Trump’s FCC: Tom Wheeler to be replaced, set-top box reform could be dead | Hacker News Reader

Trump’s FCC: Tom Wheeler to be replaced, set-top box reform could be dead

arstechnica.com

35 pointsdistantsounds10 comments

Just kill me now: "Top down power grab" my ass. The one guy punching up for consumers is gonna be out, I didn't even realize that... Dark days for internet in the US.

The subtitle of the article is: "Democrats' last-minute rulemakings could be easily reversed once GOP takes over."

That's the problem with executive rule making - changes in the executive lead to changes to the rules. If the rule was not made by consensus, why expect its repeal to be by consensus either?

Agreed. Whenever President Obama would make an "end-run around Congress" by signing a new Executive Order, nobody should have been cheering it because each EO can be easily nullified by a successor.

Consensus is neither easy nor guaranteed to generate a result that makes all parties equally happy. But it is more likely to prevent radical changes in the future.

Not just for the internet, friend. Not just for the internet.

I wonder if Trump supporters will care iF he really does appoint FCC chair in favor of big business over citizens?

Do the majority of Americans even know what the FCC is or does?

The majority of Americans see free data for streaming video and music from a carrier's partner as a feature.

They look no further into it

Who cares if set top box reform dies? Government worrying about cable settop boxes in the age of streaming boxes and services like SlingTV is as silly as worrying about desktop browser monopolies in the age of mobile.

I have six tvs all with some type of streaming box and all of my video comes over the internet. I would have had to pay $60/month for set top boxes if I had go with cable. I pay $50 a month for Sling, Hulu and Netflix and I have Amazon Prime.

The market is working.

Those streaming devices won't help much if the FCC doesn't stop your <local monopoly ISP> from kneecapping Netflix, Amazon, etc by trying to profit both ways... we all know the rest of the net neutrality speech.

Interesting times ahead.

Luckily, I had two choices for unlimited high speed internet - Comcast business - $120 for 50/10 - and AT&T Gigapower (1000/1000) for $70/month.

With Google still nipping at AT&Ts heel in my area, hopefully it will keep everyone honest.

To many important civil service positions are at the whim of the president all bar the cabinet and SPADS (Special Advisors) etc should be career civil servant. It would alos clean out the swamp to use his phrase.

The recent clusterF with the FBI is another example of a political place man failing grossly

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