Tag Archives: net neutrality

Still searching….

Well….I am still searching for today’s topic but nothing is grabbing me right now…I think I’m having outrage fatigue there are so many bad things going on…think about having your internet go away? Or going to have to pay 3 times more for it? That’s going to happen next week once the idiot trump and his cronies gut net neutrality…you know, the rule in place now that make all ISP’s treat all internet traffic the same…the new rules will allow the ISP’s to do whatever the hell they want…block a competitor’s websites? Yep…block a competitor’s browser from being used on their service? Yep…charge extra for internet traffic that is now all available to everyone? Yep…throttle down sites that they don’t agree with? Yep….kill competitors before they can challenge the big guys like ATT and Verizon? Yep…all of that and even more will happen with the new rules that give the rich companies exactly what they paid for when they bought themselves the repub party…oh, I guess I did have a topic…sometimes they sneak up on me….impeach…

A victory for the people…

Well…just read that the FCC has ruled for the people of the US in classifying the internet as a utility that will limit what the ISP’s can do with it. What this means is that the giants like Verizon and others can’t charge more for faster speeds and must treat all traffic on the internet the same…what these companies wanted and what they bought so many republican legislators for was to be able to favor who they gave the fastest speeds to…effectively giving the ISP’s the power to control traffic they didn’t get paid extra to ensure the highest speeds for…essentially, they were lobbying to be able to slow down everyone’s internet that didn’t pay extortion to keep it working as it has since it’s inception…there was a second part of the decision today that I feel was just as important as the first, and that was that states can’t pass laws limiting who can be an ISP…something that the big providers again bought lots of repub legislators to do…to prevent municipalities across the country from competing with the crappy service that many of the big ISP’s provide in cities and means that lower cost internet and universal wifi will now be able to go forward without interference. This all came about with mobilization of the progressive community in the comment phase for the new regulations…with almost 2 million of those comments coming from Kos alone…so we finally won one…and this one really is a victory for the people…

Net neutrality…

Well…if you have been reading the news lately, other than the election crap, I’m sure you’ve come across the current discussion on net neutrality…that is that all ISP’s have to treat all net traffic the same no matter who it is or where it comes from…and, just today, Obama came out in strong support of keeping the net the way it is, not allowing “fast lanes” for corporations and people who will pay much more for their traffic to be given special treatment which would slow down the traffic to a crawl for those of us who can’t pay. Now, that makes sense, doesn’t it? The web has worked this way since it’s inception, with all traffic being treated equally and it has worked quite well so far but the problem to the repubs is that with true neutrality, their buddies can’t screw everyone and jack the prices up…and, they can’t have that, can they? So, of course, we have Ted Cruz today saying that with true neutrality it is the same as Obamacare…huh? It’s just like everything else in this country to the repubs…if they can’t make a profit from it, then they will destroy it…just what fast lanes will do to the internet…geez…

She’s even more stupid than I thought…

Well…since when do candidates run for office when they are completely ignorant of the issues they are going to be deciding for the American people? The latest example (and it seems like there is one every day) of this ignorance comes, again, from Terri Lynn Land from here in Michigan. This time, she was asked a question about net neutrality, the idea that every packet of information that crosses the internet should be treated the same without any interference from the ISP’s or any mechanism for anyone to buy faster speeds to the detriment of those who can’t afford to pay. Here is her response: “I think the internet should be free…it’s a great source of information. I’m on Twitter and a fan of Twitter…it’s a great way to actually interact with the community…” Not a mention of the true issue…and with that no understanding of the issue…how can anyone think she is ready for the US senate? Oh, yeah, she is against abortion and gay marriage…that’s about all of the qualification you need if you’re a repub…geez…

Here’s another thing..

Well…there is another issue that I wanted to touch on today, and that is the controversy that has arisen over Verizon and Google’s vision for the future of the internet and the gutting of the way it runs now. The proposal from these two communications giants, is to change the way that the internet works now; that all the data packets that come to or from any website or computer are treated the same to one where the people or companies that are willing to pay a premium will have their data packets given preference to those that don’t. Why do I even have to tell you that this is just a really bad idea; that again, the rich will get richer and take control of one of the last egalitarian bastions of our society?

And, guess who is supporting the companies grab for higher profits and more control? Good guess, the repubs, as always. These same ones that scream about government control of anything are more than willing to hand control over to companies that don’t answer to anyone but their profits because they know it will benefit them. I hope they understand that if they do this the political winds can change and they may be on the other end of the stick? What happens to groups like the tea party or even the RNC when they have to pay extra to get their voices heard? I hope there are reasonable people out there that can recognize that what has made the internet great is the fact that an upstart muckraker like me gets the same access to the net as a billion dollar corporation and there is nothing that anyone can do to silence me or you. Geez…