Summary
The Supreme Court will review a case challenging the FCC’s authority over the Universal Service Fund (USF), which subsidizes broadband for low-income, rural communities, schools, and libraries.
The case questions whether Congress improperly delegated lawmaking power to the FCC and whether the FCC gave too much authority to the nonprofit managing the fund.
This follows the Court’s rollback of Chevron doctrine, which diminishes reliance on agency expertise.
A Fifth Circuit ruling deemed the USF’s funding structure unconstitutional, raising concerns about the future of affordable broadband access nationwide.
As a reminder to everyone, you currently pay for the USF on every telecom bill you have.
It costs these companies practically nothing because they’re allowed to recover those funds from other customers via bill surcharges.
Also a reminder that you’re likely paying a couple surcharges for various programs these companies “completed” decades ago and lobbied to not have to finish but still charge customers for.
This is bigger than just fucking over poor people (which it it totally does). Every school in the country gets reduced internet costs thanks to USF, libraries can afford public WiFi for everyone thanks to USF, a lot of the broadband grants that came out after Covid had something to do with USF.
This is bigger than killing net neutrality, this is a step back from any public help for getting people connected.
Oh don’t worry. Net Neutrality is getting killed next. Trumps guy already said he’s axing anything like it.
So it’s dead.
Even if they revive the program, the incoming FCC chair has already said he’s going to kill it. It’s dead no matter what.
Yeah, I think “will decide” is not really the case here.
with ‘fuck the poor people’ being the new GOP mantra, how could this possibly go any way but terrible
New?
yeah i was kinda thinking with the chevron thing now they can dismantle anything that even kind of helped regular people. but youre right, its always been about taking from the poor to feed the rich.
don’t forget they’ll rob the people blind and then say it was the mexicans that did it, and brainless sheeple maga voters will 100% believe it
its kind of sad. that herd has been carefully curated over the last 2+ generations via propaganda, fear and ‘ick’ factors.
its very hard to logic people out of something they did not logic themselves into.
when the only way they’ll accept information as true is when it comes from great leader, then it’s a cult. unfortunately, deprogramming brainwashing is a difficult time-consuming process that’s impossible to scale to large numbers of people. it’s so fucking bad that they’ve weaponized the entire concept of “woke” aka aware of the propaganda bullshit
ignorance and blind obedience are praised, while thinking and questioning are demonized.
even when we go to war (and we will), they won’t wake the fuck up
Rule of law is out the window, why should we care what 9 random people have to say about our lives that have no effect on their own
