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Tweet in article: >On December 14, the FCC will vote on Chairman Pai's plan to repeal President Obama's heavy-handed Internet regulations and restore Internet
by fokinsean 9y ago
Tweet in article:
>On December 14, the FCC will vote on Chairman Pai's plan to repeal President Obama's heavy-handed Internet regulations and restore Internet freedom.
I love how these laws are veiled with patriotic sentiments, e.g. "Internet Freedom". Just like the "Patriot Act", it is reasonable to assume anything with these sort of labels will likely be an encroachment on your freedoms.
Also
>"The job of the FCC is to represent the consumer," he said in an interview. "If you like your cable company, you'll love what this does for the Internet, because it gives Internet service providers the same kind of control over content and price as cable operators have today."
I am confident there is not a single person who "likes their cable company". Who in their right mind would want their internet controlled like their cable is controlled? This image[0] is exactly what we get to look forward to.
I have called my reps, sent emails, faxes, and just feel so helpless about all of this.
[0]: https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/4252153/what-is-net-neutrality-isp-package-diagram.0.jpg https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/4252153/wh...
edit: It appears the article altered the above quote, and the second half is no longer the same.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- epai 9y agoReminds me of the “Department of Love”
- ajmurmann 9y agoAlso reminds me of "scroll direction: natural".
- culturalzero 9y agoWho likes their cable company? Come on now.
- ams6110 9y agoPeople are dropping cable due to the heavy-handed control and lack of choice. Why would ISPs want emulate that failing model? If Comcast is going to try to charge me more to be able to access Netflix, I'm gone.
- shanusmagnus 9y agoTo where?
- yobrien 9y agoMy apartment complex has a contract with AT&T. I either have ATT or I don't have anyone. I can't be "gone". I just have to suck it up and pay unless I want to go to the library for basic internet then.
- username223 9y agoTalk to your neighbors and offer to split the internet bill. This doesn't solve the long-term problem, but at least it hurts the local internet monopoly.
- Fnoord 9y agoI really like your idea, but it has legal implications (accountability) because your neighbours would end up doing things on the internet on your account or vice versa. I would suggest to do this in combination with a VPN but 1) even with OpenVPN those are often insecure 2) they cost additional money 3) with these new FCC rules their bandwidth might get limited.
- username223 9y agoIf your ISP cracks down, you can always go to the local Starbucks or library to torrent movies. And since the few people who share the WAP all know each other, they can talk things out.
- dragonwriter 9y agoNot if the library or Starbucks have an ISP with similarly restrictive policies.
- 9y ago
- wnevets 9y ago> "If you like your cable company, you'll love what this does for the Internet" HAHAHHAHAA, wow they're not even trying
- Lukeas14 9y agoThat quote was from Tom Wheeler, ex-chairman of the FCC who opposes ending net neutrality. He was being sarcastic.
- obmelvin 9y agoI'd like to have a quick shout out to Tom Wheeler. I was very worried when he was first appointed, but it was great to see someone who used their experience lobbying to stand up for consumers instead of continuing to act in corporate interests.
- ng-user 9y agoIt'd be nice if Pai came around all of a sudden too..
- shepardrtc 9y agoPai is just a hatchet-man. He was never meant to seriously lead the FCC.
- ComradeTaco 9y agoPai is fulfilling exactly what he was appointed to do, which is make the wealthy even wealthier. Trump's administration is built to enrich 3 groups. 1. Himself 2. His family 3. Other Very Wealthy People
- tastythrowaway 9y agoTo hear him tell it, when he first started as a lobbyist he was advocating for organizations that weren't getting their interests adequately represented in government (at the time cable and wireless companies). As FCC chairman he continued lobbying for those whose interests were not adequately defended - the consumers.
- bcoates 9y agoWhere I live, I like spectrum-formerly-timewarner-formerly-roadrunner cable Internet just fine. There are a lot of alternatives to using it for home Internet around here, and I'm pretty sure the two are related. If you want better internet access, instead of begging the FCC for scraps get on repealing legislated monopoly rights for kinds of wires and/or unbundling last mile from ISP. Then ask yourself why internet reform is focused on NN instead of provider competition.
- Delmania 9y ago> https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/04/one-big-reason-we-lack-internet-competition-starting-an-isp-is-really-hard/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/04/one-b... Because a market solution with ISP is a pipe dream spouted by "conservatives" trying to win over people to vote against their own interests. If you start an ISP, there's a good chance the incumbent is going to fight you tooth and nail.
- jandrese 9y agoBecause high fixed costs make it very expensive for competitors to enter the market. It's like asking why someone doesn't just open up a competing water company in a place like Flint. More to the point, can you imagine how fast the knives would come out if the FCC announced this deregulation and also a federal universal broadband plan where they use taxpayer money to deliver fiber to the home of everybody in the country in order to insure healthy competition? On a side note, what do you think the odds are that this plan will remove uncompetitive restrictions on ISP (especially municipal ISP) development at the same time? I mean it's all about competition right? If I didn't know better I'd say that the talk of "competition" was just a smoke screen to hide the fact that this is the "allow ISPs to hold your service hostage with no repercussions" bill.
- dragonwriter 9y ago> More to the point, can you imagine how fast the knives would come out if the FCC announced this deregulation and also a federal universal broadband plan where they use taxpayer money to deliver fiber to the home of everybody in the country in order to insure healthy competition? I think people would be more confused than anything, since this FCC just voted to drastically restrict choice under the existing universal service find.
- pmoriarty 9y ago">On December 14, the FCC will vote on Chairman Pai's plan to repeal President Obama's heavy-handed Internet regulations and restore Internet freedom." Freedom for whom?
- rubicon33 9y ago> "If you like your cable company" I've never once, in my entire life, heard anyone say they like Comcast.
- bratsche 9y agoI think that's the point. That quote is not from Chairman Pai, it's from former FCC chairman Wheeler.
- komali2 9y agoAs a petty exercise in malicious revenge, I would call Comcast support on my morning commute, every day, for about a month. It started out because I had a legitimate issue with speed and I decided to just call until my speeds were what I was paying for (not that I ever expected to get them). It turns out my region was always routed to the same office somewhere in India. So I guess I became kind of a known entity there (I'm always polite on the phone) and towards the end they would just route me to this same guy who was a newbie and I guess they wanted to help him get his call count up / get practice on the phone? Long story short there's one person I like at Comcast, his name is Dev, hope you're doing well Dev, you made my commutes fun.
- artorias 9y agoThis story got a laugh out of me, good show.
- zeep 9y agoThere's many things I don't like about comcast (like customer service and that you have to call them back every year to avoid huge price hikes), but the internet service itself is very reliable (at least for me).
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- 8ytecoder 9y agoYeah, I have to admit it quite reluctantly. They are competing well in my area. They can't match the fiber 1G networks being laid now but their 100Mbps connection has been quite reliable and 4k UHD streams flawlessly. May be 1 outage in a year which was also fixed within a couple of hours.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- SkyMarshal 9y ago>I love how these laws are veiled with patriotic sentiments, e.g. "Internet Freedom". It's an accurate characterization, it gives ISPs lots of freedom!
- eco 9y agoThe way you've written this is implying that Pai said that line but it was actually a sarcastic Former Chairman Wheeler and the quote has since been edited out. The Chicago Tribune still has it though.
- vaishaksuresh 9y agoI hope the Democrats are keeping a running list of everything this administration is doing. They should undo everything as soon as they get majority. I'll die a happy man if they name at least one law/regulation after Obama.
- JohnTHaller 9y agoI live in NYC. I have one cable company with no other options. I have one broadband internet provider (my cable company) with no other options. No one I know likes their cable company.
- DigitalJack 9y agoI'm curious for your take on the wsj article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-fcc-can-save-the-open-internet-1511281099 https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-fcc-can-save-the-open-i... I don't think it's paywalled.
- cannonedhamster 9y agoThe one written by Ajit Pai? It's paywalled, just like the every page on the internet once this guy is done screwing it up.
- macinjosh 9y agoHyperbole anyone?
- DigitalJack 9y agoI was able to read it and I don't subscribe to any newspaper. Maybe it was an A/B type thing... dunno.
- murjinsee 9y agoI read Wheeler's statement as sarcasm. He said the decision was "tragic" right before that line. It seems like he is implying that nobody likes cable companies, and now they're going to hate the similarities in internet service providers if this bill passes. Wheeler, despite being a former industry man, definitely pushed for the consumer agenda despite industry pressure.
- hoprocker 9y agoUpvote -- the sarcasm comes through when this is put into context.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- goialoq 9y agoIt's not sarcasm, it's an honest conditional statement.
- TheKarateKid 9y agoWheeler did end up helping consumers, but not from the start. His first year or two in office he was against net neutrality and very supportive of telecom/cable companies - although nowhere near as bad as Pai. It wasn't until Obama's Administration whipped him in line that he actually started championing pro-consumer policies.
- deusofnull 9y agoAs programmer in his mid 20s, NN was the first political issue I developed a position on when I was a child. The fight for the open Internet has been going on for a long time and I really reciprocate that feeling of helplessness in the face of these patently corrupt regulators. Im calling reps and filling comments with the FCC and telling everyone I know about this, but I still feel like these people are gonna shove it down our throats. This whole process is so anti-democratic it's depressing.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- LocalH 9y ago>"If you like your cable company, you'll love what this does for the Internet, because it gives Internet service providers the same kind of control over content and price as cable operators have today." Except it's not, even. In the world of cable TV, the base cost is set by the content providers - the Disneys and such. With this, I guarantee you are going to see ISPs taking action on their own to tier websites and apps, pocketing the extra money, without input from nor payment to the sites which they intend to profit directly from.