The Big Story: Net neutrality repeal passes, now what? The FCC voted this week along party lines to repeal the 2015 net neutrality rules that kept ISPs from blocking or slowing access to certain websites.

The Big Story: Countdown on net neutrality vote. Despite massive backlash and calls for delay, the FCC will vote next Thursday on Chairman Ajit Pai’s plan to roll back the 2015 net neutrality rules that kept ISPs from blocking or slowing access to certain websites and services.

The Big Story: The next phase of the net neutrality fight. While most people were preparing for Thanksgiving last week, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai released his plan to roll back the 2015 net neutrality rules, teeing up an agency vote on the order in mid-December, where he’s expected to get the necessary support from the commission’s other two Republicans to pass the proposal.

The Big Story: Tax bill sheds bad stock options provision. After a massive backlash from 600 startups, innovators, and investors, the Senate has dropped from its sweeping tax reform proposal a measure that would have taxed employees’ stock options when they’re vested instead of when they’re exercised.

The Big Story: Senate moves on SESTA. The Senate Commerce Committee will consider legislation next week that would change protections for Internet platforms that host users’ content.

The Big Story: 702 Moves on the Hill. Congress began the process of reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a controversial spying authority that the U.S. government says justifies the sweeping collection of online communications.

The Big Story: Net neutrality fight continues. The period for commenting on the FCC’s proposed plans to roll back net neutrality rules may have closed, but the debate is far from over.

The Big Story: Anti-Encryption Rhetoric from DOJ. The Justice Department launched a new attack on strong encryption this week.

The Big Story: House Takes Up Section 230 Debate. The discussions about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act -- a foundational Internet law that protects Internet platforms from being held liable for the speech of their users -- and efforts to fight online sex trafficking have kicked off in the lower chamber.

The Big Story: Lawmakers’ $40B Ask for Internet Access. Democrats in the House and the Senate have added boosting Internet access to their economic agenda.

The Big Story: Congress Debates Bill to Change Section 230. The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing this week on the Stop Enabling Sex Trafficking Act (S.1693) a well-intentioned but overly broad bill that could be harmful to Internet platforms.

The Big Story: Senate CDA 230 Fight. We’ve spent much of the last few weeks warning about the unintended and potentially dangerous consequences of a well-intentioned bill called the Stop Enabling Sex Trafficking Act (S. 1693). The bill will be the focus of a Senate Commerce Committee hearing next week.

The Big Story: Trump Rescinds DACA. President Donald Trump’s administration announced this week that it will phase out Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an Obama-era policy that let 800,000 law-abiding undocumented immigrants stay and work in the U.S. without fear of deportation for renewable two-year periods. The administration’s decision gives Congress six months to pass immigration legislation before DACA protections are phased out.

Continuing to Make the Net Neutrality for Startups Case. This week, we filed our reply comments to the FCC on proposal to roll back the net neutrality rules put in place in 2015, a docket that has now seen more than 21 million comments.

Last Day to Vote for SXSW Tech Policy Panels. Voting on SXSW panels ends today, so it’s your last chance to vote for tech policy panels at next year’s SXSW. Get caught up on the offerings with our guide, which includes panels on everything from patent trolls, to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, to artificial intelligence.

Trade Talks Should Keep Startups in Mind. Representatives from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico met in D.C. this week to kick off talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. You may think of things like auto manufacturing and government contracts when you hear NAFTA, but it has major implications for U.S. startups that do business abroad or plan to do business abroad.

Tech Community Comes to Section 230’s Defense. Thousands of Internet companies rely on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects platforms from being held legally responsible for what their users say online. That’s why we and more than 30 companies, groups, and organizations—including Copia, Automattic, Cloudflare, GitHub, Medium, Patreon, and Reddit—wrote to two lawmakers looking to narrow Section 230’s protections in the name of curbing sex trafficking. In a letter this week, we reiterated the tech community’s demonstrated commitment to the laudable fight against sex trafficking but explained that the new bill from Sens. Rob Portman and Richard Blumenthal would have unintended devastating consequences for the Internet.

Startups Oppose Senate Bill Creating Exceptions to Bedrock Internet Law. A bipartisan group of Senators introduced legislation this week that would undermine Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA), the fundamental intermediary liability law that protects Internet companies from being held legally responsible for what their users say on their platform. The Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act has the admirable goal of cracking down on sex trafficking online, however, injecting an exception like this in to CDA 230 would create a huge litigation risk for early stage companies that could drastically diminish investment in the sector. While we continue to work with legislators and victims groups to curb the horrific practice of sex trafficking, Engine has opposed this legislation. If you are a startup, sign onto our letter and tell Congress not to undermine the protections that created the Internet. Also, check out our op-ed with the Charles Koch Institute on the importance of CDA 230 to the success and growth of the Internet.

Alexa Accelerator Names Nine Startups for Inaugural Amazon and Techstars Program. Amazon, in partnership with Techstars, welcomed the first class of its new Alexa Accelerator. Amazon will incubate nine startups for three months, providing seed money, mentorship opportunities, and access to University of Washington researchers. The Alexa Accelerator is an initiative spun out of the Alexa Fund, and is specifically geared toward incubating startups that work on applying machine learning and artificial intelligence to voice platforms. Amazon’s Alexa product line utilizes voice recognition to allow people to interact with a robot personal assistant, and the company has been heavily investing in technology to help bolster the products.