The U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted along party lines to repeal the rule that ensures a free and open Internet. The Net Neutrality hearing was evacuated due to a bomb threat as protesters were rallying outside.
The 3=2 ruling sets up a massive court fight that opposition fear will reshape the digital landscape.
There was an evacuation from the meeting for about 10 minutes for what Commission Chairman Ajit Pai called "advice from security." After bomb sniffing dogs checked the building the meeting resume.
The concerns were from when a bomb threat was called in by phone.
Here are the bomb snippers doing their job.
https://twitter.com/AdamFelibrico/status/941366247786196993
Per Daily Mail:
FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, a Democrat and daughter of South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, said in the runup to the vote that Republicans were 'handing the keys to the Internet' to a 'handful of multi-billion dollar corporations.'
Clyburn addressed protesters outside, raising a clenched fist, before the hearing began.
Pai has argued that the 2015 rules were heavy handed and stifled competition and innovation among service providers.
'The Internet wasn't broken in 2015. We weren't living in a digital dystopia. To the contrary, the internet is perhaps the one thing in American society we can all agree has been a stunning success,' he said on Thursday.
But companies like Netflix, worried about speed-throttling and other barriers to video streaming, lashed out quickly.
'We're disappointed in the decision to gut #NetNeutrality protections that ushered in an unprecedented era of innovation, creativity & civic engagement. This is the beginning of a longer legal battle. Netflix stands w/ innovators, large & small, to oppose this misguided FCC order,' the company tweeted.
There are a lot of people who are very unhappy about this ruling. It gives the Internet providers a whole lot of power when it comes to the services they can offer. And you know what usually happens when someone is given too much power.
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