Net Neutrality news

Folks who have been following the Net Neutrality news might have been cast down when the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit handed down Verizon v. F.C.C., Docket No. 11-1355, January 14, reissued January 15, 2014 (too early for a reporter number, apparently, but something in F3d).

Now the F.C.C. has responded, declaring their intention to propose new rules supporting Net Neutrality. Here are the headliners from Chairman Tom Wheeler's statement:

1. Propose new rules. I intend to ask my fellow commissioners to:

* Enforce and enhance the transparency rule.

* Fulfill the “no blocking” goal.

* Fulfill the goals of the non-discrimination rule

2. Keep Title II authority on the table.

3. Forgo judicial review of the Verizon decision.

4. Solicit public comment.

5. Hold Internet Service Providers to their commitment.

6. Enhance competition.

Visit the linked website for the FCC statement because there is a lot of commentary for each of these statements that you should read. But I am so cheered by the FCC's response! Yay!

The image is a photo of FCC chair Tom Wheeler dated May 1, 2013 credited to AFP photographyer Saul Loeb, from an article at AFP news site, "US renews 'Open Internet' push after court order" story by Rob Lever dated today, (2/19/14).

They never give up! ACTA... now CETA

The EU sounded like they had some sense about IP and the Internet when they passed on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Well, maybe they just knew a loser for PR when they saw one. Now comes Michael Geist, Professor of Law at Ottawa University to explain that the EU thinks they can slither around the dark edges and sneak a different trade agreement, the Canada-EU Trade Agreement(CETA). According to Prof. Geist, who provides in this blog post a handy section-by-section comparison, the two agreements are eerily similar. I hope EFF and its Canadian and European counterparts are paying attention! Ahoy out there!!