Popularity contests of our time
US presidential loser John McCain has introduced
legislation that would block the US FCC from creating new net neutrality rules.
McCain introduced the Internet Freedom Act, a title which
which is deeply ironic because it is the complete opposite of
Internet Freedom. We guess “Telecommunications Company Freedom to Shaft
Consumer Act” would not get many votes.
Basically McCains law would keep the FCC from enacting
rules prohibiting broadband providers from selectively blocking or slowing
Internet content and applications. McCain claims that the net neutrality rules would create
"onerous federal regulation."
The FCC on Thursday voted to begin a rulemaking process
to formalise net neutrality rules which had been in place at the FCC since
2005. McCain, an Arizona Republican, called the proposed net
neutrality rules a "government takeover" of the Internet that
will stifle innovation and depress an "already anemic" job market in the
U.S.
McCain was the Republican challenger to President Barack
Obama in the 2008 election, and Obama has said net neutrality rules
are among his top tech priorities.