Technology, Fcc | featured news

U.S. federal telecommunications regulators are pushing ahead with efforts to bring faster Internet service to commercial and private airline flights. The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday started deliberations on a proposal that would offer a new type of in-flight broadband service promising U.S. fliers higher Wi-Fi speeds and better connections.

Cyber rebels from Anonymous announced Friday the group has carried out a new series of attacks against U.S. government websites to protest a global copyright treaty. Anonymous said in a statement posted to the Internet that it had attacked websites for the Federal Trade Commission's consumer protection business center and the National Consumer Protection Week.

The Senate on Thursday voted to keep in place the Federal Communications Commission's controversial rules aimed at preserving open Internet access... The Democratic controlled FCC voted 3-2 along party lines in December to adopt regulations that prohibit telecommunications companies from favoring their online services over those of competitors. The rules, which apply to wired and wireless services, forbid companies from blocking access by their customers to any legal content, applications or services.

Maybe it's got something to do with the FCC's abolition of any sort of competitive markets for Internet service in the USA? Well, I'm sure it'll be fine -- after all, why would Internet access have any effect on national competitiveness, industry, jobs, health, education, civic engagement, and so forth?

With its rules on network neutrality, the FCC has protected the current state of the Internet, left the future of the web unregulated and punted on most of the challenging issues that lay before it -- from requiring wireless networks to be open to allowing managed services.

Federal regulators are poised to enact controversial new rules affecting Internet access, marking the government's strongest move yet to ensure that Facebook updates, Google searches and Skype calls reach consumers' homes unimpeded.

Published reports say the FCC will propose new rules designed to ensure the free flow of information and applications over the Internet.