5 ms·

The internet is what makes Silicon Valley go round. Everyone, including Sam Altman, needs to be an activist. Asking for someone else to take point on something

The internet is what makes Silicon Valley go round. Everyone, including Sam Altman, needs to be an activist. Asking for someone else to take point on something so fundamental is like asking Natives to take point on water prot-- wait.

beat 10y ago
And when protesters who demand open internet start getting their access cut off, they'll start seeing the analogy. Too late then. :(
sama 10y ago
I am happy to help, and honestly if I had more time right now I'd take this on directly--right now is an unusually busy time for me. I agree with you it's critical to Silicon Valley.
- saycheese 10y ago
  Given Elon & Thiel are both in contact with Trump, if you haven't already done so, it would be worth mentioning it directly to both that this is important to you. For that matter, maybe this is a chance to you yourself reach out to Trump on an issue and invite him to meet at the White House or come to the Bay Area to meet the next batch of YC startups.
  - throwaway399 10y ago
    If anyone does this in the bay area and it's public, they will likely be burnt at the stake.
    - saycheese 10y ago
      You mean like Elon, Thiel, etc.? If so seems to me as if they're all doing just fine. [1] Beyond that, point of engaging Trump would be on a topic I would assume everyone agrees is important - and if you think hidding and hoping things will magically get better, well, good luck! [1] http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-meeting-photo-jeff-bezos-elon-musk-tim-cook-2016-12 http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-meeting-photo-jeff-bezo...
      - throwaway399 10y ago
        Thiel was attacked nonstop and people were organizing to stop using PayPal which he is only tangentially affiliated with. Uber CEO had to stop his collaboration as Lyft started catching up for the first time in a long time. Elon also faced a lot of heat and had to qualify his statements. Negative reactions towards him were counteracted by his accomplishments and clean energy contributions. I think people should collaborate but in a clandestine fashion. Inviting Trump to Bay area would unleash all the rage against Trump towards the startup community. I'm just afraid it would be a bigger "throw stones at Google buses"
        saycheese 10y ago
        Be afraid all you want, doesn't matter to me. Thiel knew he'd be attacked, took a risk, and there's zero reason to believe he's not happy with the results; if you think Thiel cares what the "Bay Area" thinks, I'd be interested in your reasoning. Uber's not even worth covering, they're currently a cluster F$&@ waiting to happen and the idea that it was somehow born of talking with Trump is what it is. Bay Area and for the matter the greater tech community needs to engage the world, not withdraw from it.
        rfrank 10y ago
        >Bay Area and for the matter the greater tech community needs to engage the world, not withdraw from it. > Be afraid all you want, doesn't matter to me. One of these things is not like the other.
        saycheese 10y ago
        Right, one is addressing a single person that's said they afraid of talking in public for fear of blowback and another is directed to the Bay Area and greater tech community asking them to engage the world. What am I missing?
        rfrank 10y ago
- mozumder 10y ago
  If you want to keep the Internet open, you're going to have to push for ISPs as a public utility, like the roads are. A big government bureaucracy is better to handle this service, instead of profit-driven private companies, since government is far more efficient than private companies. There is no way private companies are going to be able to keep the internet open for long. What's their incentive to keep it open? Assume they are against you, and deal with it from there. And we should be using 40Gbps internet right now, enabling live low-latency video, but we can't because there's no competitive reason for local ISPs to upgrade.
- fragmede 10y ago
  Sorry to say, but that's the same for ~everybody. There's always a project to launch, one more feature to code up, one more customer to close, one more support email to respond to. Thankfully, someone else saw the need for a group of people dedicated to fighting for everybody's rights online, back in 1990. I'm talking, of course, about the EFF. So you can donate. The head of the FCC doesn't believe in net neutrality, so it's going to be a long fight so they could use your support. http://eff.org/donate http://eff.org/donate
- brothercolor 10y ago
  I hear you! I'm in the same boat, I shouldn't point fingers. I'll do what I can.
- mikx007 10y ago
  I propose to organize and for 1 week limit bandwidth to all of our websites to 56k to FCC IP block. I believe it will send much stronger message than any other form of protests. Google, wikipedia, netflix, amazon, facebook, linkedin and everyone else join and show everyone where you stand.
  - ctack 10y ago
    I love this idea, but where do they all stand? Surely someone is paying the lobbyists - or is it only internet providers?
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
shopkins 10y ago
Yeah I thought that was weird too. This is important! But not enough for me to make time for it! Everyone needs to take action, even if it's the smallest possible action. Take a minute to donate to the EFF or tweet about the issue, or five minutes to write a blog post that actually rallies and informs people. What can we start building now to prepare for when this threat starts manifesting as legislation?

beat 10y ago

And when protesters who demand open internet start getting their access cut off, they'll start seeing the analogy. Too late then. :(

sama 10y ago

I am happy to help, and honestly if I had more time right now I'd take this on directly--right now is an unusually busy time for me. I agree with you it's critical to Silicon Valley.

saycheese 10y ago
Given Elon & Thiel are both in contact with Trump, if you haven't already done so, it would be worth mentioning it directly to both that this is important to you. For that matter, maybe this is a chance to you yourself reach out to Trump on an issue and invite him to meet at the White House or come to the Bay Area to meet the next batch of YC startups.
- throwaway399 10y ago
  If anyone does this in the bay area and it's public, they will likely be burnt at the stake.
  - saycheese 10y ago
    You mean like Elon, Thiel, etc.? If so seems to me as if they're all doing just fine. [1] Beyond that, point of engaging Trump would be on a topic I would assume everyone agrees is important - and if you think hidding and hoping things will magically get better, well, good luck! [1] http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-meeting-photo-jeff-bezos-elon-musk-tim-cook-2016-12 http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-meeting-photo-jeff-bezo...
    - throwaway399 10y ago
      Thiel was attacked nonstop and people were organizing to stop using PayPal which he is only tangentially affiliated with. Uber CEO had to stop his collaboration as Lyft started catching up for the first time in a long time. Elon also faced a lot of heat and had to qualify his statements. Negative reactions towards him were counteracted by his accomplishments and clean energy contributions. I think people should collaborate but in a clandestine fashion. Inviting Trump to Bay area would unleash all the rage against Trump towards the startup community. I'm just afraid it would be a bigger "throw stones at Google buses"
      - saycheese 10y ago
        Be afraid all you want, doesn't matter to me. Thiel knew he'd be attacked, took a risk, and there's zero reason to believe he's not happy with the results; if you think Thiel cares what the "Bay Area" thinks, I'd be interested in your reasoning. Uber's not even worth covering, they're currently a cluster F$&@ waiting to happen and the idea that it was somehow born of talking with Trump is what it is. Bay Area and for the matter the greater tech community needs to engage the world, not withdraw from it.
        rfrank 10y ago
        >Bay Area and for the matter the greater tech community needs to engage the world, not withdraw from it. > Be afraid all you want, doesn't matter to me. One of these things is not like the other.
        saycheese 10y ago
        Right, one is addressing a single person that's said they afraid of talking in public for fear of blowback and another is directed to the Bay Area and greater tech community asking them to engage the world. What am I missing?
        rfrank 10y ago
mozumder 10y ago
If you want to keep the Internet open, you're going to have to push for ISPs as a public utility, like the roads are. A big government bureaucracy is better to handle this service, instead of profit-driven private companies, since government is far more efficient than private companies. There is no way private companies are going to be able to keep the internet open for long. What's their incentive to keep it open? Assume they are against you, and deal with it from there. And we should be using 40Gbps internet right now, enabling live low-latency video, but we can't because there's no competitive reason for local ISPs to upgrade.
fragmede 10y ago
Sorry to say, but that's the same for ~everybody. There's always a project to launch, one more feature to code up, one more customer to close, one more support email to respond to. Thankfully, someone else saw the need for a group of people dedicated to fighting for everybody's rights online, back in 1990. I'm talking, of course, about the EFF. So you can donate. The head of the FCC doesn't believe in net neutrality, so it's going to be a long fight so they could use your support. http://eff.org/donate http://eff.org/donate
brothercolor 10y ago
I hear you! I'm in the same boat, I shouldn't point fingers. I'll do what I can.
mikx007 10y ago
I propose to organize and for 1 week limit bandwidth to all of our websites to 56k to FCC IP block. I believe it will send much stronger message than any other form of protests. Google, wikipedia, netflix, amazon, facebook, linkedin and everyone else join and show everyone where you stand.
- ctack 10y ago
  I love this idea, but where do they all stand? Surely someone is paying the lobbyists - or is it only internet providers?

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

shopkins 10y ago

Yeah I thought that was weird too. This is important! But not enough for me to make time for it! Everyone needs to take action, even if it's the smallest possible action. Take a minute to donate to the EFF or tweet about the issue, or five minutes to write a blog post that actually rallies and informs people. What can we start building now to prepare for when this threat starts manifesting as legislation?