FCC votes to strip away Net Neutrality rules
The Federal Communications Commission has just voted, 3 to 2, to repeal Net Neutrality protections as put in place during the Obama administration. The rules, which were imposed in 2015, were established to prevent Internet service providers from speeding up, slowing down or banning certain sites or apps, and potentially setting up so-called “fast lanes” for higher paying customers. Net Neutrality is an issue that has been dear to musicians (as well as independent websites like the one you’re currently reading), and this week a long list of artists—including Against Me!, Priests, Algiers, R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, Speedy Ortiz and Talib Kweli—signed an open letter urging congress to stop the FCC from putting the anti-neutrality rules in place.
The new rules can still be stopped by Congress, and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has already announced he plans to sue the FCC in order to prevent the FCC from moving forward.
For more information and info on how to get involved, visit BattlefortheNet.com.
Jeff Terich is the founder and editor of Treble. He's been writing about music for 20 years and has been published at American Songwriter, Bandcamp Daily, Reverb, Spin, Stereogum, uDiscoverMusic, VinylMePlease and some others that he's forgetting right now. He's still not tired of it.