The Verge - Net neutrality: the fight to keep the internet free

T-Mobile drops anti-net neutrality lawsuit filed by MetroPCS, leaving Verizon on its own

2013-05-17T20:29:33Z

Cellphone carriers have generally met net neutrality proposals with varying levels of hostility, but Verizon and MetroPCS have been particularly belligerent: in 2011, they sued to overturn the FCC's then-newly adopted Open Internet rules. Since then, the two have consistently argued in court against the rules, which they've said undermine the freedom to run their networks as they see fit. But as T-Mobile finalizes its merger with MetroPCS, it's decided it doesn't want an old lawsuit to come with its new spectrum. In a court statement filed today, T-Mobile has moved to dismiss its appeals claim.

T-Mobile's decision to back out doesn't mean the suit is over. Verizon will continue its litigation, though the court document indicates that it...

ESPN wants you to watch more sports, even if it has to subsidize your data plan

2013-05-10T00:54:48Z

ESPN has approached at least one major carrier about excluding its sports videos from mobile data caps, according to the Wall Street Journal. The report notes the possibility of ESPN paying the carrier as a subsidy so that users can watch videos without fear of hitting any limits. However, ESPN is said to be still working out the economics of any potential deal; no arrangement is in place at present.

Senate bill would make internet data caps subject to net neutrality rules

2012-12-21T00:03:55Z

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), a noted supporter of online consumer rights, has announced a bill that would set rules for how internet providers could deploy capped data plans. The Data Cap Integrity Act is meant to make sure that if companies limit the amount of data that can be uploaded or downloaded in a given time period, it's transparent to consumers, follows general net neutrality principles, and is designed to "reasonably limit network congestion" rather than discourage internet use or take advantage of a lack of competition. Data caps have become increasingly common, as have tiered plans on both wired or mobile broadband, though it's not clear whether this bill would only cover home ISPs or also mobile carriers.

ISPs have a history...

Verizon, MetroPCS push back on FCC's net neutrality rules

2012-11-01T18:33:22Z

Verizon Wireless and MetroPCS have filed a joint appeal against a court decision concerning the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules that took effect in December of last year. The court had ruled in favor of the FCC, despite the complaints levied against it in Verizon and MetroPCS' lawsuit. The carriers contend that the FCC is over stepping its bounds with the regulation, which is designed to prevent network operators from controlling traffic to apps, services, and other functions on an individual basis.

Verizon and MetroPCS make four main complaints against the FCC: the existing Telecommunications Act prevents the FCC from applying regulation to broadband access, which these rules allegedly allow; the FCC doesn't...

Republican platform opposes net neutrality by supporting 'internet freedom'

2012-08-30T11:32:04Z

American voters want to know where their country's two parties stand on issues surrounding the internet, and today, the Republican Party revealed a new internet freedom plank as part of its policy platform. Predictably, though, "free" isn’t a synonym for "neutral" — as The Washington Post points out, the document is talking about freedom of tech businesses from government regulation. The addition comes as the politics of the internet continue to command a higher share of the public's attention; for example, as President Obama’s AMA brought Reddit the highest amount of traffic it’s ever seen, the site’s co-founder Alexis Ohanian and others getting ready to hit the road to bring the discussion about the open internet to voters.

T...

European Commission wants your opinion on net neutrality

2012-07-24T11:48:57Z

The European Commission is launching an EU-wide consultation period to gauge public opinion on net neutrality. To collect responses the EC has created a questionnaire that any European citizen can complete, which poses questions such as:

"Please provide your views on the following ways/situations where traffic management may be applied by ISPs.

Are traffic management measures used to implement or manage compliance with the explicit contractual restrictions (e.g. on P2P or VoIP) of the Internet access product accepted by the user necessary, appropriate, or problematic?"

Other questions relate to congestion management, managed services, privacy, transparency, internet restrictions, and the ease of switching internet providers. The...

Verizon, MetroPCS file challenge against FCC's net neutrality rules

2012-07-03T07:01:04Z

Verizon filed a brief with a federal court on Monday, as part of its ongoing litigation against the FCC's net neutrality rules. In its brief, Verizon argued that the agency's regulations are not only unconstitutional, but "arbitrary and capricious." The carrier also claimed that the FCC exceeded its authority by adopting the rules in 2010, writing that the Commission has "acted without statutory authority to insert itself into this crucial segment of the American economy, while failing to show any factual need to do so." MetroPCS is also challenging the FCC's regulation, and joined in many of Verizon's claims.

The companies lodged their complaint with the DC Court of Appeals — the same court that, in 2010, sided with Comcast in a...

Swedish internet provider to charge extra for VoIP services like Skype

2012-06-27T20:11:39Z

Swedish telecommunications company TeliaSonera is planning to charge customers extra to use voice over IP services such as Skype. The company won't be unveiling the details of this plan until August, but has reportedly already begun a trial with one of its Spanish subsidiaries, with a model that charged customers €6 (about US$7.50) for 100MB worth of VoIP calls per month. Whether or not this pricing scheme will be the same in Sweden remains to be seen, but a TeliaSonera spokesperson said that current customers won't have to start paying extra until their current contracts run out. "Also, we will continue to offer subscription packages where VoIP calls are included in the subscription price," they added. Earlier this year the...