The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday approved an application by Elon Musk's SpaceX, allowing the aerospace company to provide broadband services using satellites in the U.S. and worldwide. "With this action, the Commission takes another step to increase high-speed broadband availability and competition in the United States," the FCC said in a statement.

The ACLU is calling on cities across the country to build their own public municipal broadband networks to help preserve net neutrality after the Federal Communications Commission repealed the open internet rules. In a report released Thursday morning, the civil liberties group argued that in the absence of the FCC’s rules cities could give residents an alternative to private service providers who will soon no longer be required to treat all web traffic equally.

A federal appeals court rolled back rules intended to deter irritating telemarketing robocalls, saying they were too broad. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said that 2015 regulations from the Federal Communications Commission could wrongly classify every smartphone as an autodialing device subject to anti-robocall fines. Those 2015 rules attempted to graft modern definitions onto a 1991 law that predated the iPhone by more than 15 years.

In the three months since the FCC decided to repeal existing net neutrality protections, a sizable political coalition has worked to reinstate net neutrality through a variety of legal procedures. Both at the state and municipal level, open internet advocates and politicians have launched into action, ranging from lawsuits to executive orders to legislation in order to save the internet as we know it.

Earlier this year, a space startup from Silicon Valley launched four of its first prototype communications satellites on top of an Indian rocket. Except the FCC says that the company didn’t have authorization to send up those spacecraft from the US government, IEEE Spectrum reports. It would seemingly mark the first time a US private company launched un-licensed satellites into orbit — and these rogue spacecraft could pose a danger to other objects in space.

Republicans in Congress are continuing to push a net neutrality law that would preempt state net neutrality rules and let Internet service providers charge online services for prioritized access to Internet users. The Open Internet Preservation Act would prohibit ISPs from blocking or throttling lawful Internet content but clear the way for paid prioritization or "fast lanes."

Ajit Pai’s FCC is, like the rest of the Trump Train, off to a rollicking and hypocritical start, if two big news items this week are anything to go by. On Tuesday, Pai introduced an initiative to identify areas desperately in need of broadband deployment (good!) and today, the Washington Post reports that the FCC has blocked nine companies from participating in a federal program that subsidizes broadband service for low-income households (bad!).

Ajit Pai can usually count on support from broadband industry lobbyists and conservative think tanks each time he announces a new policy. But Pai's proposal to limit broadband choices for poor people who rely on a telecom subsidy program is coming under fire from all directions. Pai, the Federal Communications Commission chairman, wants a major overhaul of Lifeline, a federal program that lets poor people use a $9.25 monthly household subsidy to buy Internet and/or phone service.

Washington became the first state Monday to set up its own net-neutrality requirements after U.S. regulators repealed Obama-era rules that banned internet providers from blocking content or interfering with online traffic. "We know that when D.C. fails to act, Washington state has to do so," Gov. Jay Inslee said before signing the measure that lawmakers passed with bipartisan support. "We know how important this is."

The US state of Washington is on the verge of passing a sweeping new set of net neutrality safeguards that would apply to all carriers within its borders. The bill, HB 2282, would bar anyone offering broadband services within the state from throttling traffic, offering paid prioritization, or blocking lawful content. The bill also requires ISPs to post their policies on traffic management within their networks online for all to sde.

The National Rifle Association's decision to give one of the least liked people on the internet an award for "courage" last week wasn't just tone deaf, it may have violated agency rules. The NRA gifted Pai with an expensive musket at last week's CPAC's conference, insisting the agency head was "courageous" for ignoring the will of the public (and the people that built the actual internet) and killing net neutrality. But the gift may have been more than just tone deaf quest for attention, it may have put Ajit Pai on the wrong side of FCC ethics rules.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai received the National Rifle Association's (NRA) “Charlton Heston Courage Under Fire Award” at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday.

A coalition of 22 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia on Thursday refiled legal challenges intended to block the Trump administration's repeal of landmark rules designed to ensure a free and open internet from taking effect.

The end of net neutrality is officially set to come this spring.

A broadband internet connection is vital to full participation in our society and economy. Increasingly, government services and job opportunities can only be accessed online. Indeed, homework assigned to seven out of 10 K-12 students in the US requires internet access, according to a recent study. The internet provides access to necessary information and a way to stay connected to friends and family, be they around the corner or around the world.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai smiled smugly while he blew up the basic net neutrality protections that keep the Internet free from censorship, throttling, and outrageous fees. He lied his face off, “joked” about being a Verizon puppet, refused to comply with transparency laws, and ignored overwhelming public outcry from across the political spectrum.

Ajit Pai, the controversial chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is under investigation by the FCC inspector general for his ties to a broadcaster, according to lawmakers. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr., D-N.J., and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., requested the investigation, saying Pai and aides improperly pushed for rule changes to benefit Sinclair Broadcasting in its attempt to acquire Tribune Media.

The order directs state agencies to contract only with internet service providers who comply with net neutrality standards — with possible exceptions

The FCC’s Inspector General has launched an investigation into whether Pai acted inappropriately as he rushed to dismantle media consolidation rules.

Tumblr, GitHub, Patreon, and DuckDuckGo are among the latest web platforms to announce their participation in an Internet-wide day of action on February 27 dubbed Operation: #OneMoreVote, an internet-wide push called for by the organizations behind BattleForTheNet.com and many of the largest online protests in history. Internet users, small businesses, online communities, public interest groups and popular websites will harness their reach to flood lawmakers with calls, emails and...