It wouldn't take much for our taxes to work for us in the form of free high speed internet. Instead, we have unnecessary business model that allows greedy aggressive people to fleece the American people.
36
The basic tenet of the "Trump Plan", as far as it could be called a plan - is "destroy". He uses the term more then any adult male should, whose not playing POV shooter video games.
Destroy the ACA, destroy Dodd-Frank and the fiduciary rule. Destroy consumer protections. Destroy the enemy, by apparently blocking non-combatants. And as the days and weeks play out...destroy any and all lingering respect of the citizens towards their elected employees.
Destroy any trust we might have that the Prez. picked sound minds to surround himself with. (Conway, Spicer and now Flynn, clearly unsound of mind and intentions.) Destroy the up till now the respected and very clear and marked lines of being president and not using the office to the fill coffers of the Family Businesses. To not let a son mention Prez-daddy every other sentence when on a business trip seeking investors.
Destroy. Seems the only theme running thru all of the chaos that could be described as the WH team and their as yet undefined "plan" to Make American Great. Destroy any and everything in their path, even IF it would serve them to keep most things untouched till sounder minds and better ideas come along.
Destroy any potential of unifying the nation - by wantonly acting like a band of feral children in a "Ghina" shop.
Destroy the ACA, destroy Dodd-Frank and the fiduciary rule. Destroy consumer protections. Destroy the enemy, by apparently blocking non-combatants. And as the days and weeks play out...destroy any and all lingering respect of the citizens towards their elected employees.
Destroy any trust we might have that the Prez. picked sound minds to surround himself with. (Conway, Spicer and now Flynn, clearly unsound of mind and intentions.) Destroy the up till now the respected and very clear and marked lines of being president and not using the office to the fill coffers of the Family Businesses. To not let a son mention Prez-daddy every other sentence when on a business trip seeking investors.
Destroy. Seems the only theme running thru all of the chaos that could be described as the WH team and their as yet undefined "plan" to Make American Great. Destroy any and everything in their path, even IF it would serve them to keep most things untouched till sounder minds and better ideas come along.
Destroy any potential of unifying the nation - by wantonly acting like a band of feral children in a "Ghina" shop.
46
I pay way too much to Time Warner for phone, wifi and tv. At the end of February I'm giving it up. I will provide wifi for myself and tenants but will go to a cheap flip phone and will watch tv online.
And then...there's always books. If it all becomes too expensive, I have a lot of books.
Why are these people so very greedy and short-sighted? They want every last nickel paid to them by poor people who cannot afford it. And the prison phone rates? The perpetrator of that scheme should be the one sitting in prison - forever. There is no possible way to defend that policy. It's just greed.
America could thrive if they would cut the poor some breaks. But they won't Soon there'll be about 100 super wealthy Americans and 360 million poor ones. What a country that will be. Can you picture it? I can. And it ain't pretty.
And then...there's always books. If it all becomes too expensive, I have a lot of books.
Why are these people so very greedy and short-sighted? They want every last nickel paid to them by poor people who cannot afford it. And the prison phone rates? The perpetrator of that scheme should be the one sitting in prison - forever. There is no possible way to defend that policy. It's just greed.
America could thrive if they would cut the poor some breaks. But they won't Soon there'll be about 100 super wealthy Americans and 360 million poor ones. What a country that will be. Can you picture it? I can. And it ain't pretty.
82
Companies in the communications business spend a lot of capital building out elaborate infrastructures to make products and services available to their customers. Not one has a monopoly as Ma Bell did before 1984.
They should be allowed to price their products to earn a return on their invested capital. Unless the government (meaning us) is willing to foot the bill to maintain and expand the internet, net neutrality makes no sense.
They should be allowed to price their products to earn a return on their invested capital. Unless the government (meaning us) is willing to foot the bill to maintain and expand the internet, net neutrality makes no sense.
4
It looks like Chairman Pai's agenda is to let internet, cable and phone companies do whatever they want - no net neutrality requirement, monopoly pricing on cable boxes, and no limits on phone charges to prison inmates (a truly captive customer base). I don't agree with Pai on those issues, but I understand how his positions can be justified as pro-business
The one I don't get is the attack on the Lifeline program. Internet companies voluntarily participate in Lifeline, which provides low cost basic service to low income households. Throwing companies out of the Lifeline program seems to be just gratuitously anti-consumer, without any pro-business justification.
politicsbyeccehomo.wordpress.com
The one I don't get is the attack on the Lifeline program. Internet companies voluntarily participate in Lifeline, which provides low cost basic service to low income households. Throwing companies out of the Lifeline program seems to be just gratuitously anti-consumer, without any pro-business justification.
politicsbyeccehomo.wordpress.com
21
What makes the F.C.C. different from any other federal agency that the President has directed to reduce or eliminate available services in medical care (Medicare, Medicaid, Obama-care, edication, clean air and water (EPA), retirement (Social Security and fidiciary responsibilities for pension and 401(k) plans, etc.
The red states will find out in five to ten years as the steadily watch their income and assets along with their quality of life steadily decline to third-world standards. They will also regret the loss of life and limb of members of the U.S. Armed Forces from the needless wars engendered by the arrogance and ineptitude of Pres. Trump and his appointees.
The red states will find out in five to ten years as the steadily watch their income and assets along with their quality of life steadily decline to third-world standards. They will also regret the loss of life and limb of members of the U.S. Armed Forces from the needless wars engendered by the arrogance and ineptitude of Pres. Trump and his appointees.
19
Well, it seems to me that Mr. Pai will destroy the contact that t-rump has with his prime constituents by doing what he is suggesting. Go for it. Cut them off. I am so sick of all of this nastiness going on. I to am becoming cynical and short tempered.
17
Ajit Pai was approved by conservative Republicans who rate companies over individuals. What is suspected will happen has happened.
24
Good for Trump. Democrats had a chance to change history with Bernie Sanders. Instead, our DNC elite felt he threatened that he might challenge their presumed entitlements.
I assure you Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Donna Brazile, Cory Booker, Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emanuel and Larry Summers and the rogues gallery of DNC Wall Street corporatists who handed the election to Trump are backing up the truck and loading up telecom and Exxon stock.
Democrats had a chance to lower drug prices for ALL Americans by allowing imports from Canada. They declined. How many will stay sick and/or die because of this callous, immoral action by the party the says they represent the working class? Oh, wait... they don't say that anymore, do they.
A life long Democrat, I voted green because protest DOES matter. Democrats have now made me angry enough to vote straight R next time. The party needs to turn itself inside out and shake off the corporate parasites.
It took DNC cheating and the republican party to ruin Sanders. I expect it from the Republicans. Democrats don't get to whine about the consequences of their bad behavior.
Perhaps they should take some personal responsibility for the arrogance and indifference to economic injustice that has lead to where we are?
I assure you Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Donna Brazile, Cory Booker, Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emanuel and Larry Summers and the rogues gallery of DNC Wall Street corporatists who handed the election to Trump are backing up the truck and loading up telecom and Exxon stock.
Democrats had a chance to lower drug prices for ALL Americans by allowing imports from Canada. They declined. How many will stay sick and/or die because of this callous, immoral action by the party the says they represent the working class? Oh, wait... they don't say that anymore, do they.
A life long Democrat, I voted green because protest DOES matter. Democrats have now made me angry enough to vote straight R next time. The party needs to turn itself inside out and shake off the corporate parasites.
It took DNC cheating and the republican party to ruin Sanders. I expect it from the Republicans. Democrats don't get to whine about the consequences of their bad behavior.
Perhaps they should take some personal responsibility for the arrogance and indifference to economic injustice that has lead to where we are?
6
Adults voted democratic in spite of what you said. You and your ilk are pedantic children. You wanted "change". Well now welcome back to the Bush 43. You are solipsism incarnate.
21
When you have an asymmetry of economic power and/or information, by definition you have "market failure." Conservatives who call themselves "pro-free-market" when they argue against government regulation to prevent such asymmetries are, therefore, pro-market-failure instead.
There should be a truth-in-labeling law that prevents this kind of abuse, but Conservatives would lobby against its passage.
There should be a truth-in-labeling law that prevents this kind of abuse, but Conservatives would lobby against its passage.
9
"Fascism should more appropriately be called corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate powers."-Benito Mussolini
24
The real struggle is not about cable boxes despite the rip-off. The real struggle is to maintain a free and open internet. Trump will eliminate the open internet and allow the major ISP's like Comcast and ATT to provide bandwidth on pay-as-you-go basis. This means big money will control the internet..Period!! It will convert the internet into the old CBS,NBC,ABC network control of television.
Ronald Reagan pressured the FCC to eliminate the fairness doctrine and opened up the airwaves to fake/hate news like Murdoch's Fox and Bannon's Breitbart. like Rush Limbaugh and scores of other hate-screaming stations across the country. We must fight against Pai and fight for an open internet, or see it turn into just another propaganda machine for Trump's minions of racists, bigots and misogynists. Bannon is rubbing his hands in gleeful anticipation.
Ronald Reagan pressured the FCC to eliminate the fairness doctrine and opened up the airwaves to fake/hate news like Murdoch's Fox and Bannon's Breitbart. like Rush Limbaugh and scores of other hate-screaming stations across the country. We must fight against Pai and fight for an open internet, or see it turn into just another propaganda machine for Trump's minions of racists, bigots and misogynists. Bannon is rubbing his hands in gleeful anticipation.
18
The Republican Party sees America as a business opportunity - a "get rich quick" scheme.
When you see that they are defunding and/or dismantling the Consume Financial Protection Bureau, the Ethics Committee, Social Security, Medicare, the FCC and more, they are doing this to make themselves and their friends rich.
What is it about the American voter that thinks this is good?
They want to steal your money !
These predators are counting on your vote, and looking through history, they will continue to get it.
When you see that they are defunding and/or dismantling the Consume Financial Protection Bureau, the Ethics Committee, Social Security, Medicare, the FCC and more, they are doing this to make themselves and their friends rich.
What is it about the American voter that thinks this is good?
They want to steal your money !
These predators are counting on your vote, and looking through history, they will continue to get it.
20
So, what can be done about this criminal (stealing from the poor is criminal) action?
Be good if these kind of informative articles would hae sopme indicators of steps citizens could take... or would that be taking sides?
Be good if these kind of informative articles would hae sopme indicators of steps citizens could take... or would that be taking sides?
7
Another progressive advancement biting the dust? And all because of Trump's relentless paranoia in his conspiracy-laden thought process.
In December, the senate didn't confirm one of net neutrality’s top advocates at the FCC. So look out for another Trump fiasco, as two of his early transition team advisers opposed net neutrality.
Without it, we'll see subscribers charged increasing sums to access the internet and websites charged for prioritized access to get to their users.
This is what experts observe.
It will be like when you had dial-up access. And Trump is apt to sell access to the highest bidders. He fashions himself as this big negotiator.
If the FCC overturns the internet open rule, there will be yet more massive protests because the young and old really worked endlessly to garner support for what's working: net neutrality.
In December, the senate didn't confirm one of net neutrality’s top advocates at the FCC. So look out for another Trump fiasco, as two of his early transition team advisers opposed net neutrality.
Without it, we'll see subscribers charged increasing sums to access the internet and websites charged for prioritized access to get to their users.
This is what experts observe.
It will be like when you had dial-up access. And Trump is apt to sell access to the highest bidders. He fashions himself as this big negotiator.
If the FCC overturns the internet open rule, there will be yet more massive protests because the young and old really worked endlessly to garner support for what's working: net neutrality.
20
Sharpen the guillotine.
16
I thought that our so called president campaigned to help and protect middle Americans, sounds as if he is just dredging a larger swamp.
15
He hit a sewer line while draining the swamp.
18
Another barbaric policy to keep people in the dark and dumb in order to lead them. This is what dictators do, seize the lines of communication.
26
If you want to get rid of the issue of 'fake news' it would be a good idea to stop placing progressive (socialist) code words in articles. Here are two examples 'rules to protect Americans' and the wonderful catch all phrase of 'fairness.'
Neither of these code are helpful if you actually want someone to take the issues raised seriously. The American people do not need a 'safe space' called the Internet. In this digital age they need an Internet that is open and free, (from every perspective and angle) from user to builder.
And as for 'fairness,' this meant placing the Internet under federal oversight. And how was this done? By using an arcane law that basically equated the postmodern Digital Internet with a modern 1930s phone company. Allowing for ever more intrusive regulation as the days pass.
Now, with this comment, the readers of this article can at least begin to see the real issues.
Neither of these code are helpful if you actually want someone to take the issues raised seriously. The American people do not need a 'safe space' called the Internet. In this digital age they need an Internet that is open and free, (from every perspective and angle) from user to builder.
And as for 'fairness,' this meant placing the Internet under federal oversight. And how was this done? By using an arcane law that basically equated the postmodern Digital Internet with a modern 1930s phone company. Allowing for ever more intrusive regulation as the days pass.
Now, with this comment, the readers of this article can at least begin to see the real issues.
4
Mr. Peasant,
The net neutrality action taken by the FCC under its former chairman was taken pursuant to the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which is the central federal law in the field of telecommunications - it is by no stretch of the imagination an outdated law that equates internet service with copper-wired telephone service from the 1930s. The FCC's net neutrality rules were found to be perfectly legal by the federal court of appeals.
Next, your suggestion that the Times's editorial is "fake news" overlooks the fact that an editorial is an opinion piece, appearing plainly under the heading "The Opinion Pages."
Finally, your suggestion that telecommunications regulation is "socialism" only shows that you don't know what socialism is. Socialism is government ownership of property, not government regulation of business. By your definition of socialism, FDA requirements that prescription drugs must be safe and effective is socialism; SEC requirements that stock markets must be open and transparent is socialism; EPA requirements that toxic chemicals must not be dumped into drinking water is socialism.
politicsbyeccehomo.wordpress.com
The net neutrality action taken by the FCC under its former chairman was taken pursuant to the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which is the central federal law in the field of telecommunications - it is by no stretch of the imagination an outdated law that equates internet service with copper-wired telephone service from the 1930s. The FCC's net neutrality rules were found to be perfectly legal by the federal court of appeals.
Next, your suggestion that the Times's editorial is "fake news" overlooks the fact that an editorial is an opinion piece, appearing plainly under the heading "The Opinion Pages."
Finally, your suggestion that telecommunications regulation is "socialism" only shows that you don't know what socialism is. Socialism is government ownership of property, not government regulation of business. By your definition of socialism, FDA requirements that prescription drugs must be safe and effective is socialism; SEC requirements that stock markets must be open and transparent is socialism; EPA requirements that toxic chemicals must not be dumped into drinking water is socialism.
politicsbyeccehomo.wordpress.com
29
Are the people who voted for Trump because they wanted less "regulation" beginning to have second thoughts?
24
They can say "We won !!"
It seems that that is far more important than to them than eating, having healthcare, or having clean air and water.
It seems that that is far more important than to them than eating, having healthcare, or having clean air and water.
27
Time to occupy Ajit Pai's office.
Reading this guy's Twitter reveals an incredible hypocrite - touting his modest/poor family background while he acts as a pawn for plutocrats and helps to destroy the America he is supposedly so grateful to.
Reading this guy's Twitter reveals an incredible hypocrite - touting his modest/poor family background while he acts as a pawn for plutocrats and helps to destroy the America he is supposedly so grateful to.
18
Is there anyone who could say anything good about their cable/phone/internet provider? Highly doubtful.
Aren't there laws to prevent utility monopolies? And if there are, why aren't they followed? Maybe we can sue? I don't know what the answer is but without low cost, hi speed internet we will be left in the dust in this country.
When I can get better internet and cell phone service when on vacation on small Caribbean island than in Cape Cod, something is amiss.
Customer service is also missing. If you call them, be prepared to put your life through a 10 tier phone tree and put on hold for hours, then get cut off. It's fruitless, then defeated you eventually give up. It's a business model/plan.
There ought to be a law.
Aren't there laws to prevent utility monopolies? And if there are, why aren't they followed? Maybe we can sue? I don't know what the answer is but without low cost, hi speed internet we will be left in the dust in this country.
When I can get better internet and cell phone service when on vacation on small Caribbean island than in Cape Cod, something is amiss.
Customer service is also missing. If you call them, be prepared to put your life through a 10 tier phone tree and put on hold for hours, then get cut off. It's fruitless, then defeated you eventually give up. It's a business model/plan.
There ought to be a law.
17
The American people owe Hillary an apology. She was not the "lesser of two evils."
Look at Trump's cabinet.
It plans to destroy not only consumer protections, but Medicare, Social Security, public schools, the environment, and anyone who dares to disagree.
Look at Trump's cabinet.
It plans to destroy not only consumer protections, but Medicare, Social Security, public schools, the environment, and anyone who dares to disagree.
22
Maybe you don't know the meaning of the phrase "lesser of two evils."
2
Technology is expanding exponentially. Communication abilities are moving from exterior devices to internal potentialities, from local centralization to global ubiquity.
The ability of the people to communicate and organize against those who fear us and our collective interests cannot be long stopped.
The ability of the people to communicate and organize against those who fear us and our collective interests cannot be long stopped.
11
and add on to previous comment. The F.C.C. action moves us closer to China and RUSSIA in control of information. Trumps takes a page from Putin's playbook.
9
This moves us in the direction of China's treatment of the internet. Government control of information is happening now.
12
The Republicans have IMMEDIATELY taken a knife to the poor, via the FCC, tellingly.
7
Interesting........and just what I have always wanted: "An Anti-Consumer Agenda at the F.C.C." I find it Soooooo difiicult to understand who thinks these things up. And are paid big-bucks for the thinking...... Is there REALLY some human being being paid to conceive of such a thing as an anti-consumer agenda at the FCC? I could never have conceived of such an idea............but, then, I suppose that is why I spent 20 years in the military and not at the FCC.
1
This is line with GOP philosophy.
If you have more money, all is available to you.
If you don't, too bad. Because it's your fault (or your Daddy's).
We already have racism based on all things, let's add : money to that set.
Pay for Play - GOP Motto.
If you have more money, all is available to you.
If you don't, too bad. Because it's your fault (or your Daddy's).
We already have racism based on all things, let's add : money to that set.
Pay for Play - GOP Motto.
17
I believe it's called classism. Something people ought to be fighting more than anything today.
4
The French Resistance was composed of many elements, many conflicting, but all agreed on the common enemy.
Consumers and others will find common ground to change congress in 2018 to end the Trump madness.
Consumers and others will find common ground to change congress in 2018 to end the Trump madness.
9
It amazes me that one after another of this administration's appointments is anti the 99% of all Americans . The FCC was created to protect our interests, but every time the Republicans control , it morphs back to only protecting big business and the wealthy. When are Americans going to learn their lesson that
the Republican Party does not care about helping the average Joe or Jill in this great country of ours. Look across the ocean when it comes to the Internet . In France for instance, they pay 1/3 to 1/2 of what we pay for their internet, cable and phone. And yes, with faster internet speed. In my area, we only have one fast speed service to choose from. One calls that a monopoly ! My last comment is that Mr Pai was the head attorney for Verizon. Is anyone surprised by his policies then? I would love to see a large protest movement where everyone calls and cancels their service at home . That would send a huge message to the FCC and these few companies who hold us hostage.
the Republican Party does not care about helping the average Joe or Jill in this great country of ours. Look across the ocean when it comes to the Internet . In France for instance, they pay 1/3 to 1/2 of what we pay for their internet, cable and phone. And yes, with faster internet speed. In my area, we only have one fast speed service to choose from. One calls that a monopoly ! My last comment is that Mr Pai was the head attorney for Verizon. Is anyone surprised by his policies then? I would love to see a large protest movement where everyone calls and cancels their service at home . That would send a huge message to the FCC and these few companies who hold us hostage.
14
"It amazes me ......."
Then you didn't pay much attention during the campaign? Moreover, the other GOP candidates essentially agreed with Trump, if you watched any of the "debates."
Then you didn't pay much attention during the campaign? Moreover, the other GOP candidates essentially agreed with Trump, if you watched any of the "debates."
5
Since when was anything Obama did fair and affordable?
1
In the words of the GOP: sorry you can't afford it. Work harder.
1
Obama's ACA provided healthcare insurance for 20 million Americans and coverage for another 10 million through expanded Medicaid.
A couple I know hate Obama, but but an ACA insurance policy since it was the most affordable they could find.
A couple I know hate Obama, but but an ACA insurance policy since it was the most affordable they could find.
8
See Randall Johnson's comment.
1
The first thing that the Iranian clerics did when their students ignited an uprising following the elections in 2009 was to eliminate internet access nationally. This cut them off from one another and from their worldwide allies. The revolt was quieted very quickly. And Iran stayed relatively calm during the Arab Spring that followed in 2011.
Striking down net neutrality chokes life out of the evolving global consciousness that so frightens those who would bend civilization away from justice.
Striking down net neutrality is a move to control the power of the people.
Striking down net neutrality chokes life out of the evolving global consciousness that so frightens those who would bend civilization away from justice.
Striking down net neutrality is a move to control the power of the people.
23
This is perfectly in line with the vision of the GOP: put the struggling welfare class in their place by pulling information and education out of their reach. Feed them a steady diet of fear and religion and watch them love anything their state says.
This GOP congress and administration is the most vapid, two-faced and sociopathic of any in recent memory.
The Republicans are destroying America.
This GOP congress and administration is the most vapid, two-faced and sociopathic of any in recent memory.
The Republicans are destroying America.
33
C'mon, R. Such thought processes could only originate in a Republican mind.......
1
Don Trump, the Television star, didn't take long to reward the Television industry that dedicated a Billion dollars worth of Free airtime to him during his campaign.
9
This editorial is just straightforward public service. I don't see how an "alt" position can be taken against protecting people's limited discretionary incomes. Plainly there ought to be the basis here for a movement awakening at least 5 percent of Trump's mesmerized following, to his contempt for their interests. Plainly there ought to be a Democratic resistance based upon a coalition expanded welcomely by those millions.
4
Big Brother Trump wants to turn the F.C.C. into the Ministry of Propaganda.
Big Brother Obama wanted the "private" telecom companies to be adjuncts of American national security by providing access to all of our communications without reasonable suspicion or probable cause.
The F.C.C. like most independent federal agencies is locked into a revolving door between public "service" and private avarice.
Big Brother Obama wanted the "private" telecom companies to be adjuncts of American national security by providing access to all of our communications without reasonable suspicion or probable cause.
The F.C.C. like most independent federal agencies is locked into a revolving door between public "service" and private avarice.
6
When you elect an oligarch, who then appoints a cabinet of oligarchs, what you get is not a group of public servants, but the new Putin-loving Trump Oligarchy (aka Administration). Or, as it's referred to in Mother Russia, a kleptocracy. These predatory plunderers are now making the rules that will turn every public service from internet costs, to education, to health care insurance into a profit center for the wealthy and further impoverish the consumer.
12
Businesses are for making a profit, first and foremost.
Pro-Business is anti-worker, anti-consumer, and anti-society.
Pro-Business is anti-worker, anti-consumer, and anti-society.
13
It has happened already all over the world, through history. There is a widespread group of unhappy people; a populist, authoritarian soul spots it; exploits the masses fears and anxieties; promises them wonderland and, the despot gets elected DEMOCRATICALLY.
When in power, the elected president creates his or her little club of friends to profit from government and the little guy voters get to pay for it.
However, in Trump's case is not clear yet if his democratic process was helped by Putin and coordinated by the Trump team. We will not know until Congress and the intelligence agencies conclude their investigations. Additionally, we will not know how close he is to Putin until we see his tax returns.
Let us not lose sight of what is crucial. We need to know if Trump's job is a result of fake elections. "Alternative" scandals, like Trump and his team using the White House to sell Ivanka's merchandise, are not that relevant. Yet.
When in power, the elected president creates his or her little club of friends to profit from government and the little guy voters get to pay for it.
However, in Trump's case is not clear yet if his democratic process was helped by Putin and coordinated by the Trump team. We will not know until Congress and the intelligence agencies conclude their investigations. Additionally, we will not know how close he is to Putin until we see his tax returns.
Let us not lose sight of what is crucial. We need to know if Trump's job is a result of fake elections. "Alternative" scandals, like Trump and his team using the White House to sell Ivanka's merchandise, are not that relevant. Yet.
7
Well......shame on YOU! Impugning the motives of such honest, God-fearing government employees.....would YOU, America, buy Ivanka's merchandise simply because of its name and background?? If your answer is YES, I would like to talk to you about buying a bridge. Slightly used......somehow, I feel as though I just woke up in the Land of Oz....Is there some NYT reader out there who can assure me that all these TRUMP adventures are NOT real, but made-up.......
1
Get ready folks. WE hard-working taxpayers and consumers get to pay for more lawsuits - twice - to try to fight and defend these anti-democracy Robber Baron attacks. WE pay the F.C.C. bills and WE pay the bills for the groups that will sue to stop them.
Some brave economist should do an analysis of how much of OUR federal, state, and local taxpayer dollars go to fund lawsuits. America is not a courtroom anymore than it is a business. OUR government is a social construct meant to protect us from the very same BIG democracy-destroying money masters who have bought control of OUR governments at all levels.
Time to throw the bums OUT. NOW.
Some brave economist should do an analysis of how much of OUR federal, state, and local taxpayer dollars go to fund lawsuits. America is not a courtroom anymore than it is a business. OUR government is a social construct meant to protect us from the very same BIG democracy-destroying money masters who have bought control of OUR governments at all levels.
Time to throw the bums OUT. NOW.
10
Somebody out there please enlighten me. I just cannot understand why, not just this guy but the whole of the GOP, is so.......anti people. I just cannot understand why the old phrase "it takes a village" is such an anathema to the GOP. It seems that anything our government does which might benefit & make life easier for the vast majority of it's citizens, from the ACA to FCC regulations, must be repealed or rolled back.
Please advise.
Thanks,
Bill
Please advise.
Thanks,
Bill
37
Corporations are people my friend
-Mitt Romney
Who now looks like FDR...he only hated 47% of us.
-Mitt Romney
Who now looks like FDR...he only hated 47% of us.
5
Why is the noble ideal of heroic self-reliance such an anathema to the Democratic Party? It seems that anything the federal government does which might return some kernel of liberty and self-rule to free men and women must be repealed or rolled back.
Please advise.
Please advise.
Good grief, Jason. Give us a break. Are YOU kidding? No one does anything alone. Heroic self-reliance? Like lifelong veteran's benefits and disability, which WE hard-working taxpayers and consumers pay for, after signing up as a warrior? I'd rathehr pay for peace thank you.
7
Where is McCain? Trump eviscerates him at any chance and McCain still falls in line...why?... He could have saved us from DeVos and could help the frightened republicans in the senate to vote the best for the country and not the party
16
McCain sold his "straight-talk express" soul at least a decade ago. When W beat him with lies, he must've thought "if I can't beat 'em, might as well join 'em!"
1
What a phony Trump is . His whole campaign was to put the "forgotten" man first . What exactly has he done for them ? Nothing . He can start by moving some of his Chinese factories back to the US and really give some people some jobs .
The best we can hope for is that after four years when the workers in WV, Ohio and the rest of those states don't see their manufacturing jobs coming back they will see the fraud for what he is . Maybe then the Democrats will get these disenfranchised voters back . I only hope that this President is out in four years .
He is a liar and what is most dangerous is that his constant accusations on the media as the lying press creates a perception that nothing the public reads is true , only the lies he tells are the truth .
Does Vladmir Putin ring a bell?
Scary ....
The best we can hope for is that after four years when the workers in WV, Ohio and the rest of those states don't see their manufacturing jobs coming back they will see the fraud for what he is . Maybe then the Democrats will get these disenfranchised voters back . I only hope that this President is out in four years .
He is a liar and what is most dangerous is that his constant accusations on the media as the lying press creates a perception that nothing the public reads is true , only the lies he tells are the truth .
Does Vladmir Putin ring a bell?
Scary ....
18
So all bought boxes will be rendered inoperable and worthless?
For the 77,000 people in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pa. who placed Trump in the WH.
THANKS AGAIN.
Thanks too for the 600,000 third party voters who saw no difference between the two parties. You did it; you really did it!
For the 77,000 people in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pa. who placed Trump in the WH.
THANKS AGAIN.
Thanks too for the 600,000 third party voters who saw no difference between the two parties. You did it; you really did it!
21
You seem surprised that a Trump person would want to rip off the poor. They have all done it and will continue to do it. The poor cannot afford lawyers so are stuck with whatever rules the republican elites decide are the best for the rich. It is going to be a long 4 years.
9
I thought these were supposed to public servants not rip off artists.
3
This starts with the myth that the Obama era FCC was pro-consumer. It was only cast that way; they were picking a different set of corporate winners than the Trump and Bush era Commissioners were.
2
When I read articles about large numbers of people "cutting the cord" with their cable companies, it's hard to get concerned about alleged monopoly power. Remember when the feds were concerned about the monopoly power of IBM? or Microsoft? and now Google?
Technology will always move faster than regulation. Net neutrality will be a non-issue before we know it.
Technology will always move faster than regulation. Net neutrality will be a non-issue before we know it.
2
Apparently in the Trump era, I am beginning to misunderstand the definition of words.
To me it is not burdensome to ask a company not to charge prison inmates a rate 20 times higher than they would charge an average consumer.
But then again, perhaps I suffer from having learned of "alternate definitions" in my youth.
To me it is not burdensome to ask a company not to charge prison inmates a rate 20 times higher than they would charge an average consumer.
But then again, perhaps I suffer from having learned of "alternate definitions" in my youth.
4
The GOP believes, since Reagan, that the federal government is ONLY for defense. Nothing else.
And the insidious corollary: the 1% shouldn't have to pay taxes, even for defense.
Let others die to protect the feudal lords.
This is the whole story.
And the insidious corollary: the 1% shouldn't have to pay taxes, even for defense.
Let others die to protect the feudal lords.
This is the whole story.
15
And disaster relief. But only in red states.
Wouldn't it be nice if some progressive group could organize a national Cut the Cable Day? Citizens in droves could cancel some or all of their cable package on the same day, in person, on line or by phone. It would certainly get their attention, and I think many people would be surprised how well they manage without TV.
Another thought: Folks running for office on the promise of Socialized Internet for all.
Another thought: Folks running for office on the promise of Socialized Internet for all.
9
"Under a Trump presidency, the American worker will finally have a president who will protect them and fight for them.”
Who said that? Donald Trump numerous times during his campaign.
Since then almost every one he has appointed, like Mr. Pai, are on record as supporting policies that will hurt American workers.
Who said that? Donald Trump numerous times during his campaign.
Since then almost every one he has appointed, like Mr. Pai, are on record as supporting policies that will hurt American workers.
18
Just unplug and let big cable outprice itself from the market.
10
It costs lots of money to unplug.
1
We knew this was going to happen, didn't we? We knew when Pai was appointed that Net Neutrality was on the chopping block. Just as we knew that the appointment of Tom Price threatened health care for us all, and the appointment of Betsy De Vos threatened the quality of education for our children, and that the appointment of Rex Tillerson would lead to lifting Russian sanctions and provide a conduit for Trump to engage with Russia for who knows what nefarious reasons. We knew this. And we could not prevent it.
The good news is that everyone who watches TV or uses the internet will be affected by these changes, including Trump's supporters. And they may find that they don't like the changes that come, or the higher prices they are paying for services and even taxes. They won't like that when they need a car loan, banks will charge outrageous interest rates. They might not like that utility companies, freed from constraints of regulations, will raise and lower prices at their whim. And a whole lot more.
I say bring it on. Do all the damage you can do. Because 2020 is only four short years away. If civil war doesn't break out in this country before then, then just maybe democrats will come out of the woodwork and vote.
The good news is that everyone who watches TV or uses the internet will be affected by these changes, including Trump's supporters. And they may find that they don't like the changes that come, or the higher prices they are paying for services and even taxes. They won't like that when they need a car loan, banks will charge outrageous interest rates. They might not like that utility companies, freed from constraints of regulations, will raise and lower prices at their whim. And a whole lot more.
I say bring it on. Do all the damage you can do. Because 2020 is only four short years away. If civil war doesn't break out in this country before then, then just maybe democrats will come out of the woodwork and vote.
15
Worked in the communications business all my career. This is among the most blatant attacks on those who can least afford access.
29
Face it, citizens! trump, and his despicable minions, are on a road to intentionally destroy our country, its culture, its traditions, and its freedoms. We have trump, inc. dictating to us, and we must stop him! Organize and RESIST!
28
....and.....if the only cable channel you want is a certain Fair and Balanced one, they'll throw that in along with super speed internet and phone for free
4
Vote, vote, vote.
2
"And he has suspended nine companies from providing discounted internet service to poor people through a program known as Lifeline."
-----------------------
This is an incredibly dishonest representation of the matter.
The editorial board makes it sound as though Mr. Pai capriciously froze the operations of nine ISPs on the unfounded basis that he's an enemy of the poor. But Mr. Pai has explained his reasons for suspending these nine companies, eight of which currently have no subscribers. Unlike other Lifeline participants, the suspended companies received F.C.C. approval in violation of established norms, i.e., receiving approval prior to the end of the 30-day period for public comment. Mr. Pai also expressed his concern that the F.C.C. may be running afoul §214 of the Communications Act by taking the lead in assigning Lifeline status to ISPs, an authority that appears to be reserved to the states for the purpose of maintaining the constitutional principle of federalism.
Yet, lest Mr. Pai's respect for law and order be misconstrued, here is what that nefarious enemy of the poor also had to say: "Every dollar that is spent on subsidizing somebody who doesn’t need the help by definition does not go to someone who does. That means that the Commission needs to make sure that there are strong safeguards against waste, fraud, and abuse before expanding the program to new providers."
Sounds both reasonable and compassionate to me.
-----------------------
This is an incredibly dishonest representation of the matter.
The editorial board makes it sound as though Mr. Pai capriciously froze the operations of nine ISPs on the unfounded basis that he's an enemy of the poor. But Mr. Pai has explained his reasons for suspending these nine companies, eight of which currently have no subscribers. Unlike other Lifeline participants, the suspended companies received F.C.C. approval in violation of established norms, i.e., receiving approval prior to the end of the 30-day period for public comment. Mr. Pai also expressed his concern that the F.C.C. may be running afoul §214 of the Communications Act by taking the lead in assigning Lifeline status to ISPs, an authority that appears to be reserved to the states for the purpose of maintaining the constitutional principle of federalism.
Yet, lest Mr. Pai's respect for law and order be misconstrued, here is what that nefarious enemy of the poor also had to say: "Every dollar that is spent on subsidizing somebody who doesn’t need the help by definition does not go to someone who does. That means that the Commission needs to make sure that there are strong safeguards against waste, fraud, and abuse before expanding the program to new providers."
Sounds both reasonable and compassionate to me.
3
Why again? WHo is actually benefitting from this, you or just the providers?
1
Ajit Pai,where are you from? A planet of virtues ya thugs & vagabonds? We know how Medicare system is robbed through home care equipments leasing private agents & similarly the cable customers too in past. Stop turning morals into immorality for your pocket interests. Political appointments are short termed but working for oligarchs to let them loose for highway robberies will hurt customers long time. Do you know that before acting like a deaf dumb & blind moron?
2
Well, this could be the beginning of the end for the Trump administration. When those rust belt voters see their cable and internet bills double that will be the last straw. They are OK with banning immigrants, but, when they can't afford watching weekend football or dancing with the stars ---- that ends a presidency.
9
He could shoot someone on 5th avenue and they would still support him !
3
That whole swath of rural, fly-over and lower middle class Americans who voted in Mr. Trump are about to see the effects of his suggested policies in action in the "free" market. If you don't live in a highly urbanized area where many digital providers offer service, or have a huge business income, you are about to be locked out of the modern digital age. Good luck.
15
As former FCC Chairman Nicholas Johnson once archly said about the big telecom conglomerates (then, the major TV networks), "Even if you know you're being had, you're still being had." Could Hillary hatred ever be worth the price we're only just beginning to pay at three weeks but counting fast?
www.endthemadnessnow.org
www.endthemadnessnow.org
26
It's bad enough that politicians make all these rules in favor of businesses' profits at the expense of poorer people but it's even worse that businesses
are so willing to take advantage of these rules. Lobbying probably drives
the politicians to make these rules. For some reason, the norm is to
get away with as much as you can get away with and make as much money as you can before somebody stronger than you comes along and curbs your
greed. Apparently that's the American Way.
are so willing to take advantage of these rules. Lobbying probably drives
the politicians to make these rules. For some reason, the norm is to
get away with as much as you can get away with and make as much money as you can before somebody stronger than you comes along and curbs your
greed. Apparently that's the American Way.
9
I hope the Democrats have a PR plan to quickly roll-out against efforts to gut net neutrality. Everybody hates the cable bill, everybody hates the reality of paying more for less, so they're primed to listen. Most people, I suspect, have no idea what the loss of net neutrality will mean...time to provide a clear, simple explanation: how it will hurt consumers, businesses, innovation.
26
"net neutrality" from Obama's administration was the PR plan. It wasn't net neutrality; it was an incumbent protection scheme with the name "net neutrality" to trick people into believe that there was any net neutrality to it.
2
If net neutrality actually existed, perhaps that would be a good idea. Every day I am bombarded with ads from one company or another plugging how I can watch certain sports channels, certain movie channels, etc. without affecting my data limits. If charging me for some of my streaming and not for others is neutral, then so was Spain during WWII.
1
Why do Republicans hate people? It seems like everything they want to do is designed to hurt the little guy.
26
This is tragic nonsense, as much as I agree with the inference. The Republicans are intuitive masters of ignorance, which "the little guy" would rather see rewarded than insulted. He recoils from our facile sympathy.
In Europe I pay 10 euros a month from my Tmobile bill (I have unlimited calls, including with USA) and 12 euros a month for my cable, internet, wifi and a landline. I can see CNN, BBC (several BBCs), EuroNews, Comedy Central, HBO, Paramount, VH1, MTV, National Geographic, etc, only excellent channels, no fillers.
These cable and phone companies are still very profitable. The only difference is that there CEOs make 7-8K Euros per month, not millions per year like in the US.
These cable and phone companies are still very profitable. The only difference is that there CEOs make 7-8K Euros per month, not millions per year like in the US.
38
Mytwocents, you should be getting thousands of "recommends" on this comment! I haven't even owned a television in decades, but I'd gladly take your cellphone and landline service, if it were available here!
Wrong man, wrong job. What comes next, my telphone?
1
This is the Republican agenda. It is anti-consumer. It favors corporations. It abhors unions and even ordinary Americans. The F.C.C. is just a speck of dirt on a dirty record. Now is the time for ordinary Americans to stand up and tell The Republican President we reject you and your agenda.
20
Why didn't they do that last November?
2
How is $69/month fair and affordable internet access? How is having one single internet provider option not a monopoly? And that is the situation in 99% of the US. When two providers are available (Verizon and Comcast in 99.99% of the cases) they collude on pricing.
23
I'm not defending the cable companies that offer internet service, but have you investigate, Mr. Weinstein, how much it would cost to build-out New York City with fiber-optic cables over which to carry the internet traffic?
I'm not sure that you could afford the staggering tax cost should that have been shouldered by a large, nationwide company were this have been done by the NYC mayoral administrations...
And how much money would have gone to the graft and corruption that we see daily surfacing amongst the political elites of the city.
I'm not sure that you could afford the staggering tax cost should that have been shouldered by a large, nationwide company were this have been done by the NYC mayoral administrations...
And how much money would have gone to the graft and corruption that we see daily surfacing amongst the political elites of the city.
It's been said before -- the best news about a government that assists these huge corporations to become bigger, bigger and bigger, more powerful, less competitive and accountable is that they are easier to nationalize later. Not so messy to get two into one, rather than twenty into one.
3
The Republican agenda of robbing Americans to further enrich the rich is like butchering the servant's cow (and only source of milk) to provide a feast for the royal court. The royal court will enjoy the feast, but suffer when the starving servants can no longer carryout their bedpans.
The money paid to rent the cable boxes will pay bonuses to the CEO's of the cable monopolies. Not be spent elsewhere in the economy to make life better for the cable customers. Not flow through the economy to generate other businesses and employment.
The end of net-neutrality will end up costing Americans more for their already too expensive Internet access and use. This will again be more money in CEO pockets, less money spent on American family needs, less money flowing through the economy.
As the Internet becomes more and more expensive, Americans will use it less or not at all. Businesses depended on the Internet will not reach their markets. Students who need Internet access for learning, will not be able to keep up with or compete with foreign students whose nations understand that the Internet is not a luxury but is indispensable to education, commerce and a nation's future.
Republicans are encouraging unregulated vicious capitalism. Survival of the greediest. But what happens when the cow has been butchered, the servants die from malnutrition?
The money paid to rent the cable boxes will pay bonuses to the CEO's of the cable monopolies. Not be spent elsewhere in the economy to make life better for the cable customers. Not flow through the economy to generate other businesses and employment.
The end of net-neutrality will end up costing Americans more for their already too expensive Internet access and use. This will again be more money in CEO pockets, less money spent on American family needs, less money flowing through the economy.
As the Internet becomes more and more expensive, Americans will use it less or not at all. Businesses depended on the Internet will not reach their markets. Students who need Internet access for learning, will not be able to keep up with or compete with foreign students whose nations understand that the Internet is not a luxury but is indispensable to education, commerce and a nation's future.
Republicans are encouraging unregulated vicious capitalism. Survival of the greediest. But what happens when the cow has been butchered, the servants die from malnutrition?
22
When the cow is butchered, the milk, which is the flow of information to everyone, will no longer be available to the 99%. Maybe, even public libraries will have to close their internet access.
Bring America back to 1917! Wasn't it great, then?
Bring America back to 1917! Wasn't it great, then?
1
Please. Everyone hates the internet and cellular providers. They over charge. They lie and mislead. Their services are highly taxed. They treat their customers like garbage. This is because the politicians, local, state, and federal, are in bed with the telecom's and view their services as something convenient to tax and to be used as a means to spy on each and everyone of us.
Every time you get abused by your cellular or internet provider, or their bills, remember Obama's FCC supported and encouraged such behavior for 8 years. The difference between Obama and Trump is that Obama said nice things. Trump doesn't. Now that Trump is president, we'll have someone else to blame. For probably even worse abuses. New boss. Same garbage.
Prisoners should get free calls so they can keep in touch with their families. Everyone should have access to low cost internet. However, by singling out poor kids' families for low cost or free internet, one just creates resentment and makes the working class view the poor with hatred. The sort of resentment which got Trump elected.
Every time you get abused by your cellular or internet provider, or their bills, remember Obama's FCC supported and encouraged such behavior for 8 years. The difference between Obama and Trump is that Obama said nice things. Trump doesn't. Now that Trump is president, we'll have someone else to blame. For probably even worse abuses. New boss. Same garbage.
Prisoners should get free calls so they can keep in touch with their families. Everyone should have access to low cost internet. However, by singling out poor kids' families for low cost or free internet, one just creates resentment and makes the working class view the poor with hatred. The sort of resentment which got Trump elected.
4
That's some spin you've got there, XY. Did you read the article? It's Trump who is in bed with the telecom companies who want to make additional profits at consumers expense by scrapping Obama era rules that put limits on what the telecom companies could do.
And I for one did not know and don't care now that I do know that there was a program to help poor families afford internet. Is that seriously something that you are so resentful of that it influenced you to vote for con man, Trump?
And I for one did not know and don't care now that I do know that there was a program to help poor families afford internet. Is that seriously something that you are so resentful of that it influenced you to vote for con man, Trump?
3
Why should prisoners get free telephone service?
Please be specific as to where in the Constitution and statutory law that "right" is established. Please also tell us why those that are incarcerated for crimes against society should be afforded the free use of the elements of a "normal" life when the whole purpose of incarceration is to remove the guilty from the very society against which they have committed a crime.
Your argument is based on a premise that is eminently debatable and far from being the axiom that you are suggesting that your premise might be.
As for internet providers, state law can assist in reigning them in. It's called unfair and deceptive practices.
If you know how to use the law to your advantage, you can get them at least back to a tolerable level of service.
Please be specific as to where in the Constitution and statutory law that "right" is established. Please also tell us why those that are incarcerated for crimes against society should be afforded the free use of the elements of a "normal" life when the whole purpose of incarceration is to remove the guilty from the very society against which they have committed a crime.
Your argument is based on a premise that is eminently debatable and far from being the axiom that you are suggesting that your premise might be.
As for internet providers, state law can assist in reigning them in. It's called unfair and deceptive practices.
If you know how to use the law to your advantage, you can get them at least back to a tolerable level of service.
1
"state law can assist in reigning them in."
Like the states led the battle against slavery and child labor? Moreover, why should people's rights and protections be based on geography?
Like the states led the battle against slavery and child labor? Moreover, why should people's rights and protections be based on geography?
2
For the non-voters and third party nihilists who believe there's no difference between the Republicans and Democrats: YOU BUILT THIS.
For the pet owners who won't have their pet's food regulated anymore by Mr. Trump. Enjoy playing Russian Roulette when you buy at the supermarket. Check out the other horrors awaiting at the ASPCA website.
Everyone happy now?
For the pet owners who won't have their pet's food regulated anymore by Mr. Trump. Enjoy playing Russian Roulette when you buy at the supermarket. Check out the other horrors awaiting at the ASPCA website.
Everyone happy now?
23
What a bunch of whiners American bid'ness is. Whine, whine, whine. If it isn't easy for an American bid'ness to exploit the citizen then the rules have to change. Cable,Ha! One of the 3 Biggy Cable CO's whine everything must be changed. Capitalism's intent is monopoly. Break up the telco's and the banks.
16
Totally outrageous. Internet access is one of the most widely used services by people everywhere. As such it is hungrily viewed as a cash cow by corporations. Since only a very few companies have the infrastructure to deliver this highly in demand service there is a natural chokepoint for the corporate gate keepers to exploit at the expense of the many. Keeping those corporate instincts in check should be one of the FCC's top mandates. But instead we are entering an era of government of the corporations, by the corporations and for the corporations. I still cannot fathom how so many people believed that by putting a billionaire salesman in the white house he would look out for the common person above his corporate cronies. I don't see it happening. It's going to be a long four years.
35
The FCC's role, Syd, is to FOLLOW THE LAW,
Indeed, within the confines of the authorizing statute, THAT IS THEIR ONLY ROLE.
You do believe in the agencies and commissions that regulate our lives actually having to follow the Rule of Law do you not?
Indeed, within the confines of the authorizing statute, THAT IS THEIR ONLY ROLE.
You do believe in the agencies and commissions that regulate our lives actually having to follow the Rule of Law do you not?
3
Are you implicitly asserting that the decision to reclassify broadband
service as a utility was illegal? If so, what is your argument?
service as a utility was illegal? If so, what is your argument?
Would somebody explain in understandable terms how much slower second tier service would be? I could get used to waiting two minutes, say, for my favorite news sites to load. I just don't understand what all this means in everyday terms. In other words, this isn't what I want, but if it comes, how do we adapt?
2
It means if you stream Netflix it will buffer and not play, unless you or Netflix pays extra. It means lots of sites will load slowly or not at all. Your internet provider could block things they don't like, and there's no one to stop them.
2
Think dial-up slow. And then when the slower services are deemed unsustainable by the providers - too costly to maintain older equipment - they will stop providing those services, and push/force people up into the higher priced services that they probably don't necessarily need. Which will be full of fees (for equipment maintenance, and upgrades - already subsidized by the Feds) that escalate the bills. So we pay for things the companies have already been paid for...
1
Um - didn't the large majority of trump voters come out of smaller, more rural, more economically modest areas all around the country?
When it comes to trump and the folks who drove him into office - his hands may be small, but that one finger keeps growing and growing and growing...
When it comes to trump and the folks who drove him into office - his hands may be small, but that one finger keeps growing and growing and growing...
48
Didn't those same voters win the election, Wilson1ny?
Elections have consequences, as Barack Obama once said.
Elections have consequences, as Barack Obama once said.
And when those poor people can't afford internet access anymore, they won't make the connection that it has anything to do with the Trump administration.
4
Wilson--Along with his ugly nose. He will never be a real boy/man.
1
It is a shame, although not surprising, that the Trump FCC is adopting an agenda that harms Mr. Trump's working class supporters.
11
"Many of Mr. Pai’s moves would hurt the people who have the least power. For instance, he has backed away from rules to lower the exorbitant rates for prison phone calls. And he has suspended nine companies from providing discounted internet service to poor people through a program known as Lifeline."
Isn't this the Republican way? The GOP pro-business bent of yore has become today's GOP "pro-business only" philosophy to enrich those who don't need to be enriched on the backs of average joes who work hard for a living.
The problems with cable monopolies have never been satisfactorily solved. Oh sure, when cable hit towns in NJ back in the 80s, adoption was slow because cable was a town by town decision. Today, nothing much as changed--in my Massachusetts town, I have 2 choices, both equally opportunistic: Comcast or FIOS. FIOS recently stopped bundling premium channels in order to make more bucks. Now it's pay by channel. Communications companies for years bragged they were working to help consumers pick cable options by preferred channels instead of tiers of channels.
That has not happened and certainly won't under new FCC leadership. $17 for a 15 minute call for prisoners? I pay $3 to call Italy for 30.
In today's world, fast Internet and reasonable cable prices are the price of educational and economic advancement. The future for communications pricing however is only going in one direction--into the pockets of Comcast and Verizon CEOs.
Isn't this the Republican way? The GOP pro-business bent of yore has become today's GOP "pro-business only" philosophy to enrich those who don't need to be enriched on the backs of average joes who work hard for a living.
The problems with cable monopolies have never been satisfactorily solved. Oh sure, when cable hit towns in NJ back in the 80s, adoption was slow because cable was a town by town decision. Today, nothing much as changed--in my Massachusetts town, I have 2 choices, both equally opportunistic: Comcast or FIOS. FIOS recently stopped bundling premium channels in order to make more bucks. Now it's pay by channel. Communications companies for years bragged they were working to help consumers pick cable options by preferred channels instead of tiers of channels.
That has not happened and certainly won't under new FCC leadership. $17 for a 15 minute call for prisoners? I pay $3 to call Italy for 30.
In today's world, fast Internet and reasonable cable prices are the price of educational and economic advancement. The future for communications pricing however is only going in one direction--into the pockets of Comcast and Verizon CEOs.
56
I've taught media and telecommunication policy for over 30 yards and have seen the regulation pendulum swing back and forth between "the public interest" and private, corporate interest many times. This promises to be the most extreme swing yet, eclipsing even the "toaster with pictures" cynicism of the Reagan years. Sad!
11
I could buy a modem at Costco for about $60 but no modems are sold for those of us getting telephone service through cable. I am forced to keep a land line because I am in some sort of a hole that prevents any cell calls from having decent quality. We get a voice mail alert even though we've never gotten a ring from the caller. We've complained since 1997 and still nothing has been done such as putting a "mini" tower in our neighborhood.
I have no sports channels nor movie channels yet the "package" of TV, broadband and telephone is costing me $225 a month. Last year TW decided we all needed a "mini modem attached to every television set for $3.25 per month. Fortunately we only have one TV. The TV is on perhaps 4 hours a day for the news and an old movie. The wife has a couple of shows. I watch most of my movies on You Tube. Most weeks I watch less than 4 hours of TV.
I use broadband more than anything else. The aforementioned movies, I pay bills (mostly medical) talk with my physicians practices about issues ( I have cancer) research, the news and sometimes just educational pursuits.
I can count on a 5% increase in price every January. Who am I subsidizing? Probably those ESPN and Golf Channel watchers. (Really? People watch golf?) How about the Watching Paint Dry channel?
I have no sports channels nor movie channels yet the "package" of TV, broadband and telephone is costing me $225 a month. Last year TW decided we all needed a "mini modem attached to every television set for $3.25 per month. Fortunately we only have one TV. The TV is on perhaps 4 hours a day for the news and an old movie. The wife has a couple of shows. I watch most of my movies on You Tube. Most weeks I watch less than 4 hours of TV.
I use broadband more than anything else. The aforementioned movies, I pay bills (mostly medical) talk with my physicians practices about issues ( I have cancer) research, the news and sometimes just educational pursuits.
I can count on a 5% increase in price every January. Who am I subsidizing? Probably those ESPN and Golf Channel watchers. (Really? People watch golf?) How about the Watching Paint Dry channel?
12
You should just get a cell repeater from your wireless provider that connects to your cable modem and kiss your landline good bye (and thus save money - hopefully)
American consumers must understand that we are now headed into an officially sanctioned, Congressionally mandated caveat emptor world where businesses’ actual unstated goal of providing you with the least service for the greatest cost is codified into federal and state law.
American consumers must also understand that our current President and Congress, and our corporations, look at us as hoi polloi, as little consumptive, debt accumulating, tax-paying units who's only purpose is to drive their economic growth, service their debt, and provide their bond and shareholders with minimally taxed unearned income, and to procreate the same.
The Trump Administration is just unapologetically day-lighting these core Congressional/corporate objectives.
In my opinion the one most important thing the consumer can do to protect themselves and increase their quality of life is to get rid of their TV. You will be surprised at how many books, and other literature of real meaning, you can read in the time you spent mindlessly watching the idiot box. You might even come to understand fake news from honest news. Why, you might even become able to make independent decisions for yourself based on the weight of honest evidence, not some hyperbole spoon fed to you by some bogus news network. Imagine that!
Sorry, I got carried away a bit, but I am sickened at all the willing ignorance and mindlessness that is out there among our American “adult” population.
Michael Bain
Glorieta, New Mexico
American consumers must also understand that our current President and Congress, and our corporations, look at us as hoi polloi, as little consumptive, debt accumulating, tax-paying units who's only purpose is to drive their economic growth, service their debt, and provide their bond and shareholders with minimally taxed unearned income, and to procreate the same.
The Trump Administration is just unapologetically day-lighting these core Congressional/corporate objectives.
In my opinion the one most important thing the consumer can do to protect themselves and increase their quality of life is to get rid of their TV. You will be surprised at how many books, and other literature of real meaning, you can read in the time you spent mindlessly watching the idiot box. You might even come to understand fake news from honest news. Why, you might even become able to make independent decisions for yourself based on the weight of honest evidence, not some hyperbole spoon fed to you by some bogus news network. Imagine that!
Sorry, I got carried away a bit, but I am sickened at all the willing ignorance and mindlessness that is out there among our American “adult” population.
Michael Bain
Glorieta, New Mexico
21
Ajit Pai needs to read the public comments on net neutrality. They were posted before Tom Wheeler and the F.C.C took any action under the Obama administration. Basically, you can deprive the poor, the disadvantaged, and the incarcerated from fair access to internet if you want to be a jerk. There won't be much political backlash. However, don't mess with peoples' Netflix. You're standing between the average professional and their long sought after binge watch of Stranger Things. Giving broadband providers preferential treatment in pushing their content and streaming services is tantamount to sacrilege. Forget the broader philosophical debate surrounding freedom of speech and information; people will notice the difference when it's in their living room and they won't be happy. The ISPs already have a lower approval rating than Donald Trump. You're playing with fire and you will regret it.
10
Regulation, deregulation--its like an 70's waterbed. Under this proposed rule change, the communications industry will ride the peak, while all those businesses that rely on the internet to sell their products will sink in the trough.
if I were Amazon or The New York Times, I'd be lobbying my Congressman. As for me, I'm off to the library, and maybe I'll stop by the bank and switch to paper.
if I were Amazon or The New York Times, I'd be lobbying my Congressman. As for me, I'm off to the library, and maybe I'll stop by the bank and switch to paper.
12
If this sort of action doesn't make the "base" see they have been had by Trump, nothing will. It and the defanging of the consumer finance protection bureau will hit them in the pocketbook. And it should get out the vote among the majority who complacently thought voting didn't matter. My own investments will prosper in the short run, which at my age is mostly what's left. If I was a sociopath I might have actually voted for Trump.
15
Many of the Pence era's most onerous actions go unnoticed by the public because the focus is always on the diversions of Mr. Trump. There is obvious an inter-connectedness about what is happening which can be traced back to Pence and Ryan, the extreme right guru's of this administration, while Trump is actually irrelevant.
4
Joseph, Trump is president and responsible. To suggest otherwise is not insight or original. It's churlish.
1
Communication services available to all should be a right as should healthcare. To reverse many of the policies put in place to make services possible and reasonable is a crime. And that is the point of the whole GOP/Trump agenda, to provide things at a cost to consumers for the benefit of their contributors.
It is not unlike the schemes used for the protection racket by gangsters.
Only Trump and the GOP wrap their enterprise up in a way to dignify it using politics as a front. But it is still a protection racket serving their rich supporters and companies. People you are being taken for a ride and this is only the beginning. I'm not speaking about any one group but all of you, democrats, republicans, independents, and non conformist. You will have to fight for what is right for the benefit of all.
It is not unlike the schemes used for the protection racket by gangsters.
Only Trump and the GOP wrap their enterprise up in a way to dignify it using politics as a front. But it is still a protection racket serving their rich supporters and companies. People you are being taken for a ride and this is only the beginning. I'm not speaking about any one group but all of you, democrats, republicans, independents, and non conformist. You will have to fight for what is right for the benefit of all.
10
The market for broadband and TV is an oligopoly (in many rural areas; even a monopoly) and is not close to being a competitive free market as some commenters here are incorrectly claiming. There is no issue with tiered pricing of broadband/TV services; we already have that. The issue arises when a company like Comcast can arbitrarily choke streams from Netflix, Amazon, etc and give preferential access to Xfinity TV, NBC News, etc that the parent company owns. In this manner, it exploits its monopoly over broadband internet provision by also establishing a monopoly in the provision of streaming entertainment. After driving competitors out of the market, it can then "price gouge" customers. This is exactly what the Obama-era net neutrality provisions were trying to prevent. Further, the massive investments required to establish telecommunications services make it a candidate for a "natural" oligopoly (there is an extensive stream of research in industrial organization on this) so we cannot hope to "solve" the problem by hoping that competitors will enter the market and, thereby, undercut the monopolist's profits. In other words, this is an industry that is a prime candidate for appropriately chosen regulation. There would have been no issue with modifying/tweaking the earlier net neutrality regulations, but eliminating them entirely would be disastrous for competition in the provision of entertainment. This should be anathema to free market advocates.
18
This is the first NYE Oped I agree with in a very long time.
I moved to Eastern Europe late last year, The cable, internet and phone bill is 10-12 euros per month. I get 200 channels that would cost me a fortune in the US; 200 interesting channels, not one is the "garbage" pushed in the US on consumer and added to every desirable channel. Nobody rents cable boxes; there's a one time fee to buy one or you buy one yourself.
In NYC I had many roommates over the years and nobody was watching TV anymore. Because cable it's so expensive, watching TV has become a lost habit for many people 20-40.
I told this a senior from Disney once. He wasn't happy to make any changes. They are the ones who push hard for high prices, for these garbage bulk packages, ESPN and Nickleodeon and unwanted channels to people who don't want them, in those insane bulk packages for USA.
FCC is a cartel. I hope President Trump will dismantle it!
I moved to Eastern Europe late last year, The cable, internet and phone bill is 10-12 euros per month. I get 200 channels that would cost me a fortune in the US; 200 interesting channels, not one is the "garbage" pushed in the US on consumer and added to every desirable channel. Nobody rents cable boxes; there's a one time fee to buy one or you buy one yourself.
In NYC I had many roommates over the years and nobody was watching TV anymore. Because cable it's so expensive, watching TV has become a lost habit for many people 20-40.
I told this a senior from Disney once. He wasn't happy to make any changes. They are the ones who push hard for high prices, for these garbage bulk packages, ESPN and Nickleodeon and unwanted channels to people who don't want them, in those insane bulk packages for USA.
FCC is a cartel. I hope President Trump will dismantle it!
7
Ah yes, we all feel so happy about Comcast or its like providers controlling our access to the Internet for an ever increasing exorbitant cost. And possibly being cut off totally if you are at the far edge of profitable coverage. That edge is pretty close, not just on a mountain in West Virginia. If you are in a far exurb or a new edge suburb, you better hope you have access. It will make it very difficult to sell your house without Internet. And providers do withdraw from coverage so having it now will not protect you.
2
The only upside:
Trump supporters mostly live in rural areas that are the most likely to lose service.
Trump supporters mostly live in rural areas that are the most likely to lose service.
9
I highly doubt the truth/validity in this article. As for the poor; they have cable when others trying to watch where their money goes do not.
1
Don't believe the NYT if you don't want. But do inform yourself, go to a conservative friend in the information technology industry and ask about Net Neutrality, I am fairly certain he or she will agree it is a good thing,
4
You know, it never ceases to amaze me that people living on food stamps and existing in degrading poverty always seem to have enough money for the latest smart phone and the expensive cable packages to entertain their broods while they are off having relationships that will only result in more mouths have to be fed off of the already stretched-to-the-breaking-point monthly income.
1
There are certain elements of net neutrality make a lot of sense.
Limiting the download speeds of something like Netflix or Amazon really is somewhat of a red herring since it is impossible to WATCH what is being downloaded at the speeds at which it is being streamed.
The downloads will ALWAYS be faster than the play-back.
Limiting the download speeds of something like Netflix or Amazon really is somewhat of a red herring since it is impossible to WATCH what is being downloaded at the speeds at which it is being streamed.
The downloads will ALWAYS be faster than the play-back.
1
And the oligarchs chop off another piece of us for their aggrandizement. Eventually, it will be time for torches and pitchforks. When? I say now.
10
I doubt seriously that you will see much difference in either performance or cost.
Now, if you were forced to go back to the speeds of a 300-bps modem, I would have some sympathy for your position.
Now, if you were forced to go back to the speeds of a 300-bps modem, I would have some sympathy for your position.
1
Both Verizon and Comcast are basically extortion rackets where they force you to pay for something you don't want (their worthless content) in order to get something you need to survive (a connection). In some cases, their bundles are cheaper than just a connection, i.e., you actually have to pay them extra to NOT take their content. Really, broadband providers should be banned from the content space and vice-versa. There are no efficiencies or economies of scale to be gained by combining them. The only thing to be gained is pricing power, and now that they've got the FCC in their pocket, it's only going to get worse.
11
I recently spent some time in a hospital without tablet or laptop, and only my cell phone.
I didn't find that I needed an internet connection to survive and was able to read a couple of books that we got from our local library at no cost to us.
You may wish to look at your life style, Larry, and make a careful assessment of the value of those elements that you REALLY need to survive life in our world.
Me thinks your priorities are a touch on the skewed side.
I didn't find that I needed an internet connection to survive and was able to read a couple of books that we got from our local library at no cost to us.
You may wish to look at your life style, Larry, and make a careful assessment of the value of those elements that you REALLY need to survive life in our world.
Me thinks your priorities are a touch on the skewed side.
For months now, my wife has had cell phone issues; the model of phone that she bought less than 2 years ago was a lemon. We have insurance which we were paying for to Verizon each month and they kept shipping her a replacement phone. This happened at least 3 times. We needed to do this a fourth time but Verizon says that (despite the insurance), she'd have to spend $200 to get a replacement phone. We decide to just get a new phone but not change our plan in anyway - we are grandfathered in to unlimited data, so we have to pay full retail price on the new phone up front. She buys the new phone two days ago from Verizon spending over $800. I accept that but was shocked to learn she had to pay a $30 "upgrade fee". Upgrade from what? A series of defective phones that they sell?
I post this on Facebook and our friend from Belgium asks if there are any laws against this sort of behavior. How am I to respond? I did respond: Not with Republicans in charge of Congress whose motto is "F*%$ the consumer, the prey for the predatory businesses."
In all my life, I have never been so embarrassed to be an American unlike that Inauguration Day 8 years ago; my proudest day as an American ever.
I post this on Facebook and our friend from Belgium asks if there are any laws against this sort of behavior. How am I to respond? I did respond: Not with Republicans in charge of Congress whose motto is "F*%$ the consumer, the prey for the predatory businesses."
In all my life, I have never been so embarrassed to be an American unlike that Inauguration Day 8 years ago; my proudest day as an American ever.
18
I just got a free upgraded phone from Republic Wireless because my first phone had a charging issue. No charge for that. Change service providers.
1
Turtle McConnell and his puppy dog Steve Daines silenced descent on the floor of the Senate and the Ugly Republican Administration is well on its way to silencing America's Voice. Welcome back to 1984.
9
Why do Americans keep forgetting that despite all the rhetoric, the GOP's focus remains making the rich even richer?
21
The GOP's convoluted logic of their policies to help "hard working American middle class folks" becomes crystal clear when you use the hypothesis that, despite what they say, these policies are for the rich instead.
2
One can only sympathize with the Internet users who seek more and more advanced (i.e., complicated) gadgets. I am for a simple and relatively secure life in cyberspace: no blogs, no financial transactions, cleaning the memory cash often, and no Facebook or Twitter connections.
2
Comcast had net profit in the billions of dollars in 2016. I'm sure the Wheeler-era regulations that Mr. Pai, says are burdensome, are manageable. Maybe they could spend a few thousand dollars to hire some people to do the paper work to relieve this terrible burden rather than further shaft the consumer.
19
It's just incredible the President who was voted to help the working class keeps putting in policies that work against them.
When are those voters going to revolt? Are they even paying attention?
When are those voters going to revolt? Are they even paying attention?
56
Those voters who voted for him refused to acknowledge his continued contradictions during the campaign. Why do you expect them to act differently now? Apparently, they are of that group covered in the middle of the statement generally attributed to Lincoln: those who can be fooled all of the time.
4
They're already pretty revolting.
Consumer protection from cable companies? I would be pleased if these cable companies ever put the US in the top ten countries in the world in terms of Internet speed. It's a matter of a competitive economy and modern infrastructure not watching Netflix.
7
"Congress created the F.C.C. to help all Americans obtain access to communication services without discrimination and at fair prices. Mr. Pai’s approach does exactly the opposite."
And so how is this different from the "new & improved" approach of every other federal agency and their DT-appointed directors? We have an education secretary who despises public education, an attorney general who thinks states are best left to decide whether to obey federal laws, a health secretary who wants to curtail citizens' access to health care, etc.
Any American who voted for DT or a Republican congressman must ask him/herself: did you really think that voting for someone who thinks government can't possibly work would result in greater efficiency in government?
And so how is this different from the "new & improved" approach of every other federal agency and their DT-appointed directors? We have an education secretary who despises public education, an attorney general who thinks states are best left to decide whether to obey federal laws, a health secretary who wants to curtail citizens' access to health care, etc.
Any American who voted for DT or a Republican congressman must ask him/herself: did you really think that voting for someone who thinks government can't possibly work would result in greater efficiency in government?
93
TM,
Your last paragraph summed up the situation well. This should be an NYT pick.
Your last paragraph summed up the situation well. This should be an NYT pick.
7
This is the type of issue that the Democrats need to exploit. If they undertake local campaigns in the red states showing the increase in prices in Internet access prices under the slogan " Is this the swamp draining you voted for?", they might bring start chipping away at Trump's base. This wasn't the type of direction change the "forgotten " people voted for. And there will be many more examples that will hit the poor in the rust-belt states. This kind of exploitation is easier to focus on than some of the more egregious examples that don't have quite the same impact on their day to day life.
2
They have to have the hard evidence to make such a claim.
And therein lies the problem for the left...They have but supposition and projection...nothing that relates to reality.
And therein lies the problem for the left...They have but supposition and projection...nothing that relates to reality.
One of the main problems with this kind of administrative action is that voters are unlikely to know it's happening, and even more unlikely to know who's responsible. For example, I've already read a piece on the prison calling issue that did not mention Pai or Trump. And when the ill effects of these policies become apparent two or three years down the road, everyone's forgotten what they probably didn't even know in the first place. That's why editorials like this are so important. But the focus needs to be constant, which the press is not so good at, and it has to extend well beyond the Times.
It's going to be a long four years.
It's going to be a long four years.
5
Given the ubiquity of the internet and access to it, as well as the direct and immediate impact on the average internet user of ditching net neutrality, perhaps this is an area that will draw effective protests from the low-information voters who chose the likes of Trump, Ryan, McConnell and their ilk. If not, I hope they'll enjoy substantially slower internet speeds or having to pay a lot more for the internet speeds they currently enjoy.
Free Market only means more money out of my pockets with bundled services that I don't need while paying for substandard services. Over two years I have lived with a rusted cable box supplying cable to 4 villas. Even as I write this still waiting for Comcastvto show up again within ther 5 to seven day window now being 9. I am forced to pay for basic cable through my HOA with just happens to have a cable broker that negotiates our contract between three communities. Getting a piece of my money too. There are too many hands that are allowed to be involved with my cable as far as I am concern. Can somebody stop that? My lifetime of how we can get rake over the coals as consumers with politics involved.
1
Given the near-ubiquity of the internet and access to it, as well as the direct, immediate and obvious impact that ditching net neutrality would have on the average internet user, I hope the low-information voters who elected Trump, McConnell, Ryan and their ilk will find their voices and protest such a change. If not, then I hope they'll enjoy the noticeably slower internet speeds they'll experience -- unless, of course, they're willing to pay more for the same internet speede they're currently enjoying.
1
Can you provide us with a detailed description of just how "ditching net neutrality would have on the average user"?
You pose a premise that with little or no substance to back it up.
You pose a premise that with little or no substance to back it up.
"The Rural Electrification Act of 1936, enacted on May 20, 1936, provided federal loans for the installation of electrical distribution systems to serve isolated rural areas of the United States. The funding was channeled through cooperative electric power companies, most of which still exist today."
So by all means, let's not only make internet service deplorable in rural areas, let's do the same thing to electrical and telephone service in those areas. That way we can be sure the low-information voters who supported Trump et al. will stay that way.
So by all means, let's not only make internet service deplorable in rural areas, let's do the same thing to electrical and telephone service in those areas. That way we can be sure the low-information voters who supported Trump et al. will stay that way.
4
That doesn't make any sense. If we are low-information voters then you should strive to make us high-information voters. Then we could make reasoned decisions on who we should vote for. Once enlightened we would have even more reasons not to vote for Hillary.
1
Note that the Rural Electrification Act (REA) was an act of Congress that had the force of law.
To my knowledge, there has yet to be a law passed similar to the REA that would provide the same statutory impetus to the build-out of broadband in our rural areas.
To my knowledge, there has yet to be a law passed similar to the REA that would provide the same statutory impetus to the build-out of broadband in our rural areas.
The next, legitimate government should consider a corporate tax holiday in exchange for a huge number of regulatory concessions that would guarantee things like clean water, string financial regulation and low-cost internet access.
2
The internet has become an essential tool for everyone in this country. It is a service that has become a basic human right, because without access, students, employees and business people cannot compete with those who do- nor can they reach their potential. This is not just their loss- it damages the economy and well being of the entire nation.
Unfettered capitalism always takes the short view of the special interest involved. It is like an orchestra without a conductor. The cacophony is the sound or a world power falling apart.
Unfettered capitalism always takes the short view of the special interest involved. It is like an orchestra without a conductor. The cacophony is the sound or a world power falling apart.
10
Please tell us how, under the Constitution of the United States, that internet service is a "basic right".
Please be specific with your argument.
As I read the Constitution, all those powers that are not specifically enumerated as being within the province of the federal government are reserved to The People and The States. (See 10th Amendment)
As a public policy, it may well be an important objective, and I would agree with it, but being an "important objective" is far different than being a "right" under our system of law.
I would suggest more of a wait-and-see approach to the FCCs actions as it is what they actually do is far more important than who becomes the chairman of the Commission.
Please be specific with your argument.
As I read the Constitution, all those powers that are not specifically enumerated as being within the province of the federal government are reserved to The People and The States. (See 10th Amendment)
As a public policy, it may well be an important objective, and I would agree with it, but being an "important objective" is far different than being a "right" under our system of law.
I would suggest more of a wait-and-see approach to the FCCs actions as it is what they actually do is far more important than who becomes the chairman of the Commission.
1
Why should I argue something I don't believe? My opinion is that internet access is a basic human right (not a constitutional one)- like health care and education, and that the right should not be honored out of kindness but out of common sense and survival instincts for our country .
This nation does the very worst job of managing its human capitol of any industrialized nation on the planet. We throw more of our citizens in jail without making significant effort to rehabilitation. We allow religion and petty politics to hold back our public school system, we squander vast resources on our excessive military and our health care system is formulated to give corporations obscene profits without improvement of outcomes. We came out of WWII as the dominating power on earth. Our days appear to be numbered.
This nation does the very worst job of managing its human capitol of any industrialized nation on the planet. We throw more of our citizens in jail without making significant effort to rehabilitation. We allow religion and petty politics to hold back our public school system, we squander vast resources on our excessive military and our health care system is formulated to give corporations obscene profits without improvement of outcomes. We came out of WWII as the dominating power on earth. Our days appear to be numbered.
2
Here we are. The Republicans seem to have only a few consistent goals and Trump is certainly implementing the major ones:
- let big business do whatever it wants, exploit whoever it wants
- make the rich richer
- punish the poor for being poor by making their life even harder
- let big business do whatever it wants, exploit whoever it wants
- make the rich richer
- punish the poor for being poor by making their life even harder
13
You left out the most important aspect--the common carrier rule that regulates all other utilities. Pai's actions are trying to say that cable or telecommunications is not a utility but it is--just like water, gas, and electricity to name a few. The utility, in exchange for the right to a regulated monopoly, has to take all customers, not just the ones it can make the most money from. There are two businesses here, one delivers expensive content the other is the infrastructure that delivers high speed signal and they need to be broken apart else we'll end up with another phone system that for a century was highly profitable at the expense of social progress.
7
Therein lies the crux of the problem...
Has the function of providing internet access risen to the level of being a common carrier and thereby encumbered by those laws, regulations and rules.
So far that designation has not been applied, either legally or practically.
Instead of attacking the ICC, the liberal would be better served by trying to get internet-as-common-carrier legislation through Congress.
I think they might be surprised at the bipartisan support that such a measure might get.
Has the function of providing internet access risen to the level of being a common carrier and thereby encumbered by those laws, regulations and rules.
So far that designation has not been applied, either legally or practically.
Instead of attacking the ICC, the liberal would be better served by trying to get internet-as-common-carrier legislation through Congress.
I think they might be surprised at the bipartisan support that such a measure might get.
1
As if any of this comes as a surprises to all but the idiots who thought Trump would "drain the swamp," and reporters who write that Republicans are against crony capitalism and have a reputation as "fiscal hawks."
In fact, they are the chronic cronies and profligate spenders who brought us mandatory arbitration, where the cost of buying something is giving up all your constitutional rights.
Maybe someday the press will learn the role they play in these narratives - Congressional investigations against their political opponents that are nothing more than slanderfests, yet sheepish obeisance to a president elected by the Russians and the FBI.
In fact, they are the chronic cronies and profligate spenders who brought us mandatory arbitration, where the cost of buying something is giving up all your constitutional rights.
Maybe someday the press will learn the role they play in these narratives - Congressional investigations against their political opponents that are nothing more than slanderfests, yet sheepish obeisance to a president elected by the Russians and the FBI.
5
Yet another confused editorial from the Editorial Board...
One the many lasting damages to our economy delivered by the Obama administration is the lack of competition. Since 2008 American firms have engaged in one of the largest rounds of mergers in history – allowing companies to increase market share and cut costs – but none of that is passed on to consumers. Return on capital, concentration and prices have risen in many pockets of the economy. The cable television industry has become more tightly controlled and many American rely on a monopolistic supplier; prices have risen at twice the rate of inflation over the past 5 years.
The left’s solution to this disaster is to impose regulations – to make the state more powerful. Which then leads to these endless edicts by the administrative state, bought by the highest bidder to the relevant politician. The correct solution is to bring back Teddy Roosevelt and William Taft and break up the monopolies!
One the many lasting damages to our economy delivered by the Obama administration is the lack of competition. Since 2008 American firms have engaged in one of the largest rounds of mergers in history – allowing companies to increase market share and cut costs – but none of that is passed on to consumers. Return on capital, concentration and prices have risen in many pockets of the economy. The cable television industry has become more tightly controlled and many American rely on a monopolistic supplier; prices have risen at twice the rate of inflation over the past 5 years.
The left’s solution to this disaster is to impose regulations – to make the state more powerful. Which then leads to these endless edicts by the administrative state, bought by the highest bidder to the relevant politician. The correct solution is to bring back Teddy Roosevelt and William Taft and break up the monopolies!
5
The monopolies predate Obama. His administration didn't do much to address the problem, but it was an issue long before he took office.
1
Ah, but the hypocrisy of the Obama administration resides in the fact that they allowed the monopolies to consolidate and allowed new monopolies to be established.
Obamacare where many of the insurers are exiting the government-sponsored markets, leaving just one or two players is a prime example of the Obama administration's fecklessness in the monopoly arena.
Obamacare where many of the insurers are exiting the government-sponsored markets, leaving just one or two players is a prime example of the Obama administration's fecklessness in the monopoly arena.
1
It wasn't that long ago that the FCC was literally deluged with phone and email messages from consumers in support of net neutrality. As the owner of a small business operating from home, I was one of those petitioners. I was fearful that without a level playing field for content distribution, I would be penalized with higher costs for essential Internet access.
A small business, let me repeat. Trump talked endlessly about helping small business. News flash: he lied.
A small business, let me repeat. Trump talked endlessly about helping small business. News flash: he lied.
24
Oh, here we go.
Anything that protects consumers is automatically construed by Republicans as a strangulation of job creation and economic growth. It is propaganda Goebbels himself would admire.
What's worse is that the Republicans base doesn't care. Like barflies with no real ambition and plenty of time on their hands, they just want to see someone, anyone, get kicked around. Consumer protection is for cowards. Real Americans willfully suffer. No interest rate is too high, no predatory practice too painful.
It's all so sick and sad and weird.
Anything that protects consumers is automatically construed by Republicans as a strangulation of job creation and economic growth. It is propaganda Goebbels himself would admire.
What's worse is that the Republicans base doesn't care. Like barflies with no real ambition and plenty of time on their hands, they just want to see someone, anyone, get kicked around. Consumer protection is for cowards. Real Americans willfully suffer. No interest rate is too high, no predatory practice too painful.
It's all so sick and sad and weird.
11
Perhaps some of these actions are not fully coordinated, (e.g., Ms DeVos wants more distance learning for students and the FCC wants to take away discounted broadband!)
7
European countries have cheap access to TV, internet and phone because they have the 'true' ideal and it's called competition. The US doesn't have competition, it has monopolies, something that the Anti-Trust legislation was supposed to curb. So where are the Anti-Trust lawsuits? Neither Democrats nor Republicans seem to have much interest in curtailing monopolies and encouraging competition. 'Screw the consumer' is the national motto.
15
There are two fundamental ways for a business to make money. They can provide a valuable good or service at a competitive price, and people flock to buy, creating value in the economy.
Or they can extract rents from consumers without creating much or any additional value, using monopolistic power, or using the power of owning a necessary good. Think of electricity, the emergency room, and internet access.
Cable boxes don't provide the value they cost - they are the product of a monopoly, just as phones were when I was young, and you had to rent it from AT&T. Companies are collecting rents from a monopoly.
The internet is a utility - people need access they way they need a phone. They cannot get a job, or even find a phone number without it. Giving utilities monopoly pricing strategies extracts value form the system, it does not add value.
Liberal and conservative philosophies aside, businesses which extract value from the economy don't help it, they shrink it. They *extract.* The FCC is following a roadmap that will continue to degrade the value of our national economy.
How's that for helping out that average Joe in Michigan who voted for Trump?
Or they can extract rents from consumers without creating much or any additional value, using monopolistic power, or using the power of owning a necessary good. Think of electricity, the emergency room, and internet access.
Cable boxes don't provide the value they cost - they are the product of a monopoly, just as phones were when I was young, and you had to rent it from AT&T. Companies are collecting rents from a monopoly.
The internet is a utility - people need access they way they need a phone. They cannot get a job, or even find a phone number without it. Giving utilities monopoly pricing strategies extracts value form the system, it does not add value.
Liberal and conservative philosophies aside, businesses which extract value from the economy don't help it, they shrink it. They *extract.* The FCC is following a roadmap that will continue to degrade the value of our national economy.
How's that for helping out that average Joe in Michigan who voted for Trump?
9
While you and many others may view the cable industry as a "utility", it has yet to be tagged with that label as a matter of law.
Should you wish to do so, and I encourage all to contact their senators and representatives, you should be pushing to have legislation passed that legally binds them to the common-carrier set of regulations.
Go after something that is possible and might be effective. Railing against the cable companies and the FCC is a meaningless exercise,
Should you wish to do so, and I encourage all to contact their senators and representatives, you should be pushing to have legislation passed that legally binds them to the common-carrier set of regulations.
Go after something that is possible and might be effective. Railing against the cable companies and the FCC is a meaningless exercise,
President Donald Trump’s faux populism should, by now, be obvious to even the most ardent working-class Trump voters in the recent election. If they are paying attention and getting their information from any sources other than propagandists, they should know that they have been conned.
For anyone who still harbors hope that Donald Trump cares about average Americans, his consistently pro-business, anti-consumer focus proves otherwise. The moves at the F.C.C. are a good example.
As people begin to pay far more for far less internet services, it should begin to dawn on them that powerful people and companies are taking advantage. If Trump supporters believed “Washington” was the source of their financial woes, they ain’t seen nothing yet.
Companies across the nation have been made to feel comfortable that if they ignore customer complaints, demand bill payments on shorter notice, sell shoddy goods, charge heavily for service calls, make threatening calls at all hours to collect bills the customer really doesn’t owe, and engage in all sorts of predatory practices, the Trump Administration has their – the companies’ – backs.
It is vital that average Americans become convinced that the upswing in these sharp business tactics and the election of Donald Trump are connected.
For anyone who still harbors hope that Donald Trump cares about average Americans, his consistently pro-business, anti-consumer focus proves otherwise. The moves at the F.C.C. are a good example.
As people begin to pay far more for far less internet services, it should begin to dawn on them that powerful people and companies are taking advantage. If Trump supporters believed “Washington” was the source of their financial woes, they ain’t seen nothing yet.
Companies across the nation have been made to feel comfortable that if they ignore customer complaints, demand bill payments on shorter notice, sell shoddy goods, charge heavily for service calls, make threatening calls at all hours to collect bills the customer really doesn’t owe, and engage in all sorts of predatory practices, the Trump Administration has their – the companies’ – backs.
It is vital that average Americans become convinced that the upswing in these sharp business tactics and the election of Donald Trump are connected.
2
The only ones thinking that Trump was a "populist" was the left who needed a pigeon hole for Trump so that they could deride his candidacy.
His message was more "popular", however, than Hillary's message of "more of the same".
He also recognized that there was a great swath of the American voters that were sick and tired of the empty promises extra-legal antics of the Democrats.
The left should not be heaping either scorn or blame on Trump or those who voted for him as a way of evading taking responsibility for their own failures to govern and to win the votes that actually counted.
Face it liberals...you blew it.
His message was more "popular", however, than Hillary's message of "more of the same".
He also recognized that there was a great swath of the American voters that were sick and tired of the empty promises extra-legal antics of the Democrats.
The left should not be heaping either scorn or blame on Trump or those who voted for him as a way of evading taking responsibility for their own failures to govern and to win the votes that actually counted.
Face it liberals...you blew it.
Yuge internet providers are a monopoly in most areas including urban. There is simply no alternative provider so talk of a "free" market is disingenuous. As a result cable companies stuff their packages with useless features and horrible content making today's cable content worse than the old days of over the air broadcast. So young people increasingly turn to providers like Netflix and competing cable company offerings are not as good.
The future could bring more choice if companies like Netflix can continue to offer better choices at a lower cost. If that endangers the profits of Big Cable too bad, they should not have a government protected monopoly to force competing content providers off the internet merely to protect their own bad offerings. The internet is a utility (in most areas it is carried on telco poles) and when it is regarded as such, government can regulate how it is operated. If it is not regarded as a utility monopolies make those decisions.
Forcing the consumer to rent a cable box to protect Big Cables obscene profits is a shameful example of paid for government protection of inefficient private corporate monopoly interests and the market will punish the companies who do it even if they temporarily buy the Republican-controlled government off. Shame on them as our President would say.
The future could bring more choice if companies like Netflix can continue to offer better choices at a lower cost. If that endangers the profits of Big Cable too bad, they should not have a government protected monopoly to force competing content providers off the internet merely to protect their own bad offerings. The internet is a utility (in most areas it is carried on telco poles) and when it is regarded as such, government can regulate how it is operated. If it is not regarded as a utility monopolies make those decisions.
Forcing the consumer to rent a cable box to protect Big Cables obscene profits is a shameful example of paid for government protection of inefficient private corporate monopoly interests and the market will punish the companies who do it even if they temporarily buy the Republican-controlled government off. Shame on them as our President would say.
2
The pattern is pretty clear at this point; every Trump and GOP supported administrator sees the value of taking away from individual citizens the things that improve their lives, and giving support to the individuals and companies who have made a business out of collecting those benefits for their own enjoyment.
This means not just supporting the wrong policies, but disabling the agencies responsible for such policy, so as to cripple their effectiveness when the keys must be turned over to their successors.
It is an anti-government, anti-social mindset and methodology, and should have no support among an informed populace.
Hence the need to attack the news media as fake and biased, and create a tailored 'reality' that facilitates the continued credulity of a gullible public.
Terrorism, government over reach, national integrity and culture, are all issues that are ripe for hysterical hyperventilating by an administration that is little more than a carnival side show - distracting the rubes while fleecing what little money can be lifted from their dusty pockets.
People see their own financial decline, and know something has to change. Trump's administration may be the medicine that is worse than the illness. Or, it may prove to stimulate the national immune system to finally fight the invasion of private money and corporate interests into the realm of government service that ought normally be dedicated to the public's interests.
Mid term elections will be an indication.
This means not just supporting the wrong policies, but disabling the agencies responsible for such policy, so as to cripple their effectiveness when the keys must be turned over to their successors.
It is an anti-government, anti-social mindset and methodology, and should have no support among an informed populace.
Hence the need to attack the news media as fake and biased, and create a tailored 'reality' that facilitates the continued credulity of a gullible public.
Terrorism, government over reach, national integrity and culture, are all issues that are ripe for hysterical hyperventilating by an administration that is little more than a carnival side show - distracting the rubes while fleecing what little money can be lifted from their dusty pockets.
People see their own financial decline, and know something has to change. Trump's administration may be the medicine that is worse than the illness. Or, it may prove to stimulate the national immune system to finally fight the invasion of private money and corporate interests into the realm of government service that ought normally be dedicated to the public's interests.
Mid term elections will be an indication.
1
I detect more than just a modicum of hyperventilation in your remarks, oh.
The Trump administration has just begun, and on the sole basis of his appointments to his cabinet and commissions, you are predicting tsunami level disasters for the nation.
Isn't it wise to waif for the an actual tsunami so as to avoid being likened to the shepherd boy continually crying "wolf"?
There is also the matter of you on the left having difficulty accurately predicting outcomes as witnessed by your unshakable belief that Hillary Clinton's coronation was inevitable,
Isn't it time to step back and regain the perspective of reality?
The Trump administration has just begun, and on the sole basis of his appointments to his cabinet and commissions, you are predicting tsunami level disasters for the nation.
Isn't it wise to waif for the an actual tsunami so as to avoid being likened to the shepherd boy continually crying "wolf"?
There is also the matter of you on the left having difficulty accurately predicting outcomes as witnessed by your unshakable belief that Hillary Clinton's coronation was inevitable,
Isn't it time to step back and regain the perspective of reality?
Much like the lowly income tax evasion conviction that brought down Al Capone, maybe a seemingly small overreach may similarly halt the party by and for the 1% who have thus far hoodwinked too many middle and lower income people. Making TV, streaming video games, and internet access much more expensive will quickly grab the attention of Trump's faithful, unlike other hidden costs being daily loaded onto them by the GOP busily dismantling the regulations that protect all of us.
12
When I was forced to change from AT&T to Comcast about 2 years ago (modem died and AT&T was not set up with its new system for my building), I initially got a modem from Comcast (I thought I had purchased, but found I was renting). The rent was $10/mo. My last modem, which cost a little over $100 lasted 62 months. At that time, I could turn in the modem and buy my own for which I paid about $140. I have now had it 24 months. At $10/mo by this time I would have paid Comcast $240 and would still be paying if I was renting the thing. It is truly a rip off to make folks rent the box rather than letting them buy their own. Trump & his cronies do not really care about consumers and ordinary citizens. What a surprise!
70
Donald's choices to head up major agencies and cabinet positions are a clear indication that average Americans as consumers have no priority in this billionaire's club and pro-business administration. The ruling elite that were hidden just below the surface that sought the same rapacious goals is now right in the open, bold and unashamed reflecting the in-your-face style of Donald.
41
Workers in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Arizona--attention Trump voters (yes, you!), your cable bills are about to go up and your service will go down! Trump says you can't handle buying that box you rent!
Already, the investment managers for your retirement accounts no longer have to put your interests first in investing your money! Collectively, money managers could rake off as much as $20 billion in bunce--money taken from you for fees and investments that are not made for your best interests.
Already, the President you voted in ordered a raid that killed children in the middle of the night, in their homes. Trump voters, what if a foreign military unit attacked your town and shot your children in bed? Do you see the horror of killing kids for flash drives and hard discs? Did we strike a blow against terrorism by murdering civilians?
Trump voters: you say he has shaken things up, but do you want your tax dollars used to pay for-profit schools, replacing the traditional public schools that anchor community life?
How long Trump voters, as China wins and Putin wins, and America loses, will you continue to act like blind mules? Take note, Trump voters: there has been no executive order to raise the minimum wage! Will our greatness be our poverty, and an unshakeable faith in empty promises?
Already, the investment managers for your retirement accounts no longer have to put your interests first in investing your money! Collectively, money managers could rake off as much as $20 billion in bunce--money taken from you for fees and investments that are not made for your best interests.
Already, the President you voted in ordered a raid that killed children in the middle of the night, in their homes. Trump voters, what if a foreign military unit attacked your town and shot your children in bed? Do you see the horror of killing kids for flash drives and hard discs? Did we strike a blow against terrorism by murdering civilians?
Trump voters: you say he has shaken things up, but do you want your tax dollars used to pay for-profit schools, replacing the traditional public schools that anchor community life?
How long Trump voters, as China wins and Putin wins, and America loses, will you continue to act like blind mules? Take note, Trump voters: there has been no executive order to raise the minimum wage! Will our greatness be our poverty, and an unshakeable faith in empty promises?
154
Forget it: addressing a Trump voter is like talking to a wall. Let them sink in their hatred.
2
The US has launched countless raids over the years which killed innocent people of all ages. Pointing at Trump for carrying out a raid which would have been launched by Obama if the moon had been in the right phase (per the NYT) seems bizarre. Either you agree with all of these actions or you do not - I am not sure the person on the receiving end of a missile or bullet cares about the political shade of the finger on the trigger.
2
Vincent, Henry, et al. thanks for reading, replies. Vincent: two points, the discussion of raids here is limited to Trump's argument that such raids increase America's safety and security--the question posed is whether the deaths of children/civilians achieves that objective? (I think it does not.) The Obama point is moot. (His orders did result in civilian deaths, admitted and apologized for, with compensation to families (admittedly insufficient); Trump has done either.)
The actual raid was detected and the detection known to the SEAL team. It is speculation, purely, but by tendency, Obama would have ordered the mission aborted once the element of surprise was loss--that changed the risk level significantly, esp. in relation to the stakes! (Hard drives.)
The greater point, on which we agree, is suffering has no ideology and stateless wars that inflict death on civilians by terrorists or troops, in the end helps neither cause. Yet Trump's voters don't grasp the futile use of force, or how it makes America appear.
The actual raid was detected and the detection known to the SEAL team. It is speculation, purely, but by tendency, Obama would have ordered the mission aborted once the element of surprise was loss--that changed the risk level significantly, esp. in relation to the stakes! (Hard drives.)
The greater point, on which we agree, is suffering has no ideology and stateless wars that inflict death on civilians by terrorists or troops, in the end helps neither cause. Yet Trump's voters don't grasp the futile use of force, or how it makes America appear.
2
God made liberals to save conservatives from themselves.
78
Why does Trump Hate American People so much. His slogan: "Make Me Great bAgain" is not only obnoxious, but it is demagoguery approaching the very worst kind--as our Germans friends can tell us.
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
2
Get ready for a little free enterprise, Trump voters in rural areas!
13
Without government regulations we would have a system of haves and have nots. Regulated capitalism protects the consumer and the environment from corporate greed. Our local, state, and federal governments currently subsidize water, sewer, and electricity because they are not considered luxury items. Having the internet is no longer a choice, we use it for much of our daily lives. The people who can least afford it are the ones who are going to be the most hurt by these changes. The economic division will continue to get worse.
11
"Our local, state, and federal governments currently subsidize water, sewer, and electricity because they are not considered luxury items. "
Really? You'd never know it by the size of those bills we're paying. We are even getting billed when we don't use enough water during a drought though we're told to conserve.
Really? You'd never know it by the size of those bills we're paying. We are even getting billed when we don't use enough water during a drought though we're told to conserve.
2
The idea that people like Mr. Luettgen don't understand is that modern nations try to bring the entire population along. Like someone has already pointed out we didn't provide electricity to rural areas in this country until the government got involved. You will have large portions of the population left behind if broadband internet is not readily available everywhere. What kind of progress can we make as a people (the whole people) if the "free" market dictates everything. Mr. Luettgen is having fun here. Internet access is one of the markers of a modern world. If it is restricted it is not like rationing Cadillacs by making them expensive, it is more like rationing air.
28
Net Neutrality was always a fallacy - somebody always pays and currently, it has been the end user through exorbitant Internet charges. Charges for 10 Mbit internet in Vietnam are 5 times cheaper than in the US.
Companies like NetFlix and Google and Microsoft and Facebook should be charged some significant increment based on their usage. It is expensive to maintain land- and sea-lines and tele-communications companies should be able to price accordingly or as Google and Facebook did recently, lay their own optical cables across the Pacific.
What would open up the market is allowing for community broadband. Allowing a city, county, region, or state to self-fund their local loop means net-neutrality within the zone, with competition across carriers for delivery of commodity or specialized Internet.
This is the model used by most large Universities and it works. This would allow a city to purchase the cheapest commodity Internet while allowing peering with independent feeds that might be self-funded from Facebook and Google and Microsoft and NetFlix.
I'm just glad the ghastly Obamaphone program is being revamped. This was a telecommunications tax created to deliver Internet to schools, but was abrupted into a program of cheap phones for the poor.
Companies like NetFlix and Google and Microsoft and Facebook should be charged some significant increment based on their usage. It is expensive to maintain land- and sea-lines and tele-communications companies should be able to price accordingly or as Google and Facebook did recently, lay their own optical cables across the Pacific.
What would open up the market is allowing for community broadband. Allowing a city, county, region, or state to self-fund their local loop means net-neutrality within the zone, with competition across carriers for delivery of commodity or specialized Internet.
This is the model used by most large Universities and it works. This would allow a city to purchase the cheapest commodity Internet while allowing peering with independent feeds that might be self-funded from Facebook and Google and Microsoft and NetFlix.
I'm just glad the ghastly Obamaphone program is being revamped. This was a telecommunications tax created to deliver Internet to schools, but was abrupted into a program of cheap phones for the poor.
4
Since I and you are paying why not we make the choice than Pai or Republican party?Lets have a survey of the ones who pay for running the internet.Maybe they will opt for your model?Majority in this country didnt elect this administration, even the ones who elected the admin, didnt possibly factor in every issue like FCC so why not ask the people when big issues like this, that effect everyone lives are decided. We have the technology to ask what people want we just done have the will..
"I'm just glad the ghastly Obamaphone program is being revamped. This was a telecommunications tax created to deliver Internet to schools, but was abrupted into a program of cheap phones for the poor."
yes, so poor that they were purchasing additional time for voice and data and some had more than one telephone.
yes, so poor that they were purchasing additional time for voice and data and some had more than one telephone.
We have argued and wondered and talked about the best way to deliver Internet since it started (I was working when it was).
It is not clear what the best model is. Having AT&T deliver it to your building seems a non-starter - they charge 10X reasonable when they have a monopoly and Comcast is not much better...their rates allow 100 $60,000 people wandering my 30,000 person city fixing networks, which is way too much.
Fiber is 3 times more efficient, meaning less tickets and visits, than cable, so broadband fiber is the path to cheapness. Every region will need a couple of really good network people to keep their network going, but a "few good men/women" is enough when it's fiber.
And the majority of how we elect our President did elect this President. You can always alter metrics posthumously, to anything you like, but reality is the metric during the election and Trump did win that one. Notorious RBG wants direct elections, I don't, because it'll skip my rust-belt...there is a reason altering the Constitution is so hard. Lincoln said it best (paraphrased) when he said we've already had a "SuperMajority make the rules, our Constitution, so a "SuperMajority" is needed to remake it.
It is not clear what the best model is. Having AT&T deliver it to your building seems a non-starter - they charge 10X reasonable when they have a monopoly and Comcast is not much better...their rates allow 100 $60,000 people wandering my 30,000 person city fixing networks, which is way too much.
Fiber is 3 times more efficient, meaning less tickets and visits, than cable, so broadband fiber is the path to cheapness. Every region will need a couple of really good network people to keep their network going, but a "few good men/women" is enough when it's fiber.
And the majority of how we elect our President did elect this President. You can always alter metrics posthumously, to anything you like, but reality is the metric during the election and Trump did win that one. Notorious RBG wants direct elections, I don't, because it'll skip my rust-belt...there is a reason altering the Constitution is so hard. Lincoln said it best (paraphrased) when he said we've already had a "SuperMajority make the rules, our Constitution, so a "SuperMajority" is needed to remake it.
Ajit Pai is in good company with the Republican Congress, all are quickly deregulating industry to enrich corporations at the expense of consumers, safety and the environment. Yet is is extremely sad to see the past initiatives at the FCC to democratize access to communications completely trashed solely for the benefit of only a handful of huge corporations.
12
I agree that the new Chairman is a tool for the Telecom Lobby but the cable box issue is being taken care of by streaming services. You do not need a cable box- just a smart TV or a device like an Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku or Chromecast. Some streaming services have offered to give you one of these devices in exchange for a three month commitment.
Net Neutrality was already dead. ATT was not counting Direct TV streaming against data caps on their accounts and others are doing similar things. Comcast is getting money from Netflix to get better streaming speeds on Comcast's wires into your home. All data is not being treated the same already.
Net Neutrality was already dead. ATT was not counting Direct TV streaming against data caps on their accounts and others are doing similar things. Comcast is getting money from Netflix to get better streaming speeds on Comcast's wires into your home. All data is not being treated the same already.
1
So much for draining the swamp and helping the little guy. How will the unemployed workers of the Rust Belt who showed up in large numbers to vote for Donald Trump react to even less affordable cable television access and cell phones, items that already cost more on a monthly basis than the mortgage payments of Americans in my parent's generation. Have these Trump supporters caught on to the fact that they are part of the biggest con ever perpetrated? Donald Trump has no intention of helping the little guy in any way. Surprise, surprise - he is lining the pockets of those in his billionaire class. You fell for a hostile takeover by White Supremacist Steve Bannon, folks. Meanwhile, your Congressional Republicans are just lining their pockets with lobbyist money and it's all worse than business as usual. Congratulations.
61
Remember, the FCC is managing a natural resource, our airwaves and our easements. You can't give company's a total monopoly on communications and expect things to work out. If cable companies had to share the copper they put in our ground like telephone companies do that would be a massive step in the right direction. That would provide real competition. Right now we don't have that. DSL is not a good technology and wireless via cell networks does not have the bandwidth or the price point.
5
Your premise that the FCC is managing natural resource is somewhat shaky given that fact that the core of the internet travels over cable, not over the air.
And, the FCC only regulates the FREQUENCIES within the electromagnetic spectrum by reserving blocks of frequencies for specific uses in over-the-air communications.
You will need a less flawed premise to make your argument, Mr. VanSandt.
And, the FCC only regulates the FREQUENCIES within the electromagnetic spectrum by reserving blocks of frequencies for specific uses in over-the-air communications.
You will need a less flawed premise to make your argument, Mr. VanSandt.
Pai, known in interviews for claiming Net Neutrality is a solution in search of a problem, takes a rather coy and glib posture that overlooks the obvious: it's precisely because we have Net Neutrality that we've been able to prevent problems from arising. Previously a lawyer for Verizon, Pai is yet another of Trump's corporate "water boy" appointments, in this instance servicing the bottom line for the telecommunications industry, and like all the rest, his fundamental labor is to entrench and widen the already glaring economic disparities between rich and poor in the US.
57
"forced to spend an average of $231 a year"
Patently untrue. That number assumes an average of 2.6 boxes per household. In an era where, with virtually unlimited content both on the internet and over-the-air, the correct number ought to be zero, and for many it already is or approaching. So nobody is being forced to pony $231, just as nobody is being forced to drink the average of 45 gallons per person of carbonated drink, revenues from which in mid double-digit billions.
And what is so wrong with tolling Netflix or anyone else if they hog free bandwidth? How is that bad for consumers? Whatever Netflix pays, they can't pass on to consumers, at least not without losing a chunk of them. And whatever the cable companies receive, they should in theory, share. Even if they don't, no big deal. Pay an extra buck to see Spacey or dump, who cares.
The Lifeline program has been rightfully suspended to rid it of fraud and double-dipping. The NYT suggestion of regular audits is nothing but asking the can be kicked further down the road. Clean it up now. Thanks Ajit.
As for prison calls, strictly-speaking, this isn't about consumers. Even if, the FCC is backing-off in-state caps, not inter-state, and doing so premptively before courts force it down them. In other words, the issue is about jurisdiction and overreach, a now-familiar Obama hangover. The ball is now with the States, let them deal with it as they deem fit.
Patently untrue. That number assumes an average of 2.6 boxes per household. In an era where, with virtually unlimited content both on the internet and over-the-air, the correct number ought to be zero, and for many it already is or approaching. So nobody is being forced to pony $231, just as nobody is being forced to drink the average of 45 gallons per person of carbonated drink, revenues from which in mid double-digit billions.
And what is so wrong with tolling Netflix or anyone else if they hog free bandwidth? How is that bad for consumers? Whatever Netflix pays, they can't pass on to consumers, at least not without losing a chunk of them. And whatever the cable companies receive, they should in theory, share. Even if they don't, no big deal. Pay an extra buck to see Spacey or dump, who cares.
The Lifeline program has been rightfully suspended to rid it of fraud and double-dipping. The NYT suggestion of regular audits is nothing but asking the can be kicked further down the road. Clean it up now. Thanks Ajit.
As for prison calls, strictly-speaking, this isn't about consumers. Even if, the FCC is backing-off in-state caps, not inter-state, and doing so premptively before courts force it down them. In other words, the issue is about jurisdiction and overreach, a now-familiar Obama hangover. The ball is now with the States, let them deal with it as they deem fit.
7
"The Lifeline program has been rightfully suspended to rid it of fraud and double-dipping."
Funny how a "conservative" always finds "fraud" in programs he despises, but favors unlimited government spending in programs he loves like at the Pentagon.
Funny how a "conservative" always finds "fraud" in programs he despises, but favors unlimited government spending in programs he loves like at the Pentagon.
2
I dont know about the latter 2 issues but here is my thought as the Joe consumer. I do pay for 4 boxes. Lets say the average is only 1 box why not empower the consumer to let me buy it, what is your objection? If you think the correct number ought to be/closer to 'ZERO' the companies have nothing to loose then (how come they stand to loose 20 billion). BTW why do we need the boxes anymore! why not an app on the smart TVs, no clutter and wires. Cable company is a monopoly where I live when it comes to high speed internet, so I cant rely on competition to make things right hence heavy handed govt intervention is needed and indeed my only recourse and right.
There is nothing called hog free internet. I and consumers like me paid for it (both for internet and Netflix) so its my choice as to seek net neutrality or otherwise. Believe it or not I also pay Pai's salary, Comcast CEO salary, every cent that FCC spends, everything that is produced and distributed by the entertainment industry and Comcast's profit.What about my opinion in this?
Sadly, consumers and tax payers are the most powerless people in this country!
There is nothing called hog free internet. I and consumers like me paid for it (both for internet and Netflix) so its my choice as to seek net neutrality or otherwise. Believe it or not I also pay Pai's salary, Comcast CEO salary, every cent that FCC spends, everything that is produced and distributed by the entertainment industry and Comcast's profit.What about my opinion in this?
Sadly, consumers and tax payers are the most powerless people in this country!
1
Strictly speaking, no one is forcing anyone to watch TV or go on-line.
Besides, if poor people stop wasting all that time, they’d have time to work a second job to pay for the heat and lights and wouldn’t need subsidies.
Those kids trying to homework, why aren’t they doing a shift at the mine?
Must be a great view from your deluxe apartment in the sky.
Besides, if poor people stop wasting all that time, they’d have time to work a second job to pay for the heat and lights and wouldn’t need subsidies.
Those kids trying to homework, why aren’t they doing a shift at the mine?
Must be a great view from your deluxe apartment in the sky.
3
Do you remember when people started putting in second phone lines for their computers and the phone companies started asking us why we were putting in another line? They were hatching a plan to charge us more for a second line, but before they could do that technology advanced and we didn't get our connections through the phone company anymore. Dang, it slipped through their fingers!
These telecom companies don't want a reasonable profit; they want an obscene profit. People like Republican Chairman Mr. Pai salivate at the opportunity to stop the lifeline subsidy for the poor, and to charge inmates $17 for a 15 minute phone call. And heck, we can't let folks own their own cable boxes when we can force them to rent them for a couple of hundred dollars a year. Squeeze everyone and sell out to the highest bidder. Since January 20th, it's been like a gale force wind. That's the GOP way.
These telecom companies don't want a reasonable profit; they want an obscene profit. People like Republican Chairman Mr. Pai salivate at the opportunity to stop the lifeline subsidy for the poor, and to charge inmates $17 for a 15 minute phone call. And heck, we can't let folks own their own cable boxes when we can force them to rent them for a couple of hundred dollars a year. Squeeze everyone and sell out to the highest bidder. Since January 20th, it's been like a gale force wind. That's the GOP way.
57
There has always been an additional charge for a second landline number, at least from Verizon of DC.
1
Very fine article.
The issue discussed in this essay makes-up the nuts and bolts of our "political enonomy" (Years ago, perhaps becasue people realized that economics and politics were inextricably linked, people studied what they called political-economy, instead of politics and economics as seperate fields of study)
In any event, this article reports on the fleecing of the poor by big cable companies. Tbe fleecing of the poor by the rich is the constant drama of our political like (Yes, I know this sounds Marxist)
In any event, because politics and economis are divorcd from one another, and because our educational systems rarely turns out graduates with any real understanding of American history, economic conflict and social strife, most poor white working people vote against their interest.
And the media is very much to blame: For about four decades they have been portraying the left as fancy elite educated sissies who like brie, and they have told us that the right is about he man like Geroge W, who wore a flight suit to tell us that we had won in Iraq (And who used his connections to get out of Vietnam). The media instead should have had more reports like this editorial which details, in needed specifics, how the lambs are led to the slaughter every day in our rabid dog eat rabid dog frenetic capitalistic system. The media reports the social ambience and psychological traits of different political factions instead of telling us how the GOP robs us.
The issue discussed in this essay makes-up the nuts and bolts of our "political enonomy" (Years ago, perhaps becasue people realized that economics and politics were inextricably linked, people studied what they called political-economy, instead of politics and economics as seperate fields of study)
In any event, this article reports on the fleecing of the poor by big cable companies. Tbe fleecing of the poor by the rich is the constant drama of our political like (Yes, I know this sounds Marxist)
In any event, because politics and economis are divorcd from one another, and because our educational systems rarely turns out graduates with any real understanding of American history, economic conflict and social strife, most poor white working people vote against their interest.
And the media is very much to blame: For about four decades they have been portraying the left as fancy elite educated sissies who like brie, and they have told us that the right is about he man like Geroge W, who wore a flight suit to tell us that we had won in Iraq (And who used his connections to get out of Vietnam). The media instead should have had more reports like this editorial which details, in needed specifics, how the lambs are led to the slaughter every day in our rabid dog eat rabid dog frenetic capitalistic system. The media reports the social ambience and psychological traits of different political factions instead of telling us how the GOP robs us.
64
It would be hilarious if prices rose so high that Trump supporters couldn't afford their cable bills anymore and therefore wouldn't receive their daily dose of propaganda from Fox News. Oh my god what would they do? How would they know what lies to parrot? Who to direct their hate at? What to be enraged about?
Try to imagine speaking to one of them about practically anything current if they didn't receive their daily gospel about what they are supposed to think and believe as fact. I wonder if they are even capable of independent thought.
Though I am sorry if price hikes and lack of consumer protections adversely affect decent people.
Try to imagine speaking to one of them about practically anything current if they didn't receive their daily gospel about what they are supposed to think and believe as fact. I wonder if they are even capable of independent thought.
Though I am sorry if price hikes and lack of consumer protections adversely affect decent people.
78
All that would happen, is that Trump would issue an exec order for Fox News and Breitbart to be offered free to all Americans, while setting aside special taxpayer money to fund those two channels specifically (and any others that toe his line). Both the FCC and Congress would just go along with it.
2
I pay $225 p/m for TV, phone and broadband. Do you think that is affordable?
And no, we don't watch FOX but I'd bet you watch MSNBC.
And no, we don't watch FOX but I'd bet you watch MSNBC.
Voting Republican will only get you sold as a captive consumer to the highest-bidding rentiers.
88
Screech! Back up a moment: "In fact, Congress directed the F.C.C. to do just that. Yet the commission is ignoring that law and allowing this scheme to continue."
How does FCC just ignore a law passed by Congress?
How does FCC just ignore a law passed by Congress?
146
Because the Congress in question has to make a point of it by voting on it, after the complaint passes through committee. Given the Republican party controls both organization, and that party has had a history of supporting big business over consumers, what makes you think the defined process is going to be followed?
2
It's very easy to ignore laws when Congress is controlled by the kind of Republicans who are playing on the same side (of big business and all their money, with the puny hapless consumer on the other side).
Solution: work to build other political parties as alternatives to the Dems and Repubs. Even the Dems are too far corrupted to be any real use (otherwise they wouldn't be in the minority now, by losing every election that mattered).
Solution: work to build other political parties as alternatives to the Dems and Repubs. Even the Dems are too far corrupted to be any real use (otherwise they wouldn't be in the minority now, by losing every election that mattered).
1
The same way a past president and a past attorney general ignored laws The Congress passed.
These people we elect make anarchy look better every day.
These people we elect make anarchy look better every day.
Shameful. Free markets aren't free when they involve monopolies. Basic economics.
With each step backwards I find myself angry at the middle of the road Republican congress members who won't take a stand.
With each step backwards I find myself angry at the middle of the road Republican congress members who won't take a stand.
13
When will people realize that the Republicans have no interest in the well being of the average American. More profit for the wealthy. My answer to this - who needs cable? Why pay $159 a month for nothing? Two speeds of internet? What about people who work from home? And small business? Another well planned policy from Trump and his wrecking crew. I'm sure this is a favor to one of Trump's wealthy cronies.
206
And here we have another shining example of short-sighted corporate greed, brought to you by another leech on society. Reasonably priced services would lift all boats over time.....yet these vultures care nothing about delivering anything of value to consumers......it's all about how much we can gouge for doing absolutely nothing while controlling the "pipes". Utterly shameless and despicable!
11
It will be the poor low information rubes who voted for Trump that will be affected the most. Those of us "elites". Know exactly how to use the internet to go around high fees and blocked sites .....
5
I write entirely calmly and absent malice on this subject of great gravity in America.
First; You should understand the man's name "PAI" means we all PAY.
You should know there is an intimate relationship between the Television industry, the Phone Companies, and the Cable companies. The government relies on their cooperation for everything from wiretaps to propaganda programming such as the numerous cop shows, to access to emails by surveillance agencies. You must think very hard about this.
I'm an older man who was first addicted to cartoons as a child like everybody else and went on through life wasting countless hours of my valuable free time watching Television. I wised up many years back. Now I watch extremely little TV, just now and then to fall asleep to and always intelligent programming like documentaries.
Now I think deeply and clearly while occupying my free time with worthwhile productive endeavors. I'm living life, not watching it.
I enjoy a "Good Think". I'm becoming enlightened.
The Government rules the nation through Television and you should at least be aware of that. Now that you are, you will view Television in a new way. Then you might agree with me.
One of my all time favorite actors was Jerry Seinfeld. Did you notice the actors were never sitting in that set living room watching TV? They were living life for you.
The only reality about Television is that it rules your life. So does the government backing it. Live life. Say hi to the neighbors.
First; You should understand the man's name "PAI" means we all PAY.
You should know there is an intimate relationship between the Television industry, the Phone Companies, and the Cable companies. The government relies on their cooperation for everything from wiretaps to propaganda programming such as the numerous cop shows, to access to emails by surveillance agencies. You must think very hard about this.
I'm an older man who was first addicted to cartoons as a child like everybody else and went on through life wasting countless hours of my valuable free time watching Television. I wised up many years back. Now I watch extremely little TV, just now and then to fall asleep to and always intelligent programming like documentaries.
Now I think deeply and clearly while occupying my free time with worthwhile productive endeavors. I'm living life, not watching it.
I enjoy a "Good Think". I'm becoming enlightened.
The Government rules the nation through Television and you should at least be aware of that. Now that you are, you will view Television in a new way. Then you might agree with me.
One of my all time favorite actors was Jerry Seinfeld. Did you notice the actors were never sitting in that set living room watching TV? They were living life for you.
The only reality about Television is that it rules your life. So does the government backing it. Live life. Say hi to the neighbors.
8
And the cable companies are already trying to con their subscribers into purchasing "better" plans--at inflated prices, of course. As technology provides better access for all, why aren't prices for services tumbling, rather than rising?
We no longer have "operators" redirecting our calls, our messaging, our documents. This is no longer the age of Western Union offices where one drives two miles to pick up a message from Auntie Em. Faxing is a long-distance phone call? Why haven't the rates decreased? Why do landlines cost more than cell phones?
I have a hundred other stupid questions, but the most basic is, if technology drives everything through cyberspace, "Why do any communications methods cost more than they did in 1995?"
Net neutrality---we were all hoping, at one time in the past, that internet, TV, and phones would eventually all be free, or, at least affordable.
Are we not all entitled to keep our access to the news, to family and friends, to modern communications systems?
When will "bundling" cost $30/month? When will the FCC understand the income spread in this country, and get a grasp of how 60% of us survive on less than $40K/yr?
We no longer have "operators" redirecting our calls, our messaging, our documents. This is no longer the age of Western Union offices where one drives two miles to pick up a message from Auntie Em. Faxing is a long-distance phone call? Why haven't the rates decreased? Why do landlines cost more than cell phones?
I have a hundred other stupid questions, but the most basic is, if technology drives everything through cyberspace, "Why do any communications methods cost more than they did in 1995?"
Net neutrality---we were all hoping, at one time in the past, that internet, TV, and phones would eventually all be free, or, at least affordable.
Are we not all entitled to keep our access to the news, to family and friends, to modern communications systems?
When will "bundling" cost $30/month? When will the FCC understand the income spread in this country, and get a grasp of how 60% of us survive on less than $40K/yr?
24
It's always astonishing when someone who is evidently
smart and savvy is so eager and willing to play public lapdog and poodle
for the telecom companies who have been his past employers.
The stark brazenness of the behavior indicates that there
is complete indifference to whatever loops he is asked to
leap through en route to maintaining profit share for
the small number of so called competitors dominating
the telecom landscape. It is clear that he is completely
confident that pertinent congressional saps for the same telecoms
will provide legislative cover and protection and sign
on with whatever the republican majority on FCC
dictates.
As in the original big flap a few years ago, it will
take a furious public and lots of hi tech company money and outrage
to hope to budge the dinosaurs who have FCC voting
power. It would also really be useful if new forms of delivering
content could finally go mainstream and shortcircuit the
cable telecoms who are desperate to maintain dominance. But
money talks, and big money talks really loud. So can millions
of angry citizens talk even louder?
But there is a lesson here for the millennials and others
who couldn't quite get their head around voting effectively against
he who became, under mysterious circumstances, the so called
president. Appointments such as Pai (just to mention one) were obviously inevitable were he to win. So, elections do have very bad consequences, which all you naifs are now forced to live with.
smart and savvy is so eager and willing to play public lapdog and poodle
for the telecom companies who have been his past employers.
The stark brazenness of the behavior indicates that there
is complete indifference to whatever loops he is asked to
leap through en route to maintaining profit share for
the small number of so called competitors dominating
the telecom landscape. It is clear that he is completely
confident that pertinent congressional saps for the same telecoms
will provide legislative cover and protection and sign
on with whatever the republican majority on FCC
dictates.
As in the original big flap a few years ago, it will
take a furious public and lots of hi tech company money and outrage
to hope to budge the dinosaurs who have FCC voting
power. It would also really be useful if new forms of delivering
content could finally go mainstream and shortcircuit the
cable telecoms who are desperate to maintain dominance. But
money talks, and big money talks really loud. So can millions
of angry citizens talk even louder?
But there is a lesson here for the millennials and others
who couldn't quite get their head around voting effectively against
he who became, under mysterious circumstances, the so called
president. Appointments such as Pai (just to mention one) were obviously inevitable were he to win. So, elections do have very bad consequences, which all you naifs are now forced to live with.
9
Why would Pai dismantle regulations that were put in place to help consumers? I can't help but think that he's expecting a big pay day from the corporations who are going to monetarily benefit from his dismantling of net neutrality.
15
It's about the principle of property rights and a belief in market pricing. The government does not have the right to set, limit or control pricing. Period. Not for cable, not for Epipens, not for airfares, not for health insurance. The irony is that government itself is free to set prices for its services as high as they want. Does it really cost a town $250 to record a mortgage? Fifty dollars or more to produce a vehicle title? Ten dollars for entry to a beach AFTER Labor Day when the facilities have been shut down and lifeguards are no longer posted?
1
More significantly for me is that it is an anti-free-speech agenda. Consistently with the Citizens United decision, it allows dollars to buy preference for some speech by people with dollars over speech by the rest of us.
23
Low income Bannon voters should rejoice at having higher internet bills, higher costs for THEIR CHILDREN TO DO THEIR HOMEWORK, and for those in prison, SUPER EXPENSIVE calls home. This president puts the little guy/gal first - second- and third in his thoughts at all times. As a small business owner myself, I am really hoping that my Internet access is restricted so that people cannot find me online anymore, and I hope my monthly expenses are higher too. I think we are all going to get tired of so much winning. Thanks President Bannon.
18
This treatment of internet access as a privilege is about as ridiculous as roads being a privilege. The fact of the matter is that the Internet access is incredibly important. People's livelihoods depend on it. I've taken online courses. Without internet access at my home that wouldn't be possible. And the fact that the F.C.C. is allowing telecom companies to charge through the nose while completely controlling the market with monopolies across the US is ridiculous. This is just more profits for telecom companies at the expense of the American people.
10
What on Earth is wrong with Trump? Everything he's done so far has been at the expense of the "little people," so opposed to his alleged populism.
18
He never cared about the little people. The man has no moral core and guiding principles, except enriching and inflating himself.
8
Trump is irresponsibly cruel towards the people he promised to represent, and help; rescue them from predatory practices; trouble is, he is now the predator-in-chief, exclusively a servant to his onw class, the 'rich and powerful'. Corporations, unregulated, may fine-tune their assault on our finances, with no recourse. Shameful...though not unexpected from a thug.
11
Trump, the last hope for red america:
-) cabinet full of billionaires for 'crony capitalism'
-) deregulate Wall Street for 'freedumb'
-) allow Wall Street to legally scam retirees for 'freedumb'
-) drug addicts to prison not rehab
-) cut taxes on rich
-) cut medical insurance subsidies for working poor
-) turn Medicaid into vouchers sent to states
-) 'modernize' Medicare into vouchers
-) eviscerate public schools with vouchers
-) send Social Security receipts to Wall Street
-) deport millions of tax paying moms and dads
-) spend billions on the border Gestapo and The Wall
-) push Ivanka's product line from White House
-) cabinet full of billionaires for 'crony capitalism'
-) deregulate Wall Street for 'freedumb'
-) allow Wall Street to legally scam retirees for 'freedumb'
-) drug addicts to prison not rehab
-) cut taxes on rich
-) cut medical insurance subsidies for working poor
-) turn Medicaid into vouchers sent to states
-) 'modernize' Medicare into vouchers
-) eviscerate public schools with vouchers
-) send Social Security receipts to Wall Street
-) deport millions of tax paying moms and dads
-) spend billions on the border Gestapo and The Wall
-) push Ivanka's product line from White House
127
Once again America proves how exceptional it is. Look at those consumers in socialist countries in Europe paying half what Americans pay for high speed internet and twice the speed! Don't bring that commie socialism over here!
67
You failed to point out the real and scary probability that the rollback of net neutrality is intended to allow Trumps multibillionaire cronies to control all internet news media. They could then allow only their propagandist "alternative facts" to be broadcast, while legally slowing all opposing news sources to a crawl or complete stoppage. It must not be allowed to happen.
The intended rollback in net neutrality is Trump's first step in controlling the press. If he gets this, we are doomed.
The intended rollback in net neutrality is Trump's first step in controlling the press. If he gets this, we are doomed.
223
I share your concern, Daisy; however, they can't control print news comtent, and public libraries subscribe to local and national newspapers, which would help people who can't afford newspaper subscriptions have access to real news.
Of course, Republicans would probably then go after public libraries, like they currently do anyway, but fortunately, most people are able to afford newspaper subscriptions.
In fact, I think I am going to start subscribing to, and scanning the contents of, print newspapers. Remember, the printing press was the greatest weapon ever invented to defeat the conservative mindset.
Of course, Republicans would probably then go after public libraries, like they currently do anyway, but fortunately, most people are able to afford newspaper subscriptions.
In fact, I think I am going to start subscribing to, and scanning the contents of, print newspapers. Remember, the printing press was the greatest weapon ever invented to defeat the conservative mindset.
3
Not to worry...we are already doomed. I just keep hoping for a spaceship to land with a big alien holding a book entitled "To Serve Man."
3
Wow. Such a scary thought.
2
Great more good news. My cable bill just increased from $118. a month to $125. No idea why and I know it is pointless to call Comcast and ask. I can't even get rid of cable and just have internet service because they make it so you have to buy the bundle. Internet on its own will be more expensive. I hope that everyone that complains here is registered to vote in the midterm elections.
12
What the America has lately bought into seems like a vicious variation on the old 'keep 'em happy with bread and circuses' strategy in which Trump himself performs all the circus acts from corpulent red faced master of ceremonies, to bicycle horn honking clown, to the foolhardy fool on the flying trapeze, while his friends and family, behind the scenes, go about ripping off more and more of the little, little people's hard earned bread.
10
Under the national CEO leadership of Mr. Trump, we will no doubt see the selling off of air, as well as Internet, rights to the highest bidders. The buyers will then rent back Internet and air space to Mr. Trump's employeeee, er, citizens.
We will then all be required to wear facial appliances with meters that connect wirelessly over the many Internet access points and log how much air we breathe in the various privately owned air spaces that we inhabit. We will then be sent periodic bills for both the Internet services that we require and the air space rentals that we owe to the many air vendors who make our lives possible.
We will no doubt give thanks, as well as endless money, to our corporate owners. Hail to our Corporate Persons!
We will then all be required to wear facial appliances with meters that connect wirelessly over the many Internet access points and log how much air we breathe in the various privately owned air spaces that we inhabit. We will then be sent periodic bills for both the Internet services that we require and the air space rentals that we owe to the many air vendors who make our lives possible.
We will no doubt give thanks, as well as endless money, to our corporate owners. Hail to our Corporate Persons!
13
Gee the Trump swamp isn't getting drained it's just getting more crowded.
Business and corporations Trump individuals.
How much more do Trump supporters/voters have to se before they realize their lives aren't going to get better and that they've been scammed and conned.
Life is going to get much harder, more expensive with fewer jobs, services and choices while America will be less Great as it slips further behind in the world for quality of life and opportunities for its citizens
Business and corporations Trump individuals.
How much more do Trump supporters/voters have to se before they realize their lives aren't going to get better and that they've been scammed and conned.
Life is going to get much harder, more expensive with fewer jobs, services and choices while America will be less Great as it slips further behind in the world for quality of life and opportunities for its citizens
73
Thank you for highlighting what is perhaps the most underreported maneuver by the Trump administration. Ironic that in the age of almost constant access to the internet no one seems to be discussing the end of net neutrality and the era of a free and democratic cyberspace.
73
And the hits just keep on coming. Sooner or later, probably later, the light is going to dawn on those who are still cheering all this madness. It'll likely be too late, but it will allow for a measure of schadenfreude. And, at this point, I'm with Bruce Rozenblit - I'll take what I can get. Seems that's the new rule of the day. Zero Sum America, with a zero as its president. Really uuge zero.
114
The FCC’s “net neutrality” policy is a good example of regulation created largely to give FCC staff something to do – oh, and ALSO to complicate a commerce that wasn’t complex enough without it.
First, it gives government too much power over the Internet. Americans handed Republicans undivided federal government, and you KNOW how much we dislike too MUCH government power over ANYTHING.
Then, it has nothing to do with free markets. Regulation, to be legitimate in America, needs to curb the more predatory urgings of free markets, but was never intended to replace free markets.
WHY do we need it? Today, broadband (including wireless) reaches 99% of Americans and connections running 100 Mbps and better are available in 85% of homes. “Net neutrality” is a solution desperately looking for a problem.
Classifying the Internet as a common carrier service also wouldn't have the targeted effect: calling something a “utility” doesn’t keep it from introducing tiered pricing. There’s nothing in law that requires that all of a “utility’s” services need to be treated the same. Finally, people who use more electricity, gas and water pay more than those using less – why is it sensible that those who use more broadband not do the same thing?
We simply disagree; but this is what elections are for -- to decide who gets to implement his view. Americans overwhelmingly DO have access to communication services without discrimination and at fair prices. Pai isn’t about to change that.
First, it gives government too much power over the Internet. Americans handed Republicans undivided federal government, and you KNOW how much we dislike too MUCH government power over ANYTHING.
Then, it has nothing to do with free markets. Regulation, to be legitimate in America, needs to curb the more predatory urgings of free markets, but was never intended to replace free markets.
WHY do we need it? Today, broadband (including wireless) reaches 99% of Americans and connections running 100 Mbps and better are available in 85% of homes. “Net neutrality” is a solution desperately looking for a problem.
Classifying the Internet as a common carrier service also wouldn't have the targeted effect: calling something a “utility” doesn’t keep it from introducing tiered pricing. There’s nothing in law that requires that all of a “utility’s” services need to be treated the same. Finally, people who use more electricity, gas and water pay more than those using less – why is it sensible that those who use more broadband not do the same thing?
We simply disagree; but this is what elections are for -- to decide who gets to implement his view. Americans overwhelmingly DO have access to communication services without discrimination and at fair prices. Pai isn’t about to change that.
15
Net Neutrality is not concerned with discriminating against users. It addresses discrimination against content and content providers. The problem that it addresses is the potential form of abuse in which an internet service provider treats some content differently from other content. For example, it might slow down transmission speeds for content expressing a particular political point of view or being sold by a commercial rival. Or it might incentivize users to purchase/consume its own content, or that of a partner company, by not counting that content against the user's data cap.
The proper analogy is not paying more for using more water. (Paying for higher data use is allowed under net neutrality rules, so long as all the data is treated equally.) A better example would be a highway whose private owner also owns FedEx. So they let FedEx trucks go 70 mph, but they force UPS trucks to go 35 mph. Would you pay UPS the same fee to deliver your goods in twice the time? Would you say that such a system enables free competition?
Yes, the idea is that elections signal policy preferences. Keep in mind, however, that Trump (who appoints the FCC) lost the popular vote. Regardless, it's unlikely that Net Neutrality was a determinative issue for many voters.
In any case, for the vote to accurately reflect the policy preferences of the public, the public must accurately comprehend the policies and their implications. Your comment demonstrates that even engaged observers do not.
The proper analogy is not paying more for using more water. (Paying for higher data use is allowed under net neutrality rules, so long as all the data is treated equally.) A better example would be a highway whose private owner also owns FedEx. So they let FedEx trucks go 70 mph, but they force UPS trucks to go 35 mph. Would you pay UPS the same fee to deliver your goods in twice the time? Would you say that such a system enables free competition?
Yes, the idea is that elections signal policy preferences. Keep in mind, however, that Trump (who appoints the FCC) lost the popular vote. Regardless, it's unlikely that Net Neutrality was a determinative issue for many voters.
In any case, for the vote to accurately reflect the policy preferences of the public, the public must accurately comprehend the policies and their implications. Your comment demonstrates that even engaged observers do not.
235
Trump apology # 930
9
We already know conservatives dislike government power (except when they can help themselves with it like in 2008). We also know they LOVE corporate power to squish everything else.
Sorry, but the last election turned out the way it did ONLY IN AMERICA. In any other free country, a candidate receiving three million less votes would never win. People clearly did not want what they got
Sorry, but the last election turned out the way it did ONLY IN AMERICA. In any other free country, a candidate receiving three million less votes would never win. People clearly did not want what they got
17
Bravo! I hope this Pai fellow let's the big telecommunication companies a increase their profits tremendously. It costs them much more per customer to serve areas with low population densities. Therefore, they should be allowed to greatly curtail or even abandon small towns and rural areas. Why should private business be socialized? Why should their bottom line be hampered by any regulations that force them to serve low profit areas? Free enterprise is all about making money, not providing services at a loss.
So go for it F.C.C. Give the Trump voters exactly what they asked for. Remove all the regulations that cost them money by forcing them to serve unprofitable areas. With all of the new profits generated by cutting these losses, I'm sure millions of new jobs will be created all over the countryside. See, when big business makes more profit, they never send it to Wall Street. They just start hiring people. That's how the job creator, trickle down thing works.
(Sorry everyone for the bitterness. But each day Trump is in office, I get more and more vindictive. Must be part of making America great. You start wishing harm on your neighbors).
So go for it F.C.C. Give the Trump voters exactly what they asked for. Remove all the regulations that cost them money by forcing them to serve unprofitable areas. With all of the new profits generated by cutting these losses, I'm sure millions of new jobs will be created all over the countryside. See, when big business makes more profit, they never send it to Wall Street. They just start hiring people. That's how the job creator, trickle down thing works.
(Sorry everyone for the bitterness. But each day Trump is in office, I get more and more vindictive. Must be part of making America great. You start wishing harm on your neighbors).
385
Until FDR's REA many rural areas did not have electricity because it was unprofitable to the power companies to provide service to certain rural areas.
Before the breakup of the Bell Telephone System the US government made a deal with Ma Bell. In exchange for Bell providing land line telephone service to everyone [no matter how rural the area ] Bell was granted the privilege of being a regulated monopoly. Bell was guaranteed a reasonable profit..
Before the breakup of the Bell Telephone System the US government made a deal with Ma Bell. In exchange for Bell providing land line telephone service to everyone [no matter how rural the area ] Bell was granted the privilege of being a regulated monopoly. Bell was guaranteed a reasonable profit..
127
Bravo!
6
Dear Mr. Rozenblit,
I fondly recall you suggesting, last year, an app that would remove Trump references from any- and everything following the election. It is a brilliant concept, and we need it more than ever. Erasing Trump would erase much of the hardness growing in our hearts. :)
I fondly recall you suggesting, last year, an app that would remove Trump references from any- and everything following the election. It is a brilliant concept, and we need it more than ever. Erasing Trump would erase much of the hardness growing in our hearts. :)
10
Unless the public is willing to pay for "Universal Internet Service", net neutrality adds an unnecessary expense for internet and internet service providers. We pay for that. So in the end, the consumer is going to pay.
I would prefer different levels of service, priced accordingly.