Just a thought. But who was one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, defenders of net neutrality in the Senate?... Al Franken
4
We are already throttled by an a-la-carte internet provider.....and already, there is no competition where I live.
I suppose I could go back to reading books.
6
It occurs to me, more and more children are getting their education online...even those who spend all day in a brick school building.
If public education didn't already have enough inequality baked into the cake....here is another ingredient.
Internet service is not only a utility. It is a PUBLIC utility and should be provided entirely free-of-cost to taxpayers.
5
I worked in IT for 25 years. I even had my own networking company before I retired. This is the worst decision ever made in the US regarding this issue. The net is ALREADY NEUTRAL. As usual, this admin has reversed all logic and is calling this bizarre interference with the free flow of data and info across the Web 'neutrality'. It is not. It's the beginning of an insidious way to further reduce our access to the Web. You've been screwed, America. Badly.
9
When McDonalds wants to goose sales, they add a new item to the menu. They develop new products.
Internet providers, without being able to throttle customers, have not had the flexibility like McDonalds.
This is what the FCC is doing for providers, giving them the ability to create an internet menu.
But who will be dining from the dollar menu? Poor folks.
3
Trump.
Always doing things for the little guy. The cost of internet service will go up -- as if it's not already high -- and some channels are subject to blocking entirely.
How much of this cascade of refuse is enough to turn the little guys around?
4
This is a fundamental matter, and is a grab --neither Comcast nor Verizon are hurting... they are actually doing very well.
To maybe help some with some clarity for this topic that seems so far removed from daily life to some, this is like saying that GE, with its generators and power producing equipment could provide, if they so chose, good and sufficient electricity only to GE appliances in the home, with all non-GE appliances getting some crumbs. At any time. And for any reason. And without telling the consumer.
The damage that the Trump administration is doing to our future is extreme, no matter under which lens.
6
Imagine the campaign of 2018: Democrats who wish to sign an online petition, or donate to a candidate, or read an important story in a liberal-leaning newspaper or blog, wait endlessly for these sites to load, because their ISP--owned by big Republican donors--has slowed the transmission of such sites to a crawl. Who needs worry about Russian interference in our elections when we have Trump to do their bidding?
14
Ajit Pai, the puppet! Donald J Trump, his puppet master. Just makes me ill thinking about all of the people who think Mr. Trump has their best interest at heart. Fact is, Mr. Trump's loyalties lie with his bank accounts, and his ego. The eye of the needle, when he approaches the gates of heaven is going to be so small, St. Peter is going to hand him an electron microscope. When Mr. Trump asks St. Peter for a manual, Mr Pai may tell him that it going be a while, as band restrictions Mr Pai allowed are slowing the internet down.
4
and I am sure most commenters are quite happy to see AT&T get even bigger buying Time/Warner so they can then limit what yo can see to their content. So much for AT&Ts CEO bleating on about no effect on competition.
1
It never ends. Soon they will be cashing in on our rotting corpses. Soaps, jewelry, furnishings, utensils, fabric softeners.
5
This is a giant leap backwards. How many of these disastrous decisions will it take before the common (wo)man who voted for Trump out of party loyalty admits that things are sure going south on his watch? Ajit Pai, shame on you!
5
Allowing a corporation to decide what their customers can view online -- or to put limits and roadblocks on easy access to information -- is a recipe for disaster.
This is the antithesis of "Free Speech" -- the very thing most Americans pride in having.
It's a terrible, horrible, ugly decision if this goes forward.
8
Get ready for blocked sites and throttling the way Comcast did years ago with PtP traffic. It was outlawed and they stopped but you can expect that type of traffic 'management' will be back. Thank you, Mr. Pai, you're a real prince.
7
This is ridiculous. I thought we settled this question. Why even revisit it? I could understand wanting to change it if the rules didn't apply equally to every ISP, but they do. So, this has nothing to do with competition because the rule does not cost more to some ISPs while being cheep for others. This is just a case of profit vs. people and the people are expected to lose.
8
Rai is a self righteous conservative ideologue that is also a shill for Verizon and the cable companies. He believes that the only people with a free press are those that own one. As usual, the most ignorant, short sighted depredations against the real will and best interest of the common man come from a lawyer acting to preserve the falsely applied first amendment rights of a monopolistic corporation: the only "persons" recognized by the GOP and Mr. Ajit V. Rai, Esq.
4
*Pai
I hear many voices against Russian interest in buying media spots and hidden advertising but I am just as fearful of the many American home grown entities that will rewrite history and current facts into anything they desire that the masses will consume.
Many of the books in school were full of situational spin so I guess this new internet of information should be just as doctored.
"Just the facts ... and a wee bit of opinion sprinkled . "
2
We've got the same duopoly here. There is only DSL using Bell lines and cable using Rogers's line.
While that is true, that isn't the whole story. Bell and Rogers must give access to other ISPs. It used to be mainly DSL, but there's more cable lately. I haven't been with Bell or Rogers for well over a decade. The price is lower and you can get unlimited. Some of the 3rd party ISP are much cheaper, but they tend to have more problems, so I've stayed away from them. Physical installation is done by Bell or Rogers techs. There's net neutrality and prevention of most zero-rating.
What I don't understand is why Trump is advocating the repeal of net neutrality? In 2018, like in 2016 the issue will be who comes out to vote. A smart campaign would attack the GOP on this stupidity. After all, Trump named commissioners who he knew would repeal net neutrality and except for a few Democrat useful idiots, it was an all GOP show in the Senate.
1
To all the commenters expressing rabid disdain for this decision, do you also oppose the idea of UPS or FedEX charging one price to send a package via one-week delivery, a different price to send the same package via 2-day delivery and yet a different price to send it via overnight delivery? Why, that's fascism! The government should mandate that these companies charge the same price to everyone to deliver the same package! (end of sarcasm) By charging different prices for different services, each consumer pays for the service they want or need. That's freedom. If Netflix can't get a disproportionate amount of bandwidth devoted to its platform because of gov't rules supposedly intended to "level the playing field", that's not good for Netflix consumers. You don't like that a few behemoth ISP companies dominate the industry? Neither do I. But freedom isn't the problem. Too much government intrusion into freedom is. More gov't intrusion isn't the answer.
Apples and oranges. As with FedEx or UPS, consumers currently can pay more for faster internet speeds, or less for slower speeds. But that's the *consumer's* choice, and those speeds apply to *all* content. Net neutrality is something else altogether.
5
So "freedom" to you means that corporations/government should be able to dictate the relative ease with which you can access different kinds of information? You're either being disingenuous or you're completely unclear on the concept of net neutrality.
5
Let me take your analogy a little further... what if FedEx charged a different rate to deliver the exact same product to the same address because one recipient says nice things about FedEx and the other does not -- is that fair?
1
We are all upset about net neutrality being repealed, but what people don't understand is we have NO leverage and NO say in what happens. This administration has one main goal, to overturn every order of piece of legislation passed by the Obama administration. Net neutrality is one of those. They will not back down regardless of the consequences. This is a done deal, ordered by Trump and backed by Verizon, Comcast and AT&T.
3
A well-timed gut punch to AT&T, isn't it?
If the defeat of 'net neutrality', soon becomes law, It will become the dawn of conglomerate extortion for Americans who make use of the internet. There is simply no other way to characterize it. It will be politicians handing control of the internet to their campaign financiers and/or favorite corporate lobbyists. Small business innovation and start-ups online of any sort, will be stomped into oblivion. And of course, there is currently no bigger threat to the 1st amendment freedom of speech of the U.S. Constitution for the half-century or so, that I have been alive.
Sure, Facebook and Google will conform and survive, and Netflix would be forced to submit. But, the all-encompassing access to ideas, thought, information, or artistic innovation, and most importantly, any kind of grass roots protest or dissent; all of which that we at this moment take for granted, will pretty much cease to exist online. Ordinary folks, will be manipulated into a non-autonomous, subjugated state of corporate and political domination.
The U.S. government, has a solemn and vital responsibility to protect the freedoms and rights of its citizens, and this obviously includes a free, fair and open internet for all, governed by, we the people.
7
The free market will then get to favor some web users over others, and subsequently develop products and services to cater to that reality. The current industry probably fears the second part a lot more than they may like the first.
Net neutrality was an important accomplishment when it happened in 2015, because it reified the principle that the flow of information should be free and open, not be subject to politically based censorship, pricing differentiation, and gatekeeping.
Despite Mr. Pai's assurances, we all KNOW consumers will suffer mightily at the hands of cable and internet service providers (ISPs). Mr. Pai's assertion that deregulating the internet environment will spur innovation is nonsense, as we've seen with just about every other industry that has deregulated. Deregulation is another word for shrinking the market place and concentrating power in the hands of an increasingly small cadre of providers. It leads to less competition, not more, fewer choices for consumers, and ultimately, higher prices. More worrisome, however, is the likelihood that we could see ISPs engaging in censorship, deciding what content is suitable for the internet, and what content should be advantaged with faster speeds and lower pricing. This has profound implications for freedom of speech, since ISPs theoretically could block political speech with which they don't agree.
The decision to abandon net neutrality is yet another example of the GOP's entrenched pattern of coddling and favoring the interests of business over those of consumers. And we know who (always) loses in that match-up.
7
At the rate things are going, it is going to take our next president her entire first term to reverse all the whimsical, disastrous, dangerous Trump policies, and her second term to bring us back into the 21st Century with subsidies for solar, wind, electric cars and trucks and high speed rail--not to mention the resurrection of consumer protections.
9
Um, Hillary is never going to be elected... So "she" won't won't reverse anything... That being said, repealing the Net Nutrality Rules is a mistake. I hope that enough of a stir is caused to keep this at bay, but I fear not.
It's funny that the people most affected by this have the most means available to them to acutally make a change....
Wake up folks. Partisan politics aside, this is a bad deal for everyone.
Post, politic, do whatever you have to do to get this thing stopped.
3
WHy did you assume the comm enter meant Hillary specifically? There's other women out there.
3
Who said anything about Hillary?
2
“Instead, the F.C.C. would simply require internet service providers to be transparent about their practices so that consumers can buy the service plan that’s best for them and entrepreneurs and other small businesses can have the technical information they need to innovate.”
These people have no idea. In my apt building, I have one choice of ISP. In my parents' suburban town, the municipality has only one major ISP. These are local monopolies.
Pai is a right wing nut who will destroy the golden goose that has laid a major boon for the U.S. economy by squashing the potential for unborn startups and instead favoring the established tech co's that can make deals with telcos.
11
Clever comments are not enough. What do we do to stop the take over of government by business?
11
I would say vote Democrat and encourage their election funding with many small donations. Resist big donors that come with strings attached. Don't consider a candidate with the surname Clinton.
1
The revolution will be THROTTLED.
4
This proposal is so infuriating that I don't know where to begin. Clearly this rule has only one purpose in mind: to separate a captive consumer from more of its money. There is no quality improvement here; no expansion of internet access to underserved areas of the country; just give us more money.
America continues to devolve into the laughingstock of the developed world and this baldly naked money grab is one of the most embarrassing aspects of our regression.
And, if you will indulge a little ad hominem: Ajit Pai always reminds me of the kid who got punked off in high school for requesting weekend homework and now he is getting his revenge. A sad day for us all.
8
We, consumers who pay for these services, could stop this assault in its tracks, if we decided to stop using these services en mass until our rights were adequately recognised and protected.
9
A bit late for that here. Good luck in Canada.
2
Voters need to wake up and stop imagining that the Republican Party is somehow populist. Can they not see that in every single instance, the Republican Party has the backs of large corporations and millionaires regardless of the impact on the average American consumer or worker? What is Mr. Pai's supposed reason for changing the existing rule? How will it specifically benefit small businesses and individual users? Of course, the answer is that the change will not benefit us.
11
So much for the public interest.
7
Republicans never had any interest in the public to begin with -- except for its money, of course. They're lying thieves. That this is still news to some people is astonishing to me.
2
another marker evincing this administration's outright contempt for the everyday man
13
How anyone can consider this move at all fair, logical or justified is a massive mystery to me. Pai is a miserable shill, plain and simple, and his allies are those who always side with the oligarchs against the people--as undemocratic a stance as one could ever take. Obscene tribal politics. Given the imbalance of power we've somehow fallen into, it'll be up to us to right this mess, or at least resist it. That means $$$$. That means boycotting companies that throttle websites--even if it's a "good" cell or other provider who seems "convenient" to stay with--constantly contacting our representatives, and otherwise keeping the pressure on.
This won't last all that long. The next administration will surely set things right. In the meantime, resist. And next time around, ponder Donald Trump actually sitting there in the Oval Office, consider the grim reality your choices can make or break, and puulllleeeese vote.
7
Dear Greed,
I stopped buying music CDs in 2000-2001, dropped cable TV completely in 2007, quit purchasing DVDs, ditched my telecomm sponsored landline in 2008 (iphone, ooma). When the time comes, I can and will bypass corporate sponsored internet 1.0.
4
Obviously the overwhelming response against repealing net neutrality during the FCC public comments period in May was ignored. It leads me to believe this was a done deal from the start. Get ready to open your wallets...
6
Ok this is your chance Trump voter; explain to all of us how eliminating net neutrality (do you understand it?) helps the middle class, the economically disadvantaged, the underemployed factory worker, builds the wall, raises wages, and creates jobs. And just because it reverses an Obama administration policy doesn't count, except in Trump World.
7
This is an assault on free speech, freedom of choice and small business, among other things. It's time to speak with my dollars. I will unplug as much as possible and go spend my dollars on anything not owned by these greedy behemoths. All they listen to is money, so that's where we must hit them.
6
One protection after the other has been eroded, rolled back, or abolished by Trump and his cohort. I think it is terrible and will cost consumers their rights and money. By electing Trump we gave the fox the keys to the henhouse, and they are going to use to the full. Pai's comment "abandon successful policies solely because of hypothetical harm" is laughable.
5
This amounts to a coup d'etat. Corporations now control us completely. How many books have been thrown out of libraries, decommissioned and turned into to DIY projects on Pinterest? Most high school libraries have become research centers, relying heavily on internet content for learning. University students will be crippled by this. Teaching will be stagnated. Innovation will come to a grinding halt. Control what we share what we see who we talk to mine our information and keep us in the dark. The Dark ages return.
6
WAKE UP EVERYONE! The internet today is the main moving force of everything in this modern society. Why isnt anyone asking WHY the repeal? What is broken and not working that Pai feels that a repeal is necessary? What is his motive? I love that Pai feels he can put more dollar signs on what the internet is carrying and doesnt realize that the internet is also carries voices of the free world and the also not so free world, or does he? The internet is so connected to society today that its part of our thought process and how we communicate. Imagine a repeal of what we can think.
6
This is how bought government works. Ignore what's in the best interests of the public in favor of those writing checks.
Ajit is setting himself up nicely, while torching the reason he's ostensibly in public service. Instead, he's just serving himself and his benefactors.
10
More fascism from the Trump administration.
9
time for a new government. this one is done.
4
Really, now, is anybody actually surprised by this? It's the Trump FCC. No regulations are allowed!
6
I have yet to here anyone who's against Net Neutrality have any understanding of what it actually is (except people like Pai, who's paid to support it).
Packets are packets. Why Republicans want to pay more for some packets than for others is just a mystery.
5
I honestly believe that if President Obama had found a cure for cancer, Trump would somehow sabotage it. What a horrible preident Trump is. Bigly.
10
I want to recommend so many comments here, from people who rightly oppose the sick, pro-corporate, anti-American actions of an FCC saboteur rightly better known by an un-Fit to Print rhyming slang name; but as long as they keep slurring themselves and the rest of us as "consumers", I cannot. When you call yourself a powerless, voteless Pac-Man, you become one—and the covfefe GOP happily takes advantage, like here.
Asserting your power is the first step to (re)gaining it. The MeToo movement knows that well. Net-neutrality supporters should follow.
Also, stop calling covfefe's (alleged) abandonment of the vile TPP a bad thing. It comes with SOPA, which codifies this hideous attack on net neutrality worldwide.
1
This makes no sense except as a gift to Trump's billionaire buddies.
How much you wanna bet that part of the deal - on the QT of course - is that the cable companies have agreed to exempt Fox and other right-wing "news" sites from higher fees or slowdowns? Just wait for it...
6
“The truth of the matter is that we decided to abandon successful policies solely because of hypothetical harms and hysterical prophecies of doom,” Mr. Pai said in an April speech about the creation of the net neutrality rules.
He has a point here. I'm more receptive to the "if it's not broken, don't fix it" argument myself, but objectively speaking what government regulation wouldn't be excusable if policies were built on hypotheticals. A lot of folks (and reporters) don't seem to understand that Internet companies have an interest in selling products and services to people - not alienate them by crushing their Internet speeds or charging a fee to check the weather.
So, if this passes, let's see what happens. Maybe we'll get better products. Maybe more people will get a job. But maybe not. And if our worst nightmares come to life, then let's revisit this as the Obama administration had.
Keep in mind that John Oliver is an opponent of this, and his website http://GoFCCYourself.com takes a user directly into the FCC pages where one can comment on this ruling.
3
It's time to March on Washington!! This regime is destroying the country!
6
The only way to reconcile the Justice Department’s objection to the AT&T / Time Warner merger and the end net net neutrality rules is that Trump hates CNN. The shameful way that Trump has politicized the government ought to be sufficient grounds for impeachment.
2
The US government is no longer for the people. It’s completely run by corporations and special interests. At least with the Democrats you saw a glimmer of trying to help people. Is this MAGA? SAD!!!
4
There are certain advantages to being an expat. This is yet another.
2
Well, this really will "break the internet". Big cable will be rounding up all those cord cutters like me. Where will we find refuge next, in something like Elon Musk's proposed direct satellite system?
2
This country is officially one big brothel now. Maybe that's what we should call our fearless leaders: Big Brothel.
3
as the punch line goes:
"we already know what you are, we're just talking about the price."
1
This is populism?
NOBODY wants this aside from a handful of greedy ISPs. How is this actually happening? When it's donors over the people, it's time for pitchforks and torches.
3
Tell me this can be undone once we get a Democratic president, house, senate.
4
Utterly ridiculous. The Internet is a utility and should be regulated as such. We don't have power lines divided into sub sources of power and tiered towards those who are able to pay. Could you imagine if rolling blackouts hit poorer neighborhoods first? The equivalent is going to happen with the repeal of Net neutrality–those companies who can pay will get their content delivered. Such a conservative solution!
32
"the threat of harm to consumers was only theoretical" is just as antithetical as saying that giving preferential treatment to one entity over another is bad for "another"...say water...say out west... say electricity, say manufacturing over "infrastructure"... how do you pronounce "Mr. pai"...yeah, that's what I thought.
4
When start-up company sites are throttled because the big legacy companies pay for preferred net access, people will complain about the lack of innovation. When right-leaning sites are throttled because they do not have the same resources as the MSM to ensure fast delivery of their content, people will complain about how unfair things are. When government sites are slow and clunky because the government can't pay as much as Netflix for fast content delivery, people will complain about the incompetent government.
By then it will be too late. This is an incredibly short-sighted decision.
6
Final straw material. I'd wager that a lot of people will put down their devices and take to the streets should this go through.
2
Welcome to Trump's oligarchy where he is America's Putin and his lackeys control the media and the tax plan creates a new royalty /gilded age of robber barons . Trump is providing for his family by repealing the estate tax and the GOP politicians are guaranteed million $ jobs on K street when the democrats are elected to clean up the latest GOP MESS..
3
Probably going to be just as good, or if not better, than that "do not call" list they put out.
2
The only "logic" to this farce of a plan that will bring widespread discrimination back to the U.S. is that the previous administration was for it. So of course this one must be against it no matter the cost to anyone or anything. Sad!
2
Chump and his merry band of Nibor Doohs strike again. But woe be to the companies that take advantage of this thinking this change is permanent. As soon as the administration changes, back comes Net Neutrality. Verizon and others will be dinged by the cost of switching back. I hope the new administration also punitively taxes them retroactively for any money they make at our (consumers, ordinary people)'s expense. Pai should be jailed as soon as he leaves office and goes back to work for Verizon.
4
As much as I might agree with your general concept, there is no way we the people would be able to impose retroactive taxes or fees given we have the concept of no "ex post facto" fairly ingrained in our legal system.
1
There you go Trump voters. Especially those in rural areas.
Your President couldn’t care less about any of you.
6
Is there a website to petition against this??
1
What could possibly go wrong with this? You may still have freedom of speech, you just won't be able to afford it.
6
The F.C.C. now stands for Fundraising Conquers Competition.
7
Ignorance is Strength, War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery.
2
Here we go again. Last time, the people spoke out, demonstrated and contacted the necessary people. We cannot sit back this time either. Even if your representatives do not support them, call, write, visit, email them again.
Bombard the FCC - bombard the networks for commentary!
Remember, first the Trumpies went after the free press. Now they are after free expression. And they are called "Defenders of the Constitution"!? (by their oath of office)
Americans, the threat of us becoming an authoritative society, ruled by a oligarchy of the upper classes grows closer with every move like this.
Don't sit there at your keyboard...DO SOMETHING!
6
Much though I loathe Trump, I am coming around to the perspective that he probably has had very little to do with this, and that it is his cronies and special interests are pushing this through under his nose. I don’t think he understands or is even aware of half the things his administration is doing. Those that do reach his attention do so via Fox and Friends with their ridiculous propagandist skew. It’s probably disturbingly easy to flatter Trump and say “sign this” or “support that” and “it’ll be good for America” and “the people will love you”.
Trump is just the clown in the center ring, providing a distraction for an ADHD population, while corporate titans and their lackeys in government dismantle the social and legal foundations of our democracy to grab a little more money for themselves.
3
Ignorance is no excuse! Isn't Trump supposed to "very smart" (his words)?
You get a traffic ticket even if you "didn't know" about the speed limit, right?
2
John Oliver did a great primer on Net Neutrality... and as usual he adds humor to aid in swallowing the pill. Search for it on YouTube.
2
This FCC push (putsch?) is really about squeezing more money out of ordinary people. The FCC and its broadband industry shill chairman are predictably siding with that industry against the interests of the consumer. How much more pillaging can regular people take before subscriptions get canceled? I'm betting not much.
And then, finally, we can get back to libraries, movie theaters, real books, print newspapers (NYT, of course) & magazines, music on vinyl and face-to-face social interaction!
3
This is a loss of gigantic proportions to all of us. The internet is one of the very few universal benefits to mankind and paid for by the American people. It should remain open and as free as possible. Already, too many people are making money off of it, but at sort of an acceptable level. The greed mongers who have no conscience (which is another issue) have just been cleared by this idiot Pai to rape the internet and rape they will. Of course, their marketing pukes will try to spin it but they are so transparent. Ajit Pai should be fired.
4
As an undergraduate college student born at the turn of the century and raised my whole life with uninhibited and easy access to the internet and limitless knowledge, this has been one of the most disheartening news articles I have ever read.
4
"A rollback of net neutrality regulations would represent a significant victory for broadband and telecom companies like AT&T and Comcast and would amount to a strike against consumers". That says it all, doesn't it.
6
Not exactly a surprise here.
When the choice is between the interests of regular people and the interstes of concentrated wealth, the track record of Trump and the Republicans is crystal clear.
But, how is this populism?
19
It'll be interesting to see how the telecom monopolies will treat this win that they paid hundreds of millions to dollars to achieve through political "donations."
Unlike when they started blocking and slowing down connections to a handful of websites in 2012-2013, , breaking the 20 year old "gentlemen's agreement" that upheld de facto net neutraility, there's immense coverage now. However, monopoly/duopolies are still rampant almost everywhere; there's no competition.
AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, might be timid to pull the same measures again.
Democrats are already getting a big boost among younger voters just over this issue.
19
The internet was funded by tax payer money, and developed by a mix of military, educational, corporate, and, most importantly, individuals. Neutrality is what brought us the incredible innovations and accessibility to information that is transforming our culture. Large corporations like AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, etc. have already benefited from new internet business that has brought great wealth to them. To give manipulative monetary controls to those corporations would be unfair and unnecessary. The internet is in fact a utility that we all rely on, and it must be treated as such. To do otherwise can only stifle innovation.
59
The structure of the Internet was indeed founded - and funded - by the Government. But that was decades before the Internet as we know it was developed for public consumption. It is actually a fully commercial enterprise built with billions of dollars in investment from the companies that you so freely demonize.
1
That's oligarchy for you.
3
I would hardly call the internet a fully commercial enterprise, it continues to be use in an incredibly diverse set of ways, of which commerce is only one part. I am not demonizing commercial enterprise, I'm only pointing out that the internet has been and will continue to be a windfall for large corporations.
1
This might be a sad day for consumers, but it is an even sadder day for democracy.
79
Just another brick in the wall.......
11
Yay!!!! Another soulless win for corporations and the ruination of a good thing!!
This stinks to high hell. You do realize this will only make people very angry--including people who don't normally vote.
34
Remember, corporations are people too. Supreme Court has already ruled in their favor in Citizens United vs. FEC.
And here I thought the gov't was "for the people..." Selling speed. Trump and his greedy pals are ruining this country day by day.
19
Read "Democracy in Chains" and you'll see that we are rushing towards a future when only billionaire oligarchs will have an effective vote.
1
The Elites of Big Money are having their day. Now you will watch, read, and learn what you are told. But since we are stupid enough to have let this come to pass we deserve it. internet RIP.
14
What could be wrong in a world where the President can attempt to U.S. Federal regulations to bankrupt CNN, and allow large broadband providers can charge what they want?
11
Pai is merely doing what his corporate masters tasked to him. That he insults our intelligence in process matters not.
16
Ajit was the chief mouthpiece for Verizon before becoming a lackey for Traitor Trump. No surprise here.
36
Pai was the spokesman for Verizon?
This will have a profoundly negative impact on every US media company that's not owned by a telecom conglomerate. Free speech suffers: money talks.
33
Could you please tell us how consumers can make our opposition known?
There seems to be no way to file a complaint with the FCC online (astounding).
Can email:[email protected]
Contact our reps? What else?
29
Go to 5calls.org for all the contact phone numbers, as well as a script.
So the Koch brother buy AT&T - Time Warner, etc. Then the change the content to be more 'fair and balanced' ... a kind of Libertarian Fox News. Then they slow down my connection to Mother Jones or the NY Times.
What could possibly go wrong
52
Pai is a traitor to the First Amendment. This is the move of a fascist regime, to exert "commercial" control over the flow of digital information.
NO ONE should think this is acceptable.
72
2017 has been a banner year for cable companies, thanks to a so-called president who promised to look out for the little guy. In the spring, he gave them the green light to collect and sell your personal browsing habits (without your permission). Now he’s giving these same companies, most of whom rank as the most hated companies in America, the green light to bully smaller websites and consumers into paying millions to escape being stuck in their “slow lane”.
Ajit Pai is always saying that the violations of net neutrality were minimal prior to the rules being put in place. If that’s the case, then why the urge to remove the rules? Does he think were too stupid to predict that ISPs intend to take advantage of this after they’ve paid millions in lobbying for repeal?
20
Evil.
11
Help, Help, Stop these people. I am not an expert on this complicated subject, but there was a terrific video on youtube by John Oliver, explaining Net Neutrality. The Obama Administration regulators decided the public needed this protection for a good reason. It will be all too easy for big corporations to stiffle competion, benefiting themselves at the expense of consumers and the ecoomy.
21
The fact that Genachowski uses the "If it ain't broke, so why fix it?" line is hysterical. That was the exact argument of opponents of the rules being imposed in the first place (something he, of course, knows). Net Neutrality is one of the biggest public policy scams of the last 20 years - an enormous waste of time, money and effort to fix a system that had absolutely thrived without the rules. If someone could point to an example where the Internet somehow improved because of these rules, I would love to hear it.
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The fact that one is free to comment after reading an article such as this is proof that Net Neutrality is successful public policy. Contrary to ascertains of Net Neutrality being a "fix", the rules were put in place to protect the status quo of the internet and keep competition fair between big and small players alike. Please feel free to prove otherwise, though. I'm happy to hear examples of an "improved internet" wherein corporations dictate access on an a-la-carte basis....
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Is it any surprise that an administration who falsely creates and then attacks the "fake media" is also attempting to create an environment in which information is throttled or even completely choked and suppressed? The rise of the plutocracy and its efforts at suppressing free expression is chilling beyond words.
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This is the internet equivalent of ending the Fairness Doctrine in the 1980s. If you like the way that turned out, and spend your time on AM radio listening to Limbaugh and Alex Jones, you'll love having the internet turn out the same way.
On the other hand, if you like discovering new sites with interesting and still rough edged ideas, if you like having all points of view expressed, and being able to get news that isn't the going headline of the enormous corporations, music that isn't selected by computer and completely owned by the biggest artists, and at least the possibility that you can choose how you get your information and from whom, call your congresscritters and hit the streets. You're about to lose more freedom.
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Most people do not get this. Let me try to explain this with an analogy. We all have refrigerators. What you keep in in you refrigerator is your choice. The power company does not charge you based on what you keep in your refrigerator. Keeping the analogy going. What ending net neutrality does is it allows the power company to charge you based on what you keep in your refrigerator. So if you shop on Amazon, the cable company will charge you more (through fees to Amazon) than if you shop at Macys. It's just a way for your local cable company to extort money from your favorite websites. Which of course in reality is just another way for the cable company to get more money from you. Why don't they just raise your internet bill? Because you already have the most expensive high speed internet in the developed world. High speed internet in the US is already twice the price charged in Europe. So they have to hide how they are getting money. If the FCC a just a thimble full of honesty it would say the internet service providers are an unregulated monopoly and enter and require the providers to reduce their fees to what the rest of the world is paying. But they are going the opposite way.
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We’re seeing those splendid benefits “running government like a business” and “putting businessmen in charge” were going to bestow upon us. You guessed it: Running the government for businessmen.
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Of all this administration's policies, this is the one that has the most potential to come back and bite them...make people pay extra for Netflix, Hulu, Instagram, Twitter, etc? Yeah, that'll be super popular.
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The public gets sold out again.
Standard operating procedure for this administration and its agencies headed by corporate toadies.
Somehow I'm still not feeling that America is being Made Great Again. Guess I'll have to work on my attitude so I can feel the buzz. Right now all I'm feeling is the buzz SAW being taken to just about everything decent, fair, and worthwhile in our national life.
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The destruction of the middle class continues. This follows along with a tax plan that hikes taxes on the middle class, a Trumpcare that wants to privatize healthcare, and a trade plan that eliminates more middle class jobs.
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It is probably worth noting that Pai worked for Verizon.
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Doing away with Net Neutrality is a terrible idea. We will have major companies controlling what crosses their internet access points which reduces options for all consumers.
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Are WE THE PEOPLE going to let BIG Robber Barons to win again?
Net neutrality allows small players to have relatively as much presence as BIG corporations on the internet. Getting rid of it will allow BIG money to control everything we see and hear and, as we have found since the demise of newspapers and decent television across America, and the rise of hate radio and hate social media because a few BIG Robber Barons control them, this will further allow the Top 1% Global Financial Eltie to take over OUR world.
I do not like the world they envision of kings and peons. Do you?
Contact the FCC and tell them to retain net neutrality.
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The internet has been a vital and fast, if not always accurate, source of information and contact with the world. It keeps people in far-flung areas in touch with relatives and friends who are far away. It may be the most nonpartisan institution we have in this country, warts and all. Anybody with a computer or smart phone can access and use it (for better or for worse, yes, I know).
Now, in a curious but completely foreseeable corollary to the proposed tax scam, we have Comcast et al whining about how they “need” more money. They try to convince all and sundry that they will essentially shrivel without the extra income from this rollback (I am growing to hate that word). If Puppet Pai does their bidding, everybody who uses the internet will be forced to support them.
I think my ad blocker is going to get a lot more exercise.
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And if they block your ad blocker or your VPN?
Today we are seeing the beginning of a new form electronic censorship. Getting rid of Net Neutrality will stifle new and opposing voices of this administration. In the case of CNN, the government for the first time in history is taking action against an opposing media voice. Taken together, these ruling are not just bad for consumers, they are flatly un-American.
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This is a sad day for consumers. And an even worse day for start ups in the media space. But a great day for big telecom companies.
Are there still Trump supporters that actually believe he was going to help them? The avalanche of consumer protection roll backs is stunning.
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The official FCC comment period for this repeal ended in August, but you can still provide feedback. It's important to hold Internet providers accountable as "common carriers", and to champion net neutrality on an international business--not just to support individual access, but because businesses rely heavily on access too. Right now, countries that want to lure American companies would be well advised to guarantee net neutrality. And they know it.
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Your pres keeps you all occupied with his trolling while he creates a class system that will infect the world for generations.
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I disagree. This isn't sad, it's outrageous. It's absolutely absurd that in this day and age, the federal government would allow the most powerful tool in the history of civilization to be effectively censored into the foreseeable future. This is one of the first steps towards tyranny and Fascism: state and corporate control over the spread of information. But for reasons that elude my understanding people seem to be discouraged, not outraged, over the gradual but distinct moves this administration is taking towards dismantling the safeguards that the people in this democracy take for granted.
If we do not stop this now, it might be too late to ever wrangle control out of the hands of some of the most powerful companies in the world once they assert their complete control over access to the internet.
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