FCC going forward with broadband plan despite ‘net neutrality’ ruling News
FCC going forward with broadband plan despite ‘net neutrality’ ruling

[JURIST] Federal Communications Commission (FCC) [official website] Chairman Julius Genachowski [official profile] testified [text, PDF] Wednesday before the Senate Commerce Committee [official website] that the agency will move ahead with its National Broadband Plan [official website; materials] despite a recent court ruling [JURIST report] that it lacks the power to enforce net neutrality [Google backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. Net neutrality, which is unanimously supported [JURIST report] by the FCC's commissioners, was thought essential to the goal of an open flow of information over the Internet regardless of the amount of revenue generated by the information. Genachowski said that the FCC's actions, as laid out in the 2010 Broadband Action Agenda [materials] will, "protect America's global competitiveness and help deliver the extraordinary benefits of broadband to all Americans." The roadmap, he continued, falls within the framework of the Communications Act of 1934 [text, PDF] as amended in 1996 and will be, "rooted in a sound legal foundation, designed to promote investment, innovation, competition, and consumer interests."

The FCC announced last week that it would move forward with the plan [JURIST reports] despite the ruling. The FCC sent the plan [JURIST report] to Congress for approval last month, seeking approval to enact regulations to update the communications infrastructure in the US and make broadband service available to millions more Americans. Telecommunications companies Verizon, AT&T and Comcast [corporate websites] argue that net neutrality would inhibit their ability to effectively manage Internet traffic. Under the National Broadband plan, the FCC hopes to provide broadband access as broadly as possible, including to at least one public institution in every community and to first responders. Other notable goals of the plan include providing 100 million households with affordable 100 megabits-per-second internet service and ensuring that all children are literate in digital technology by the time they leave high school.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.