It’s an argument he’s making of “do you want businesses to self regulate or do you REALLY want Trump regulating” which is a good talking point I have to admit. Trump has shown us that it is true that corporate America has built up better trust than Trump has with us and has shown more ethical fortitude(like with the Charlottesville dilemma). It’s inevitable where the internet is going I’ll admit. However it’s stupid for consumers to go quietly in the night and allow the internet to become either a corporate cash machine that squeezes us further while limiting what we can see, or a government run propaganda dispenser, and not raise hell about it. Either way (government or corporate takeover) we need to be in the streets letting both parties know that true internet neutrality is important to us. This is one of those moments where either way, it’s our duty to make sure we aren’t getting taken for fools.
I have to admit, I love how Republicans spin taking away freedom from consumers and giving it to 5 corporations as defending the internet against the left. It's a brilliant if not cynical strategy. What's going to be great is to see how the American people rebel so hard against the massive overreach and callous attack on the middle class the Republican party has done this year. The wave that is coming is going to be massive. The Republican party is committing hari kari.
Says the guy who doesn't just parrot the positions of people like Ted Cruz but repost their tweets with no original commentary of their own.
Other posters have shown the problem with that line of argument that the FTC can't regulate pricing or where an ISP might act on content.
its not a 'line of argument'. its a fact. The FTC, which regulates almost all companies, is who regulates the ISPs without NN. There is no side that supports 'ISPs regulae themselves' like dobro suggested. Almost every scenario I've heard from net neutrality supporters would be blocked by the FTC. Why the hell would you want government to start controlling pricing? Pricing from the ISPs has been fine. ISPs blocking content could very well violate FTC's anti-competition laws.
Those aren't my words, those are the words of the former FCC chairmen just a week ago. Also, do a cursory internet search and you can see that high speed connections are lacking in a lot of areas. Even in areas where there is competition, you see just two competitors. As for internet costs, it's funny you bring that up. My overall cable bill has doubled over the last year with comcast. When I negotiated new terms with them they were more than happy to match and even beat DirectTV and Dish for me. Internet? I was told by multiple reps those prices are locked. The packages they offer conceal where you are making up the difference, but a bit of back of the envelope calculations done by adding and removing services and you can see where they are willing to work with you. Hell, look at your cost when you drop everything but TV, then look at your cost when you drop everything but internet, that tells a frightening story in my neck of the woods. Also, the fabled Title 2 argument. You understand that almost 700 regulations are not currently enforced under title 2. Most notably the FCC does not impose how much a company can charge and cannot impose new taxes either. It isn't the exact same thing Ma Belle was under. I agree it isn't great, but it gives us some much needed protection. Are you actually asking me to give up protection, when ISPs in the past have crossed the line numerous times, in hopes that the industry *might* regulate itself with competition? It seems like another perverse form of trickle down economics here. Hey, let's let ISPs do what they want, then in the end they will do right by their consumers. Like all of a sudden they will forget that they love money, and now with unchecked power they choose to give that up in favor of the consumer. We've seen multiple times in history of how unchecked power works, and it's rare to see someone give that up for the greater good. You'll understand if I don't trust an industry to do the right thing. Instead, why don't we keep the regulations in place and support competition directly through other means? Then when someone rises up, we revisit this and reverse it? It's because powerful lobbyists from Comcast have perverted the conversation here. If competition is really the end goal, then do something to spark it, but don't remove my consumer rights in the process.
Now I know you're trolling. But hey, if you think pricing right now is fine, wait until we lower them and you'll be even happier. Again, you're missing multiple points on content blocking/throttling. At it's core it's a communication issue. You are directly influencing people's ability to exchange ideas and thoughts solely based on who is saying the message. That's not an FTC issue, albeit, it still does have FTC implications as well. The FCC is in the right to have power here. You want this to go to the FTC because they will be weak on it. Furthermore, I can only assume that Comcast is your half brother (because corporations are people too), and the fighting between these two divisions ultimately keeps Comcast and yourself from having to do anything.
“Investments in internet infrastructure have actually gone up since 2015" The FCC’s new order is a direct response to laws passed by the same government agency in 2015 under the Obama administration. The argument made by current FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is that these laws stifle innovation and keep big companies from investing in new internet infrastructure. However, a report from Free Press found that investments in the internet are actually up since 2015. Internet providers have spent more to expand their networks in the past two years than before. Revenue for these companies also continue to grow, outpacing the U.S. economy. The argument that net neutrality hurts these companies just doesn’t hold up. If anything, it helps by giving internet providers clear laws to follow. -LifeHacker via Free Press https://lifehacker.com/how-to-explain-why-net-neutrality-matters-to-your-frien-1820768000
Well I guess if you want to avoid reading a long publication you can just look at that info graphic. But who wants that, bring on the long boring academic paper for me!
This is the integrity that Net Neutrality opponents are defending... Comcast deleted net neutrality pledge the same day FCC announced repeal Three-year-old "no paid prioritization" pledge was suddenly removed. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...ity-pledge-the-same-day-fcc-announced-repeal/
FDA, IRS, OSHA, EPA, SEC, FTA, FDIC, USDA, NRC, FAA, etc... all regulate private and public corporations. Why don't we eliminate all of those in the name of small government? US Constitution, including Bill of Rights, is also a form of government regulation. If you want small government, let's scrap that too!
