Attempt to overturn FCC rules defeated in US Senate
Staff Report
Humboldt Sentinel
Local public access media advocates are thrilled with a vote yesterday which halted an attempt by telecom giants to wipe out guarantees of net neutrality.
The United States Senate defeated a “Resolution of Disapproval” that would have overturned Federal Communications Commission rules to protect the Open Internet by preventing Internet service providers from discriminating between different media outlets.
“Access Humboldt applauds our US Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, especially Barbara Boxer who has been a steady champion on the Commerce Committee, for their action yesterday to defeat a misguided effort to close the Internet,” Access Humboldt executive director Sean McLaughlin stated in a release. “While public interests won the day, it is noteworthy that forty-six United States Senators actually voted in favor of unfettered corporate control over the Internet!”
The FCC continues to haggle over whether net neutrality rules also apply to wireless Internet services the same way they do to traditional phone and cable ISPs.
“The amount of misinformation presented by the opponents of an open internet was truly frightening and demands accountability,” McLaughlin stated. “Clearly, protecting freedom of information and expression will continue to require our eternal vigilance.”
