On Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit… blocked the FCC’s Title II reclassification of broadband servicescalling it “an important issue that requires clear authorization from Congress.”
That’s the news. The FCC had previously decided in early 2024 that broadband internet providers should classified as common carriers As did the phone providers (this has been the subject of criticism since 2005). The providers didn’t like the ruling and tried to block it before it could go into effect. The Sixth Circuit Court agreed in June, saying more time and input was needed to decide on the merits of the appeal. This week, it decided that not so much time was needed and that input wasn’t needed after all, at least not right away.
No one should be surprised that an appeals court made a decision without hearing oral arguments from one side, because that’s how America works. William Churchill once said, “Politics is not a game. It’s serious business.” Truer words have never been spoken.
You have a side, I have a side. Everyone has to choose a side. One thing to keep in mind is that neither side is right because the laws are designed to serve everyone’s interests. In a perfect world, partisan politics and lobbying efforts would be set aside as both sides worked together in court to do what was best for all of us.
In the real world, telecom providers went to a partisan court with a request for relief. Plus, it’s an election year, so it’s probably Oral arguments have been scheduled by late October or early November, just before the election, and blocking these changes hurts one side. Maybe the decision is correct and the FCC has no authority and telecom providers should not have to follow these rules. Maybe not. I don’t know because I’m not a legal expert on this matter and I wasn’t allowed to hear legal experts give arguments on the issue, as originally decided.
Regardless of which side you’re on, you should be upset.
What I do know is that I am suspicious, and you should be too. If it weren’t for this decision, pick one you don’t agree with and be suspicious of it. That’s a problem.
Here’s what I see: A decision was made that favored one side. A group of judges heavily leaning toward the other side has blocked that decision, saying we need to know more. Now that Harris’ official nomination had given both There are signs of life in the upcoming presidential elections, but there is no need to know more and, for now, it is blocked. That will prove it to them.
I don’t care what side you’re on, and you shouldn’t care what side I’m on. You should be upset by what it seems obvious partisan politics interfere in a decision that is supposed to benefit us all.
Our government can’t make everyone happy because that’s impossible when we’re so divided. What it can do is be transparent. In this case, we deserve to hear why the FCC’s rules were good for us and why they weren’t. This issue affects all of us. It’s about our ability to be informed and how much it will affect our pocketbooks. Their side deserves a chance to convince people on the other side.
Ideally, we wouldn’t fight over everything. I shouldn’t care if you don’t like gays, as long as you don’t infringe on their rights. I also shouldn’t care if you don’t want to make them a fucking cake because you don’t support them. No one at any level of government should try to make me feel comfortable, and news providers should differentiate between news and opinion.
I’ll say it again: The news is that the Sixth Circuit has temporarily blocked the FCC’s reclassification of broadband providers, often called net neutrality.
My opinion This is all nonsense and appears to have been done to appease one group of lunatics and defeat the other group of lunatics. This is what happens when lunatics are allowed to appoint judges to lifetime appointments while having mechanisms in place to block those appointments until it is convenient for their side.
I try not to get involved in politics because I hate dealing with lunatics. One side is not going to agree with me. Respectful disagreement is fine, but unhinged insanity is never far away. I have better things to do than read the crap some moron on the Internet furiously posts to share with the world.
This time I’ll make an exception and I want to piss. all Out. Your side sucks. My side sucks. We should want to make individual decisions and not follow party lines so much, regardless of why we’re told we should. Net neutrality means your internet provider is going to charge you more. It also means you’re going to have better access to information and entertainment Without some mega-corporation deciding to screw it up. Nothing further was heard from either side in this appeal.
You can Ignore your side and think about what’s best for you. So do it.