Thank you very much to all who serve and have served. #VeteransDay
Yesterday we had this:
Internet Reclassification: President Obama Tosses Another Grenade After Second Election Shellacking
President Barack Obama this morning released a statement calling for his administration’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) – allegedly an independent agency – to execute a unilateral, complete rewrite of existing law.
He wants reclassification of how the Internet is regulated – so as to then impose network neutrality. Twice before the FCC has tried to impose net neutrality – twice it was unanimously rejected as overreaching by courts.
The law – the 1996 Telecommunications Act – classifies the Internet as lightly-regulated Title I, and does not authorize the FCC to impose net neutrality.
The president wants his FCC – all by itself – to shove it under uber-heavily-regulated Title II, which applies 1934 Telecom Act land line phone law and regulations to the future-forward World Wide Web.
Not only is this likely a first – a President demanding that an independent agency submit to his will.
Not only would this be a huge, unprecedented regulatory assault on the Internet.
It also would allow the government to begin taxing the Internet In multiple ways – and at huge rates. For instance:
Reclassification Net Neutrality Could Be a 16.1% Internet Tax – And Many Other New Web Tax Attempts
“…(O)nce ‘internet access services’ are reclassified as ‘interstate telecommunications services’ under the exclusive authority of FCC, it will be subjected to the 16.1% fee that’s currently applicable to such services.
“So FCC’s ‘net neutrality’ could result into the largest single tax increase on internet to date.”
And that huge tax rate goes up every quarter –automatically. Now you know why your phone bill taxes are so absurd.
And this is just one of several ways Democrats are looking this lame duck session to tax the Web.
All of which – and more – we detail in the adjacent video.
Please, enjoy.
Editor’s Note: This first appeared in Red State.