Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/458035
ByAnneFlaherty The Associated Press WASHINGTON Declaring the Internet critical for the nation, a top U.S. regulator on Wednesday proposed an unprecedented expansion of federal power to ensure providers don't block or slow web traffic for Amer- ica's countless users. The proposal by Federal Communications Com- mission Chairman Tom Wheeler was a victory for advocates of "net neutral- ity," the idea that Internet providers must allow data to move across their net- works without interference. The idea has been the sub- ject of heavy lobbying and millions of dollars in adver- tising in the past year. "Net neutrality" means that whether you're trying to buy a necklace on Etsy, stream the season pre- miere of Netflix's "House of Cards" or watch a mu- sic video on Google's You- Tube, your Internet service provider would have to load all of those websites equally quickly. Major Internet provid- ers insist they have no plans to create such fast or slow lanes, but they strongly op- pose the regulation, argu- ing that it could stifle in- novation and investment. Open Internet rules had been in place but were re- cently knocked down by a federal court. Wheeler's proposal at- tempts to erase any legal uncertainty by reclassify- ing the Internet as a tele- communications service and regulating it under the 1934 Communications Act. The plan would apply to both wired service pro- vided by companies like Comcast and wireless ser- vice by companies like T- Mobile. That would put all Inter- net service in the same reg- ulatory camp as telephones and any other public utility, which Republicans and in- dustry officials say would discourage investment and increase taxes. The FCC will vote Feb. 26 on the proposal, and ap- proval is considered likely. President Barack Obama has called for regulation under the Communica- tions Act, and Democratic appointees hold a commis- sion majority. "It is counterproductive because heavy regulation of the Internet will create uncertainty and chill in- vestment among the many players — not just Internet service providers — that now will need to consider FCC rules before launching new services," said Michael Glover, Verizon senior vice president and deputy gen- eral counsel. But Wheeler and con- sumer groups say the move is necessary to prevent pro- viders from creating slow or fast lanes on the Internet in which content companies like Netflix can pay to jump to the head of the queue. Wheeler also shrugged off any suggestions that his plan would chill industry investment, citing $300 billion in investment by the wireless industry in the past two decades. "My proposal assures the rights of Internet users to go where they want, when they want, and the rights of innovators to introduce new products without ask- ing anyone's permission," Wheeler wrote in an arti- cle that Wired magazine posted online. Still, his plan is an ag- gressive regulatory leap in an industry that has so far seen little government oversight. Wheeler said he would not use the new regulations to tell broad- band providers how much to charge customers, as the Communications Act would allow. Still, industry says that's only a matter of time. "Despite the repeated as- surances from the president and Chairman Wheeler, we remain concerned that this proposal will confer sweeping discretion to reg- ulate rates and set the eco- nomic terms and conditions of business relationships," said Michael Powell, head of the National Cable and Telecommunications As- sociation and former FCC chairman. Wheeler's plan aligns the former telecom lobbyist and venture capitalist with Pres- ident Barack Obama, who has called on the FCC spe- cifically to regulate the in- dustry under Title II of the Communications Act. But assuming the FCC adopts the new rule, the next stop would be the courts. Indus- try lobbyists say it's likely that one of the major pro- viders will sue and ask that enforcement be suspended. Lawmakers could step in to resolve the uncer- tainty. But that is consid- ered unlikely in the near term. Because Wheeler's proposal satisfies con- sumer advocacy groups, Democrats would have lit- tle incentive to revisit the issue. And while Republi- cans have the votes to ram though their own anti-reg- ulation legislation with- out Democratic support, Obama could veto it. "These rules are a decla- ration of Independence for the Internet," said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. But Sen. John Thune, Republican chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, called the plan "radical" and a "power grab" by the FCC. So far, Republicans have pitched an idea that would enforce basic open Inter- net rules but also could strip the FCC of its ability to help local municipalities build their own broadband — a nonstarter for Obama and congressional Demo- crats who say poor and ru- ral areas have been left be- hind in the deployment of high-speed Internet. In addition to banning providers from discrim- inating among web traf- fic, the plan would give the FCC the authority to regu- late the "back end" of the Internet, where content providers like Netflix say they are still vulnerable. Netflix connects with net- work middlemen like Co- gent or Level 3 Communi- cations that can move data across long distances. Net- flix has accused major In- ternet providers of allowing these transit points to be- come clogged on purpose. Netflix now pays these pro- viders interconnection fees. Under Wheeler's plan, a company could ask the FCC to review the fairness of these deals. "If such an oversight pro- cess had been in place last year, we certainly would've used it when a handful of (Internet service providers) opted to hold our members hostage until we paid up," said Netflix spokeswoman Anne Marie Squeo. WASHINGTON, D.C. FCCchiefproposesregulatingInternetlikeutilities THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler said his plan would regulate Internet service much like phone service or any other public utility. By Marilynn Marchione The Associated Press For the first time, lung cancer has passed breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer deaths for women in rich countries. The reason is smoking, which peaked years later for women than it did for men. Lung cancer has been the top cancer killer for men for decades. "We're seeing the deaths now" from lung cancer due to a rise in smoking by women three decades ago, said Lindsey Torre of the American Cancer Society. The society released a re- port Wednesday, based on new numbers from the In- ternational Agency for Re- search on Cancer. Some highlights: Globally, there were about 14 million new can- cer cases and 8 million cancer deaths in 2012, the most recent year for which numbers are available. "Developing countries account for 57 percent of cancer cases and 65 per- cent of cancer deaths," Torre said. For men, lung cancer has been the leading cause of cancer death glob- ally for several decades. In poor countries, breast cancer remains the top cancer killer for women. Colon cancer has grown as a cause of death world- wide. As for the number of cases diagnosed, prostate and breast are the most common cancers in men and women, respectively, in rich countries. Lung cancer became the top cancer killer for men in the 1950s, and for women in the late 1980s, reflecting trends in smok- ing rates. Smoking rates have leveled off or dropped in rich countries. In the United States, "we are already seeing lung can- cer death rates decline," Torre said. The American Insti- tute for Cancer Research says half of all cancers are preventable. Healthy diets and getting enough exer- cise cut risk. The hepati- tis vaccine helps prevent liver cancer; the HPV vac- cine lowers the risk of get- ting cervical cancer. The biggest factor: Stop smoking, or don't start. Quitting by middle age can avoid 60 percent of the risk of dying of lung cancer, Torre said. "It's never too late to quit." HEALTH Lung cancer now top cancer killer for women in rich nations By Deb Riechmann The Associated Press WASHINGTON President Barack Obama's pick to run the Pentagon was grilled Wednesday by Republicans who used his confirmation hearing to criticize White House foreign policy on ev- ery front — from battling Islamic State militants to supporting Ukraine to try- ing to shutter the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Ashton Carter is on the fast track to being the pres- ident's fourth defense sec- retary in six years, but de- spite recent back surgery he endured several hours of questioning by members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, now in Repub- lican control. Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., praised the nominee as an honest, hard-working and respected defense profes- sional. Then he pounced on Obama's strategy to combat Islamic State militants, who have seized territory in Iraq and Syria and have drawn worldwide condemnation for their brutal killings, in- cluding burning a Jorda- nian pilot alive in a cage. McCain pointedly asked Carter what the administra- tion's strategy was to con- front IS. Carter said the goal was to defeat the Islamic State forces in a way that "once they are beaten they stay beaten." In Iraq, that will be the job of the Iraqi security forces, which Carter said he understood would begin to take back territory in com- ing months. In Syria, the U.S. is helping build a fight- ing force of moderate Syr- ian regional forces to take on the militants. "It doesn't sound like a strategy to me," McCain said. "It sounds like a se- ries of goals." Sen. Lindsey Graham, R- S.C., peppered Carter with questions about U.S. pol- icy on Syria, where civil- ians are dodging bullets and bombs from President Bashar Assad's forces in the crossfire of a war that has killed 200,000. "How can we train up a Free Syrian Army or send any other force into Syria if we don't first deal with the Assad air threat?" Graham asked. "How in the world could you train somebody to go fight IS and then one day, they turn on Assad and not expect him to kill them before they get the capacity to come after him one day? How does this work without dealing with Assad?" Carter said he agreed that both IS and Assad are problems in Syria. The forces the U.S. is support- ing have the job of defeat- ing IS, but they also need to be creating the conditions for the ouster of Assad, he said. "That's a much more complex task. I understand that. I'm now trying to over- simplify it, but I think that's got to be at the end of the road," Carter said. FOREIGN POLICY Obama's pick to run Pentagon grilled in confirmation hearing By Don Babwin The Associated Press MARKHAM,ILL. A suburban Chicago police officer was acquitted Wednesday of felony reckless conduct for killing a 95-year-old World War II veteran by shooting him with a beanbag gun at close range. Park Forest Police Officer Craig Taylor was charged after the July 2013 death of John Wrana. In a court- room packed with officers supporting Taylor, Cook County Judge Luciano Pan- ici said there was nothing criminal about Taylor's ac- tions and that the officer did "what he was trained to do." The basic disagreement in the case was whether Taylor was justified in fir- ing a weapon, at close range, that prosecutors said fires beanbags at 190 mph. Wrana died from in- ternal bleeding caused by the beanbags. Taylor, 43, was one of several officers dispatched to the facility where Wrana lived after a staff member reported that Wrana had become combative with emergency workers. After Wrana struck a staffer with his cane, he brandished a 2-foot- long shoehorn at officers, prompting them to briefly leave the room. When the officers returned, one offi- cer was carrying a Taser, another one had a shield, and Taylor was carrying a 12-gauge shotgun that shoots beanbags. Wrana threatened the officers with a knife, and when he refused to drop it, one officer fired at him with the Taser but missed. Then Wrana moved toward Tay- lor, and the officer fired his weapon five times. Prosecutors said Taylor had better and safer options than to fire the beanbags at a confused, knife-wield- ing elderly man, and that the officers didn't have to storm Wrana's room. They said he behaved recklessly when he fired five beanbags at Wrana at a distance of no more than 8 feet away. But Taylor testified he was following the orders of a superior officer and feared for his life and the lives of his fellow officers when he saw Wrana hold- ing the knife over his head and threatening to kill who- ever came into his room. He testified that he felt like he "had to do something to stop him." WORLD WAR II VET Officer acquitted in beanbag gun death Please help sponsor a classroom subscription Call Kathy at (530) 737-5047 to find out how. ThroughtheNewspapersinEducation program, area classrooms receive the Red Bluff Daily News every day thanks to the generosity of these local businesses & individuals. •DR.ASATO&DR.MARTIN • FIDELITY NATIONAL TITLE CO. • WI N G S OLA R & W OO D EN ERGY • DOLLING INSURANCE • GUMM'S OPTICAL SHOPPE • OLIVE CITY QUICK LUBE • WA LM AR T • TEHAMA CO. DEPT. 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