U.S. Senate forces a vote that could restore net neutrality

By Jayce Wagner Published May 9, 2018

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Net neutrality — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks during the Senate Democrats’ news conference to officially file petition to force a vote on net neutrality on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. Bill Clark/Getty Images

Using its powers as outlined in the Congressional Review Act, a group of Democratic senators has submitted a “discharge petition” which could set the stage for the restoration of net neutrality in the U.S. There are still quite a few hurdles standing in the way, however.

U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) teamed up with 32 other Democratic senators to submit the discharge petition which effectively gives the U.S. Senate the power to vote to roll back the regulations Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai introduced in December 2017. The vote, supporters claim, could occur as early as next week.

Recommended Videos

For that vote to succeed though, the resolution would need a majority in both the Senate and House of Representatives, in addition to President Donald Trump’s signature.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

So, even though the resolution has the support of all 48 Senate Democrats, independent Senator Angus King (I-Maine), and Republican Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), supporters still need to convince at least one more Republican senator to get on board for the vote to pass.

Then it needs to pass the U.S. House of Representatives, and get signed into law by Trump. It’s a bold move to restore net neutrality, with broad bi-partisan support, but it’s important to remember that Trump was the one who appointed Pai, and supported Pai’s efforts to loosen net neutrality regulations.

Supporters of the resolution are well aware of the legislative hurdles they have to clear. The vote won’t just be about passing the resolution, it will be about getting senators on the record as for or against net neutrality.

“This is our best chance to save the internet as we know it,” Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) said in a statement. “It’s totally unfair to give big businesses a fast lane on the internet while everyone else is stuck in the slow lane.”

In support of the resolution, sites like Reddit has rolled out an “orangered alert” banner urging users to contact their senators to support the resolution which could set the stage for a full-scale restoration of net neutrality. Still, as we mentioned, the resolution still has a long road ahead of it. Even if it succeeds in both houses of Congress, it could meet its end at the tip of the President’s veto pen.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

A staff writer for the Computing section, Jayce covers a little bit of everything -- hardware, gaming, and occasionally VR.

Computing

The U.S. government is investigating Nvidia over AI dominance

Nvidia CEO Jensen in front of a background.

Nvidia is the target of a new U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation. The DOJ is looking into Nvidia's dominance in the AI market through its graphics cards, and specifically looking at if it has leveraged its commanding lead over 80% of that market to lock out competitors from entering it, The Information reports.

On July 30, multiple U.S. groups urged the DOJ to launch an investigation into Nvidia, including democratic senator Elizabeth Warren. The letter to the DOJ cites Nvidia's command of 80% of all GPU chips in the world, and specifically its 98% dominance in the data center market. "Nvidia's size means it now holds control over the world's computing destiny, which gives it dangerous leverage over the global economy," the letter reads.

Computing

U.S. to ban Kaspersky antivirus software over alleged Russian links

The keyboard and trackpad on the new Surface Laptop.

The Biden administration is banning the use of Kaspersky Lab cybersecurity software throughout the U.S. over fears that the Russian government may be interfering with its operations, the U.S. Commerce Department said on Thursday.

U.S. officials have long had concerns about the safety of Kaspersky’s software, claiming that Russian law gives Vladimir Putin’s government access to Kaspersky’s systems and therefore data on all of its customers.

Mobile

T-Mobile is buying one of the largest carriers in the U.S.

If you were impacted by T-Mobile's latest price hike and were looking for an alternative carrier, we have some bad news — T-Mobile is buying US Cellular. For those unaware, U.S. Cellular is the fifth-largest carrier in the U.S. despite being a regional carrier based mostly in the Chicago area. Unlike mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) like Metro by T-Mobile or Visible, which piggyback on a parent carrier’s network, US Cellular has its own towers and stores.

The deal would see T-Mobile pay $4.4 billion to take over US Cellular’s wireless customers, stores, and 30% of its spectrum assets. It includes a combination of cash and T-Mobile assuming $2 billion of U.S. Cellular’s debt. US Cellular will keep control of 4,400 of its towers and 70% of its spectrum portfolio, but T-Mobile will extend its leases for 600 US Cellular towers and sign new long-term leases on 2,015 more towers. In a conference call about the deal, T-Mobile also committed to hiring a significant number of U.S. Cellular associates.