Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/414261
ByAnneFlaherty TheAssociatedPress WASHINGTON President Barack Obama on Mon- day embraced a radical change in how the govern- ment treats Internet service, coming down on the side of consumer activists who fear slower download speeds and higher costs but anger- ing Republicans and the na- tion's cable giants who say the plan would kill jobs. Obama called on the Fed- eral Communications Com- mission to more heavily reg- ulate Internet providers and treat broadband much as it would any other public util- ity. He said the FCC should explicitly prohibit Internet providers like Verizon and AT&T from charging data hogs like Netflix extra to move their content more quickly. The announcement sent cable stocks tumbling. The FCC, an independent regulatory body led by polit- ical appointees, is nearing a decision on whether broad- band providers should be allowed to cut deals with the content providers but is stumbling over the legal complexities. "We are stunned the pres- ident would abandon the longstanding, bipartisan policy of lightly regulating the Internet and calling for extreme" regulation, said Michael Powell, president and CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunica- tions Association, the pri- mary lobbying arm of the cable industry, which sup- plies much of the nation's Internet access. This "tectonic shift in national policy, should it be adopted, would create devastating results," Pow- ell added. Netflix swung behind Obama, posting to its Face- book page that "consumers should pick winners and losers on the Internet, not broadband gatekeepers." "Net neutrality" is the idea that Internet service providers shouldn't block, slow or manipulate data moving across its net- works. As long as content isn't against the law, such as child pornography or pi- rated music, a file or video posted on one site will load generally at the same speed as a similarly sized file or video on another site. In2010,theFCCembraced the concept in a rule. But last January, a federal appeals court struck down the regu- lation because the court said the FCC didn't technically havethelegalauthoritytotell broadband providers how to manage their networks. The uncertainty has prompted the public to file some 3.7 million comments with the FCC — more than double the number filed af- ter Janet Jackson's infa- mous wardrobe malfunc- tion at the 2004 Super Bowl. On Monday, Obama waded into the fray and gave a major boost to Inter- net activists by saying the FCC should explicitly ban any "paid prioritization" on the Internet. Obama also suggested that the FCC re- classify consumer broad- band as a public utility un- der the 1934 Communica- tions Act. That would mean the Internet would be reg- ulated more heavily in the way phone service is. COMMUNICATIONS Ob am a ca ll s fo r to ug he r re gu la ti on o f th e In te rn et By Donna Blankinship The Associated Press SEATTLE Rest, food and family are on the top of Ken- neth Bae's list since arriv- ing home this weekend af- ter years of imprisonment in North Korea. His sister said he hasn't spoken about his ordeal yet, but family and friends reconnected late Saturday night over pizza. "Our family loves food, so we talked a lot about food," Terri Chung said Sunday outside her Seattle church. They didn't ask him a lot of questions. "We mostly wanted to hear from him." She said her brother had one stipulation for his first meal back home: No Korean food. "He said, 'I don't want Korean food, that's all I've been eating for the last two years,'" Chung said. Bae and Matthew Miller, another American who had been held captive in North Korea, landed Satur- day night at a Washington state military base after a top U.S. intelligence official secured their release. "It's been an amazing two years, I learned a lot, I grew a lot, I lost a lot of weight," Bae, a Korean- American missionary with health problems, said Sat- urday night after arriving at Joint Base Lewis-Mc- Chord in Washington state. Asked how he was feeling, he said, "I'm recovering at this time." Bae, surrounded by fam- ily members, spoke briefly to themediaaftertheplanecar- rying him and Miller landed. HethankedPresidentBarack Obama and the people who supported him and his fam- ily. He also thanked the North Korean government for releasing him. Chung said Bae was in better shape when he ar- rived than his family ex- pected. The family has said he suffers from diabe- tes, an enlarged heart, liver problems and back pain. He had spent about six weeks in a North Korean hospital before his return, his sister said. "That helped. As you know, he had gone back and forth between the la- bor camp and hospital," she said, adding a doctor checked him on the flight back to the United States. His plans for the near fu- ture include rest, food and reconnecting with friends and family. Neither his wife nor his children could make it back to Seattle in time for Bae's homecoming, but the whole family plans to gather for Thanksgiving, Chung said. Chung released a state- ment Monday, saying Bae wants to spend time with family and friends and will need time to decide what he will do next and where he will live. Members of Bae's family, who live near the sprawl- ing military base south of Seattle, met him when he landed Saturday. His mother hugged him after he got off the plane. Miller stepped off the U.S. govern- ment aircraft a short time later and also was greeted with hugs. U.S. officials said Miller of Bakersfield, California, and Bae of Lynnwood, Washing- ton, flew back with James Clapper, the director of na- tional intelligence. Clapper was the highest-ranking American to visit Pyong- yang in more than a decade. Their release was the lat- est twist in the fitful re- lationship between the Obama administration and the young North Ko- rean leader, Kim Jong Un, whose approach to the U.S. has shifted back and forth from defiance to occasional conciliation. Bae was serving a 15-year sentence for alleged anti- government activities. He was detained in 2012 while leading a tour group to a North Korea economic zone. Miller was serving a six- year jail term on charges of espionage after he al- legedly ripped up his tour- ist visa at Pyongyang's air- port in April and demanded asylum. North Korea said Miller had wanted to ex- perience prison life so he could secretly investigate the country's human rights situation. CAPTIVES FREED Freed North Korea detainee focuses on food, family DEREKSCIBA—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Kenneth Bae, center, and his mother Myunghee Bae, in red coat, pray with other family members a er his release from North Korea on Saturday. TED S. WARREN — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Matthew Miller, center, who had been held in North Korea since April, 2014, is greeted a er arriving Saturday at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. By Matthew Daly The Associated Press WASHINGTON On the eve of Veterans Day, the Veter- ans Affairs Department an- nounced a reorganization Monday designed to make it easier for veterans to gain access to the sprawling de- partment and its maze-like websites. VA Secretary Robert Mc- Donald called the restruc- turing the largest in the de- partment's history and said it will bring a singular focus on customer service to an agency that serves 22 mil- lion veterans. The VA has been un- der intense scrutiny since a whistleblower reported this spring that dozens of vet- erans may have died while awaiting treatment at the Phoenix VA hospital, and that appointment records were manipulated to hide the delays. A report by the department's inspector gen- eral said workers falsified waitlists while their supervi- sors looked the other way or even directed it, resulting in chronic delays for veterans seeking care and bonuses for managers who appeared to meet on-time goals. VETERANS VA secretary vows renewed focus on customer service By Christopher Bodeen The Associated Press BEIJING An uneasy hand- shake Monday between Chinese President Xi Jin- ping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe marked the first meeting between the two men since either took power, and an awkward first gesture to- ward easing two years of high tensions. As the two men ap- proached each other, stern- faced, to shake hands in front of cameras, Abe briefly tried to say some- thing to Xi, who gave no response and turned away, appearing distinctly un- comfortable, to fix his gaze toward the cameras for the rest of the handshake. The tense moment seemed to show how far apart the two sides re- main. Although staged for cameras, their handshake lacked customary trap- pings such as the national flags displayed in the back- ground when other leaders met. Their meeting after- ward in a closed room at Beijing's Great Hall of the People lasted just 30 min- utes, but that they met at all gave some hope that the two countries could smooth the friction in talks arranged on the sidelines of the Asia-Pa- cific Economic Coopera- tion summit. The spat between China and Japan over uninhab- ited East China Sea is- lands and other conten- tious issues has raised concerns of a military con- frontation between Asia's two largest economies, which could draw the U.S. into the fray alongside ally Japan. Although core divisions won't be resolved soon, Abe told reporters after- ward that the countries made a "first step" toward reconciliation. "I believe that not only our Asian neighbors but many other countries have long hoped that Japan and China hold talks," Abe said. "We finally lived up to their expectations and made a first step to im- prove our ties." China also has been an- gry over what it sees as Ja- pan's efforts to play down its brutal 20th century in- vasion of China, a linger- ing sore point for its 1.3 bil- lion people. ASIA SUMMIT An Awkward handshake for China, Japan leaders KIM KYUNG-HOON — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS China's President Xi Jinping, right, shakes hands with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, during their meeting at the Great Hall of the People, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, in Beijing on Monday. AbundantLifeFellowship 21080 Luther Rd. 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