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I agree that Ajit Pai is really hard to separate from how enthusiastically he defends his actions. Like, there's three options, none of which I like: 1. NN is

by eduren 9y ago

I agree that Ajit Pai is really hard to separate from how enthusiastically he defends his actions. Like, there's three options, none of which I like: 1. NN is actually as unnecessary as he says and his memes are doing the country a service. 2. He genuinely believes the above statement despite most of the internet disagreeing vehemently with him. or 3. He is really capable of shilling out for ISPs in such a in-your-face manner. He certainly doesn't fit into the typical politician/regulator mold. It's baffling.

nicolashahn 9y ago
"He certainly doesn't fit into the typical politician/regulator mold. It's baffling." He's a shining example of Trump's promise to evict the political class in exchange for the corporate class. Seems to make sense that he'd be so obvious about being a shill, that's what we (as a country, not me or probably you in particular) asked for when we elected Trump.
- eduren 9y ago
  While I agree in general that this is a trend and we will see more of it, keep in mind that Pai was an Obama appointee (at the request of McConnell) in 2012 and Trump simply promoted him to Chairman.
  - nicolashahn 9y ago
    True, but given Obama's stance on NN, if he had a theoretical third term I don't think Pai would be Chairman.
krrrh 9y ago
I also find him at the very least interesting. The first interview he gave after the announcement that they were going to pursue this was with a relatively small and irreverent podcast that indexes high for libertarians.[1] He's definitely hard to categorize as a stock corporate shill. Supporting point 2, Ben Thompson does a pretty good job of summarizing the case for Pai's views from a more detached position [2][3]. [1] http://reason.com/blog/2017/11/21/ajit-pai-we-are-returning-to-the-origina http://reason.com/blog/2017/11/21/ajit-pai-we-are-returning-... [2] https://stratechery.com/2017/pro-neutrality-anti-title-ii/ https://stratechery.com/2017/pro-neutrality-anti-title-ii/ [3] https://stratechery.com/2017/light-touch-cable-and-dsl-the-broadband-tradeoff-the-importance-of-antitrust/ https://stratechery.com/2017/light-touch-cable-and-dsl-the-b...

by eduren 9y ago

nicolashahn 9y ago

"He certainly doesn't fit into the typical politician/regulator mold. It's baffling." He's a shining example of Trump's promise to evict the political class in exchange for the corporate class. Seems to make sense that he'd be so obvious about being a shill, that's what we (as a country, not me or probably you in particular) asked for when we elected Trump.

eduren 9y ago
While I agree in general that this is a trend and we will see more of it, keep in mind that Pai was an Obama appointee (at the request of McConnell) in 2012 and Trump simply promoted him to Chairman.
- nicolashahn 9y ago
  True, but given Obama's stance on NN, if he had a theoretical third term I don't think Pai would be Chairman.

krrrh 9y ago

I also find him at the very least interesting. The first interview he gave after the announcement that they were going to pursue this was with a relatively small and irreverent podcast that indexes high for libertarians.[1] He's definitely hard to categorize as a stock corporate shill. Supporting point 2, Ben Thompson does a pretty good job of summarizing the case for Pai's views from a more detached position [2][3]. [1] http://reason.com/blog/2017/11/21/ajit-pai-we-are-returning-to-the-origina http://reason.com/blog/2017/11/21/ajit-pai-we-are-returning-... [2] https://stratechery.com/2017/pro-neutrality-anti-title-ii/ https://stratechery.com/2017/pro-neutrality-anti-title-ii/ [3] https://stratechery.com/2017/light-touch-cable-and-dsl-the-broadband-tradeoff-the-importance-of-antitrust/ https://stratechery.com/2017/light-touch-cable-and-dsl-the-b...