough to be honest about their own occupations. Anyone vaguely conscious should have known for the past thirty-five or so years, that Blump is somewhere between a failed used car salesman, and a circus clown. And then there's the inbred McYertle, who is on a one-man quest to scream, "Fuck Off!!" to the entire American public, concept and state of being. Just where did this chrome-plated asshole come from? Oh yeah, Kentucky. The one state that was wanted by neither side in the Civil War. Personally I would give the Medal of Freedom to the patriot who threw Bitch's to-go-dinner into the street a few months back. If only he could have also pushed Bitch in front of a moving train. I guess I can dream ...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  34. identicon
    Drunk Uncle Sam, 12 Apr 2019 @ 7:57am

    Re: Re:

    After all the coal miners have either died of black lung, starvation, or other such malady, who will be left to give the turtle a vote?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  35. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 12 Apr 2019 @ 8:00am

    Re:

    "the meaning of effort and hard work"

    • As if the do nothing Congress does know

    "Like lobbying. Or getting down and dirty on your knees."

    • Lobbying is hard work? ... Huh
    • Well - you are correct here as I do not give blow jobs

    link to this | view in thread ]

  36. identicon
    Drunk Uncle Sam, 12 Apr 2019 @ 8:02am

    Re:

    What is really funny - is the present admin is attempting a coup while proclaiming there is a coup attempt by those who are investigating the coup.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  37. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 12 Apr 2019 @ 11:19am

    Re:

    “Down and dirty on Your knees”

    Lol we found out how bad Richard wanted it everyone lol

    link to this | view in thread ]


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