Telecom lobbyists in California have lost a case to attack net neutrality law SB 822, considered the strongest such law in the U.S.
The California net neutrality law is now clearly enforceable, and bars telecom companies from blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization, abusing their gatekeeper power in interconnection, or engaging in “zero rating” scams. The court’s decision also clearly paves the way for other states to impose their own net neutrality protections.
On Monday a report from Common Cause said that in 2019 and 2020, ISPs spend a total of US$234.7 million to lobby against legislation.
A court order is forcing the FCC to once again ask the public’s opinion on whether gutting net neutrality was a good idea. And just like last time, the agency is doing everything possible to distract, deflect, and defend.
In a reminder of just how petty federal telecoms regulation has become, the FCC can’t even take this implicit rebuke professionally. And so it attempted to hide the reality of the situation by flooding its announcements website on Wednesday with suddenly important news and describing the public comment period in the most obscure terms possible.
In certain areas of the U.S. some AT&T users found they couldn’t access their inboxes in encrypted email app Tutanota.
Starting on January 25th 2020, we have had constant complaints from AT&T mobile users who were unable to access their encrypted Tutanota mailbox. While AT&T seemed willing to fix this when we reached out to them, the issue is still not solved and reports from users keep coming in.
While some AT&T users confirmed the block, others said that they were able to access Tutanota. As AT&T has not fixed the issue after more than two weeks, we are reaching out publicly in the hope of getting the attention of the right people at AT&T.
In a visit to New Jersey, FCC chairman Ajit Pai called Democrats’ net neutrality efforts a “political strategy.”
House Democrats will introduce a bill this Wednesday called Save the Internet Act in a bid to restore net neutrality rules.
Polls show that net neutrality will be an issue for voters in upcoming midterm elections. But how can you find out if your congressman supports net neutrality?
Apple announced new MacBook Pros, and Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet talk about what they like (processors and RAM) and what they don’t like (pricing on storage). They also dig into FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s efforts to reach for a new low.
Kelly Guimont and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to share their thoughts on what could be behind Netflix’s test program for a new high end subscription tier.
John Martellaro and Bryan Chaffin join Jeff Gamet talk about the end of net neutrality protection in the United States.
The U.S. Senate passed legislation that would restore Net Neutrality in the country, but Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet explain why they don’t think it will go any further. They also break down Ralph Nader’s kind-of-weird whiff in complaining about Apple’s share buyback program. They cap the show with a look at how Sir Jony Ive is a watch-man, though Steve Jobs wasn’t involved with Apple Watch.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s dream to kill net neutrality could come to an end because the U.S. Senate is forcing a vote to restore the protections.
Check out this Intelligence Squared debate on Net Neutrality. I love the Intelligence Squared show, which I listen to on KQED in the Bay Area. This episode hasn’t aired yet, but the video format is up on YouTube now. It features former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Mozilla Chairwoman Mitchell Baker arguing for the motion “Preserve Net Neutrality.” Arguing against the motion is Michael Katz, former Chief Economist of the FCC and Nick Gillespie, editor of Reason magazine. Here’s the interesting thing, but warning, because it contains spoilers. Those arguing against the motion—i.e. arguing to end Net Neutrality—won the debate. What that means is they shifted more opinions in the audience, who voted before and after the debate. But, those arguing to preserve Net Neutrality carried majority support before and after the debate. If you’ve been wanting to hear reasoned arguments on this topic, this is something you’ll want to watch or listen to. Mind you, those arguing against the motion are just plain wrong, but it’s a great discussion.
The fight to block Ajit Pai and the FCC from killing net neutrality in the United States is headed to the Ninth Circuit Court in San Francisco.
Dave Hamilton and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to talk about the relationship between Comcast and Cogent, Panic’s download problem linking the two together, and Net Neutrality.
Panic, the company behind Transmit, Coda, and Firewatch, had a mystery on its hands: why were its app downloads so slow for a lot of users? They dug into it and found the problem was specific to Comcast customers—and they got Comcast to fix it. The story is a great example of how interdependent internet service providers and the companies providing the bandwidth pipes are. It’s also a perfect example of what an internet without Net Neutrality is like. Panic’s video explaining what happened is worth watching, and you can learn more about what happened on the company’s blog.
John Martellaro joins Jeff Gamet to talk about the state of Net Neutrality now that the FCC’s “Restoring Internet Freedom” is in place, along with what we can expect to happen next.
Ernesto Falcon is Legislative Counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). His primary focus is on intellectual property and open internet issues. Ernesto and I chatted about the key issues surrounding net neutrality, the stakes for business and consumers, how the FCC’s recent ruling might be combatted, ongoing legal efforts to restore net neutrality, the key players, potential legislation, and what consumers can do to help. But before we got into all that, Ernesto talked about how he became an attorney and his experiences leading up to joining the EFF. For example, during his tenure, Public Knowledge and the EFF scored a major victory for consumers by rallying the Internet community to defeat the SOPA act. Ernesto fills in a lot of important details in the fight for net neutrality that you’ll want to hear.
If you know people who aren’t grasping what the repeal of Net Neutrality means, try hitting them in the stomach. Figuratively, of course. Fast food giant Burger King has an awesome video that makes it much easier to understand the ramifications of an internet without Net Neutrality using hamburgers as an example. It’s only a couple minutes long, but that’s more than enough time to get the point across. This is one of the clearest, and most entertaining, Net Neutrality explanations we’ve seen so far.
So far, it’s hard to tell how accurate Wehe is. But for now Apple has given the final word on the matter, saying no.
Andrew Orr and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to look at what’s coming in the fight to save Net Neutrality, plus they talk about some apps that turn your old iPad into a security camera.
Dave Hamilton and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to discuss the FCC vote to end Net Neutrality, plus Samsung’s HomePod competitor.
Tim Cook took a recent trip to China, and some have accused him of endorsing Chinese censorship. Bryan and Jeff talk about how complicated doing business in China is. They also look at why Sonos and IKEA have announced a partnership, and what Apple’s purchase of Pop Up Archive might mean. Then they fall down the rabbit hole of TextArc.
A listener sparks an intense rant from Bryan and Jeff about encryption and passcode-attempt-based device wipes, and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai gets them going on Net Neutrality. They cap the show with the observation that Apple’s AR goggle project appears to be back on.
![Apple Rejects Net Neutrality App, Reddit in Uproar [Update]](https://www.macobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/iOS-11-app-store-rejected-net-neutrality-app-wide.webp)
