美国国家公共电台 NPR FCC Repeals 'Net Neutrality' Rules For Internet Providers

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

The net neutrality rules of the Obama era have been revoked¹. Net neutrality is the idea that Internet service providers, or ISPs, should not favor certain content or websites over others. By a vote of 3 to 2, the Federal Communications Commission voted today to roll back net neutrality rules that were issued in 2015. That vote was long expected.

Over the last few months, net neutrality advocates staged protests and sent millions of comments to the FCC. Many worry that the rollback will allow ISPs like Comcast or AT&T to charge more to access certain websites or to block some sites altogether. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai dismissed those concerns.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

AJIT PAI: It is not going to end the Internet as we know it. It is not going to kill democracy. It is not going to stifle² free expression online. If stating these propositions alone doesn't demonstrate their absurdity³, our Internet experience before 2015 and our internet experience tomorrow once this order passes will prove them so.

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

Today is just the latest development in a long debate over whether and how to regulate Internet service providers. NPR's Alina Selyukh has covered net neutrality for years, and she is with us now. Alina, just remind us how this debate got started.

ALINA SELYUKH, BYLINE⁴: Fundamentally, this dispute over how to regulate Internet providers goes back to the era of dial-up Internet.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Well, there's a revolution going on in rec rooms, offices and classrooms around the world.

SELYUKH: The Internet was very different. This is - I mean, we're talking late-'90s.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Passing on cooking tips and gossip night and day through a computer network called Internet.

SELYUKH: And the FCC just started figuring out what to do with these new companies. Should they be regulated like telephone companies that have been around for years?

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

WILLIAM KENNARD: Finally as old industry boundaries fade away, the FCC itself must change.

SELYUKH: And in 1999, Democratic FCC chairman under President Clinton, he says, let's go for a light-touch approach.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KENNARD: Simply put, the top-down regulatory model for the FCC is as out of date for the 21st century as the rotary⁵ phone.

SELYUKH: And we will not, for now, treat broadband like the old telephone.

MCEVERS: OK, so then this debate goes into the 2000s and around this time, you know, the Internet's changing a lot. And the ISPs really start to push their boundaries, right?

SELYUKH: I think everybody's trying to figure out how they can benefit from what's happening on the Internet. And there's definitely a couple of instances when the internet providers get accused of essentially⁶ violating net neutrality principles by the advocates. There's a case of Comcast and BitTorrent traffic, AT&T and FaceTime app. And the FCC just keeps trying to get involved, write some kind of rules or punish bad behavior. And the court keeps tossing out whatever they did. So the FCC keeps searching for solid legal ground to write net neutrality rules into law.

MCEVERS: All right, so it's 2014 at this point. And this seems to be the year when people start to, like, hear about net neutrality and start to care about it, right?

SELYUKH: You know, if you listen to news reports from the years earlier, net neutrality is this, like, extremely painful topic that poor news reporters were just completely struggling to explain.

(SOUNDBITE OF MEDIA MONTAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Now to net neutrality, which has a lot of us here scratching our heads.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: Net neutrality. Now, that's a phrase that some people may not have heard of.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: About net neutrality. Now, it's a very boring term for an important subject.

SELYUKH: And then you get this new metaphor⁷ that starts circulating of, quote-unquote, "fast lanes," on the Internet.

(SOUNDBITE OF MEDIA MONTAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #4: The best way to understand net neutrality is to think of the Internet as a sort of congested superhighway.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Well, if you think of the Internet like a highway...

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #5: Express lanes on the information superhighway.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #6: And leaving the little guys stuck in the slow lane or never getting off the ground.

SELYUKH: And all this catches fire among these folks who'd never heard of net neutrality, never cared about net neutrality, especially when comedian⁸ John Oliver does his 13-minute rant⁹ about it.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER")

JOHN OLIVER: Our top story tonight concerns the Internet, AKA the electronic cat database.

MCEVERS: This is on his HBO show "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver."

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER")

OLIVER: Our government looks set to end net neutrality. And...

SELYUKH: He explains this whole issue in a very entertaining way and encourages everyone to send comments directly to the FCC.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER")

OLIVER: We need you to get out there and for once in your lives, focus your indiscriminate rage in a useful direction.

SELYUKH: And this rant sets off a new wave of protests. People are sitting in front of the FCC chairman's house. They're saying no fast lanes on the Internet. And then President Obama weighs in.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BARACK OBAMA: Hi, everybody. Ever since the Internet was created...

SELYUKH: What Obama calls for is the strictest-possible rules for Internet service providers. And he essentially says classify them as utilities.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

OBAMA: In plain English, I'm asking them to recognize that for most Americans, the Internet has become an essential part of everyday communication and everyday life.

SELYUKH: The FCC is supposed to be an independent agency. But there's this huge pressure coming from the public and now from the president. So the agency ends up completely rewriting their approach to net neutrality. They put in place these rules that essentially put really strict oversight¹⁰ over ISPs.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #7: Today, history is being made by a majority of this commission.

SELYUKH: The FCC's vote lands along party lines.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #7: All in favor, say aye.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #7: Opposed.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: No.

SELYUKH: The three Democrats¹¹ vote in favor. There's this picture of the three of them wearing blue. They're triumphantly¹² holding their hands. It was kind of an epic¹³ moment for the advocacy groups that have been fighting for these strict rules for years.

MCEVERS: Right. So they vote 3 to 2 and one of those two dissenters¹⁵ - right? - is Ajit Pai, who's now...

SELYUKH: The FCC chairman.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PAI: This order imposes intrusive¹⁶ government regulations that won't work to solve a problem that doesn't exist using legal authority the FCC doesn't have. Accordingly, I dissent¹⁴.

SELYUKH: He is a free-market Republican and he was saying it then and he's saying it now. He's saying, the rules overstepped authority, and it's essentially government meddling¹⁷ with the Internet to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PAI: I don't know whether this plan will be vacated by a court, reversed by Congress or overturned by a future commission. But I do believe its days are numbered.

SELYUKH: Than President Trump¹⁸ got elected and essentially promoted Pai. So he's now the FCC chairman and he oversees¹⁹ a Republican majority 3 to 2. And now he has the power to actually act on it, which is exactly what he did.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PAI: With that, we will call the vote. Commissioner²⁰ Clyburn.

MIGNON CLYBURN: I dissent.

PAI: Commissioner O'Rielly.

MICHAEL O'RIELLY: Aye.

PAI: Commissioner Carr.

BRENDAN CARR: Aye.

PAI: Commissioner Rosenworcel.

JESSICA ROSENWORCEL: I dissent.

PAI: The chair votes aye. The item is adopted with editorial privileges granted as requested.

MCEVERS: So now we are finally to today. What's next?

SELYUKH: I think next, the advocates, net neutrality advocates, are saying they are planning to push Congress for a special vote that might block this FCC decision from going into effect to begin with. A few groups like the ACLU, Public Knowledge are talking about a lawsuit²¹. But, of course, the question that everyone keeps asking me is, what does this mean for me tomorrow for my Internet connection? And the honest answer is we don't really know. The net neutrality advocates are saying we're basically in the territory where people are being asked to trust their Internet service provider to play fair with their competitors, to protect the little startups. The broadband providers for their part are saying they have no interest in aggravating²² their users by meddling with their Internet traffic. But the law that was requiring them not to do that is going away.

MCEVERS: NPR's Alina Selyukh, thank you so much.

SELYUKH: Thank you.

1 revoked   

adj.[法]取消的v.撤销，取消，废除( revoke的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It may be revoked if the check is later dishonoured. 以后如支票被拒绝支付，结算可以撤销。 来自辞典例句
• A will is revoked expressly. 遗嘱可以通过明示推翻。 来自辞典例句

2 stifle   

vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止

参考例句：

• She tried hard to stifle her laughter.她强忍住笑。
• It was an uninteresting conversation and I had to stifle a yawn.那是一次枯燥无味的交谈，我不得不强忍住自己的呵欠。

3 absurdity   

n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论

参考例句：

• The proposal borders upon the absurdity.这提议近乎荒谬。
• The absurdity of the situation made everyone laugh.情况的荒谬可笑使每个人都笑了。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 rotary   

adj.(运动等)旋转的；轮转的；转动的

参考例句：

• The central unit is a rotary drum.核心设备是一个旋转的滚筒。
• A rotary table helps to optimize the beam incidence angle.一张旋转的桌子有助于将光线影响之方式角最佳化。

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

8 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

9 rant   

v.咆哮；怒吼；n.大话；粗野的话

参考例句：

• You can rant and rave at the fine,but you'll still have to pay it.你闹也好，骂也好，罚金还是得交。
• If we rant on the net,the world is our audience.如果我们在网络上大声嚷嚷，全世界都是我们的听众。

10 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

11 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 triumphantly   

ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地

参考例句：

• The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
• Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。

13 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

14 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

15 dissenters   

n.持异议者，持不同意见者( dissenter的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He attacked the indulgence shown to religious dissenters. 他抨击对宗教上持不同政见者表现出的宽容。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• (The dissenters would have allowed even more leeway to the Secretary.) （持异议者还会给行政长官留有更多的余地。） 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

16 intrusive   

adj.打搅的；侵扰的

参考例句：

• The cameras were not an intrusive presence.那些摄像机的存在并不令人反感。
• Staffs are courteous but never intrusive.员工谦恭有礼却从不让人感到唐突。

17 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

18 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

19 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

20 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

21 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

22 aggravating   

adj.恼人的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• How aggravating to be interrupted! 被打扰，多令人生气呀！
• Diesel exhaust is particularly aggravating to many susceptible individuals. 许多体质敏感的人尤其反感柴油废气。