FCC: Net Neutrality is a ‘Thing’ Again ¦ Meta Shutters Big UK Site

Welcome to The Long View—where we peruse the news of the week and strip it to the essentials. Let’s work out what really matters.

This week: Network neutrality is back on the FCC’s agenda, and unused London office gets Zucked.

1. Jessica Rosenworcel is as mad as hell

First up this week: The FCC honcho is not going to take this anymore. She’s bringing back rules to make U.S. broadband “open and fair,” applying to all providers—both mobile and fixed line.

Analysis: Déjà vu — party like it’s 2015

DevOps won’t be able to rely on preferential deals with carriers. And DevOps shouldn’t have to suffer being slowed down in favor of competitors. Such zero rating, prioritization and throttling will be illegal across the country—not just states like California.

Devin Coldewey: FCC announces plans to reinstate net neutrality

“Spurious in the extreme”
The FCC is set to reinstate rules that broadband providers must treat all traffic equally, giving no sweetheart deals to business partners or their own services. The effort to revive this popular rule was announced … by FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel … one of the original rule’s champions over a decade ago: … “We need broadband to reach 100% of us, and it needs to be fast, open and fair.”
…
Net neutrality is the principle that internet providers … should act as simple pipes for data, not performing any analysis or prioritization beyond what is required to ensure good service. Some data must be prioritized due to the way networks function, of course, but it would be … illegal under net neutrality for, say, Comcast to throttle the streaming services of its competitors.
…
[Before] the FCC passed net neutrality rules in 2015 … non-neutral practices were gaining ground — rebranded as “zero rating.” … With the 2016 election came … new leadership for the FCC: … Ajit Pai … made no secret of his intention to make overturning it a priority. And overturn it he did, using legal logic that was spurious in the extreme.

Karl Bode has been following the story for a decade or more. The Details Will Matter:

“Lying to you”
Remember when a bunch of unpopular broadband monopolies convinced a corrupt reality TV star to dismantle most oversight of their very broken industry? … After almost seven years of lobbyist-fueled bull****, [the agency] is preparing to finally restore net neutrality rules.
…
I routinely see misinformed folks try to claim that net neutrality must not have mattered because the internet didn’t fall apart, post repeal—but that’s ignorant gibberish. … The telecom lobby is already seeding the press with bull****.
…
Mindless fealty to monopoly power doesn’t benefit innovation, competition, or consumers. And folks that claim otherwise are lying to you.

Isn’t that a bit overblown? Not at all, hallucinates llm_nerd:

Why did the mega providers so desperately want net neutrality to die? Why did so many lobbyists work to kill it?
…
This is a bit like the Y2K bug. There was a huge amount of noise and fear-mongering, and millions of developers spent an enormous amount of time fixing code and preparing systems. Y2K came and suddenly everyone is sure it was all just drama for nothing.
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The massive amount of “scare tactics” made it a mainstream conversation. The images of tiered internet were spread far and wide and it put everyone on alert. … If net neutrality was quietly axed and no one noticed or cared, we would absolutely have had services very much like the worst-case images imagined.

But that’s not to say it didn’t happen. msawzall alleges an allegation:

Well, look at that: … “Netflix performance on Verizon and Comcast has been dropping for months. Latest Netflix data shows some ISPs struggling, while Google Fiber soars.”
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ISPs (without NN) will throttle content providers for an increase in profit. That is what NN is for.

Maybe we don’t need new rulemaking? GordonD is not a lawyer:

IANAL, but it seems to me that writing new rules requires all kind of public comment and procedure, followed by years of legal challenges. … Why make new rules?
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Since the … Pai commission public comment process was so clearly flawed, could not the current commission find [it] flawed and hence revoke [those] rule changes?

Ultimately, this is a symptom of regional monopolies. As TomWinTejas helpfully reminds us:

Oh great, a solution looking for a problem. … The FCC should instead focus on increasing competition by mimicking Japan: Create a regulated entity that handles the last mile fiber and allows a multitude of ISPs to leverage the FTTP. If one of them decides to throttle or blackhole Netflix, who cares? … You have 8 other choices. And with 8 other choices the bad actor likely realizes dumb moves will kill their business.

2. Meta Shutters Big UK Site

Zuckerberg’s London real estate team has paid a huge penalty for tearing up a lease on an office building. Financial analysts say it’s equivalent to seven years of rent.

Analysis: Be careful what you wish for

Hybrid work is to blame: If people aren’t in the office five days a week, employers can force them to hotdesk. And then firms need less office space.

Henry Saker-Clark: Meta pays developer £149m to break lease

“Cost-cutting”
Facebook owner Meta has surrendered the lease on one of its London office buildings as technology firms continue to slash their costs. Meta paid [$180 million] in order to break the lease on the building, 1 Triton Square. The tech firm … let the space from 2021 following a refurbishment but never moved in.
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The move comes as Mark Zuckerberg has cut thousands of jobs as part of a significant cost-cutting programme and sought to reduce its real estate footprint. … Meta has another 18 years on its lease at the site.

With hybrid work being de rigueur at Meta, consolidation also means hotdesking. jstx1 is horrified at the thought:

Hybrid working and desk sharing is the worst option for getting any actual work done. I’ll gladly commute to an office where I have a dedicated desk with good equipment … but having to work from a laptop without any dedicated space is just horrible.

There’s a lack of joined-up thinking, thinks Shakrai:

It’s not for nothing that city governments are trying to “encourage” employers to mandate return to work. It’s particularly infuriating in cities like mine that are simultaneously seeking to impose congestion hour tolling, making it artificially expensive to commute to work, and … dealing with a huge shortage of housing that could be somewhat alleviated by converting unused commercial space into residential.