Posted on 05/21/2010 3:52:58 AM PDT by Erik Latranyi
The Obama administration has announced plans to regulate the Internet through the Federal Communications Commission, extending its authority over broadband providers to police web traffic, enforcing “net neutrality.”
Last week, a congressional hearing exposed an effort to give another agency—the Federal Election Commission—unprecedented power to regulate political speech online. At a House Administration Committee hearing last Tuesday, Patton Boggs attorney William McGinley explained that the sloppy statutory language in the “DISCLOSE Act” would extend the FEC’s control over broadcast communications to all “covered communications,” including the blogosphere.
The DISCLOSE Act’s purpose, according to Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Chris Van Hollen and other “reformers,” is simply to require disclosure of corporate and union political speech after the Supreme Court’s January decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission held that the government could not ban political expenditures by companies, nonprofit groups, and labor unions.
The bill, however, would radically redefine how the FEC regulates political commentary. A section of the DISCLOSE Act would exempt traditional media outlets from coordination regulations, but the exemption does not include bloggers, only “a communication appearing in a news story, commentary, or editorial distributed through the facilities of any broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine or other periodical publication…”
(Excerpt) Read more at reason.com ...
This impacts FR directly.
Just a few days ago a republican legislator in Michigan introduced a bill that would require certification of anyone who wishes to call themselves a journalist.
The New York Times supports licensing the Second Amendment, did they really think it would be long before they started licensing the First Amendment?
Did not a federal court judge ruled that “net nutrality” to be illegal?
“Did not a federal court judge ruled that “net nutrality” to be illegal?”
They just changed definitions to avoid the SCOTUS. With the same results though.
For the NYT this is a means to eliminate competition.
The Obamao Regime are protofascists, that should be clear to any fair minded person.
Scary stuff!
BTTT!
Can’t handle truth or criticism so dissent must be SILENCED.
How will they regulate content that originates on the internet outside of the USA?
Will they be like the old Soviet Union, and block content from
outside the USA?
A bit like DC keeps changing their gun laws after the Supreme Court ruled the old one illegal. They can pass regulations faster then the Supreme Court can rule on them.
I wonder if Canada is ready for the influx of Americans who would be willing to put up with their poor health care system yet would have freedom of speech etc? Canada, Iceland, Ireland, UK get ready your ancestors are coming. And then there will be those who stay and will fight it out..some will go but their observations in print we won’t see.We will no longer be the USA, We won’t even be the CSA. It will be known as the CSSA or MSA . How sad for all and the f*&^$% dimwits who did not do due diligence before voting will bear this mark upon themselves forevermore.
Unless there can be a Voice of Europe like Voice of America we will never know..all will be censored..we will not be able to even express our own views to family for fear of being turned in to the Gestapo.
“They can pass regulations faster then the Supreme Court can rule on them.”
And that, unfortunately is why they are winning.
“Unless there can be a Voice of Europe like Voice of America we will never know..”
That can not work. The Obamanation would just pull the plug on your ISP.
Seems like it would be fairly easy to overwhelm any regulatory efforts on the Internet.
I’ve been surfing for years and only read half of it! :)
Do you see the tentacles working their way all over and through the internet?
The FEC can investigate and regulate political websites, the FCC will control the Service Providers, the SEC will check private and corporate investments into websites and from website owners........etc, etc, etc
Three words:
Anonymous Proxy Servers.
And remember this too: if the people of Romania were able to throw off the chains of tyranny, we may yet see the day when this illegal 0bamunist regime from the very top where the head of the rotting fish is, to the very bottom where the bureaucratic/Communist bottom feeders reside, ALL reap the benefits of the Nikolai Ceausescu retirement plan.
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