| FCC ENDS NET NEUTRALITY RULES: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday voted to repeal its landmark net neutrality protections, capping off a months-long campaign by the agency's Republicans to deregulate the broadband industry. The FCC voted 3-2 along party lines to scrap its 2015 Open Internet Order as Democratic lawmakers and dozens of activists protested outside. In a dramatic moment, the meeting was abruptly evacuated in the middle of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's remarks ahead of the vote. Reporters and attendees were forced to exit the hearing room and leave their belongings as police brought in K-9 units to sweep the room. Attendees were allowed to re-enter the room within 15 minutes of the evacuation. The FCC declined to comment on the reasons for the evacuation. Democrats, consumer groups and tech companies have been rallying for months to try to stop the repeal plan, arguing that the rules are essential for preventing companies like Comcast and Verizon from abusing their powers as internet gatekeepers. "As a result of today's misguided action, our broadband providers will get extraordinary new power from this agency," said Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat on the commission who voted against the repeal. "They will have the power to block websites, throttle services and censor online content. They will have the right to discriminate and favor the internet traffic of those companies with whom they have pay-for-play arrangements and the right to consign all others to a slow and bumpy road," Rosenworcel said. Despite the outcry surrounding his repeal proposal, Pai was unwavering in his opposition to the 2015 rules. Since his time as a minority commissioner under the Obama administration, Pai has argued the FCC overstepped when it imposed the restrictions. "Following today's vote, Americans will still be able to access the websites they want to visit. They will still be able to enjoy the services they want to enjoy," Pai said during Thursday's open meeting. "There will still be cops on the beat guarding a free and open internet. This is the way things were prior to 2015, and this is the way they will be once again." Read more here. Please send your tips, comments and net neutrality takes to Ali Breland (abreland@thehill.com) and Harper Neidig (hneidig@thehill.com) and follow us on Twitter: @alibreland and @hneidig. We're also on Signal and WhatsApp. Email or DM us for our numbers. DEM ATTORNEYS GENERAL PROMISE LAWSUIT TO SAVE NET NEUTRALITY: New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D) announced Thursday that he is suing to block the end of net neutrality rules. Schneiderman's announcement came moments after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted in favor of abolishing the rules. "The FCC just gave Big Telecom an early Christmas present, by giving internet service providers yet another way to put corporate profits over consumers," Schneiderman said in a statement. The New York attorney general had been a heavy critic of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's plan to roll back net neutrality, prior to the vote. He, along with other state attorneys general and members of Congress, had argued that the agency should delay its vote on scrapping net neutrality because of the millions of fake comments he found that were filed during the FCC's call for public feedback on the proposal. Read more here. Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson also announced that he would sue to block the end of net neutrality rules. Ferguson positioned his suit as an attempt to thwart the Trump administration's moves to roll back regulations across the government. "We are the 5-0 against the Trump Administration because they often fail to follow the law when taking executive action," he said in a statement. Read more here. FCC ROOM EVACUATED MID-HEARING: The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) hearing room was evacuated Thursday moments before the agency was to vote on repealing its net neutrality rules. "On advice of security, we need to take a recess," FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said. Reporters and attendees were abruptly told to evacuate the hearing room and leave their belongings as police brought in K-9 units to sweep the room. Attendees were allowed to re-enter the room within 15 minutes of the evacuation. The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Protective Service later released a statement saying that the FCC had received a bomb threat. Read more here. TIM COOK, CHARLES KOCH PEN OP-ED FOR DREAMERS: Apple CEO Tim Cook and billionaire GOP donor Charles Koch are jointly pressing Congress to shore up permanent legal protections for young immigrants in the U.S. illegally. In an op-ed published by The Washington Post on Thursday, Cook and Koch argued that the U.S. "is at its best" when it embraces diversity, adding that Congress has a "moral imperative" to grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of "dreamers" -- immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children. "This is a political, economic and moral imperative. The sooner that Congress resolves this situation -- on a permanent basis -- the sooner dreamers can seize the opportunity to plan their lives and develop their talents," they wrote. Read more here. REACTION... NETFLIX BLASTS NET NEUTRALITY REPEAL: Netflix on Thursday ripped the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) decision to repeal net neutrality rules, calling it "misguided." "This is the beginning of a longer legal battle. Netflix stands w/ innovators, large & small, to oppose this misguided FCC order," the company tweeted shortly after the FCC voted on the measure. Read more here. ... AS DOES FACEBOOK'S SHERYL SANDBERG: Facebook's Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg hammered the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over its decision to roll back net neutrality rules on Thursday. In a statement, Sandberg called on Congress to pursue legislation enshrining such rules as law. "Today's decision from the Federal Communications Commission to end net neutrality is disappointing and harmful," Sandberg said. Read more here. DISNEY REACHES DEAL TO BUY MOST OF FOX: The Walt Disney Co. on Thursday announced plans to acquire most of 21st Century Fox's assets for $52.4 billion, a deal that does not include Fox News, Fox Business Network, Fox Sports 1 or 2, the Big Ten Network or the Fox broadcasting network and stations. The buyout will include Fox channels including FX and Nat Geo, among others. Fox's film and entertainment franchises, which include "The Simpsons," "X-Men," and "Avatar," will be owned by Disney. "The acquisition of this stellar collection of businesses from 21st Century Fox reflects the increasing consumer demand for a rich diversity of entertainment experiences that are more compelling, accessible and convenient than ever before," said Disney CEO Bob Iger. "We're honored and grateful that Rupert Murdoch has entrusted us with the future of businesses he spent a lifetime building, and we're excited about this extraordinary opportunity to significantly increase our portfolio of well-loved franchises and branded content to greatly enhance our growing direct-to-consumer offerings," he continued. Read more here. FACEBOOK CHANGES NEWS FEED TO BOOST VIDEOS: Facebook said on Thursday that it would be tweaking its algorithms to feature some videos more prominently in its News Feed, as it attempts to compete more directly with other video streaming platforms. The firm explained that videos from pages that people intentionally seek out will now be prioritized to appear higher in a user's news feed. Facebook will also prioritize showing other videos from the same pages that users deliberately navigate to. "As we've said, watching video on Facebook has the power to drive conversations, and News Feed remains a place people discover and watch videos," the company explained in a post announcing the tweaks. "Engaging videos that not only bring people together, but drive repeat viewership and engagement, will do well in News Feed." Read more here. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The Hill: FCC chair dances with Pizzagate proponent in video promoting net neutrality repeal Bloomberg: Blankfein and Dorsey meet TechCrunch: Snapchat launches augmented reality developer platform Lens Studio Axios: Venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar resigns from firm over sexual harassment allegations | 
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