[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Mail]  [Sign-in]  [Setup]  [Help]  [Register] 

"International court’s attack on Israel a sign of the free world’s moral collapse"

"Pete Hegseth Is Right for the DOD"

"Why Our Constitution Secures Liberty, Not Democracy"

Woodworking and Construction Hacks

"CNN: Reporters Were Crying and Hugging in the Hallways After Learning of Matt Gaetz's AG Nomination"

"NEW: Democrat Officials Move to Steal the Senate Race in Pennsylvania, Admit to Breaking the Law"

"Pete Hegseth Is a Disruptive Choice for Secretary of Defense. That’s a Good Thing"

Katie Britt will vote with the McConnell machine

Battle for Senate leader heats up — Hit pieces coming from Thune and Cornyn.

After Trump’s Victory, There Can Be No Unity Without A Reckoning

Vivek Ramaswamy, Dark-horse Secretary of State Candidate

Megyn Kelly has a message for Democrats. Wait for the ending.

Trump to choose Tom Homan as his “Border Czar”

"Trump Shows Demography Isn’t Destiny"

"Democrats Get a Wake-Up Call about How Unpopular Their Agenda Really Is"

Live Election Map with ticker shows every winner.

Megyn Kelly Joins Trump at His Final PA Rally of 2024 and Explains Why She's Supporting Him

South Carolina Lawmaker at Trump Rally Highlights Story of 3-Year-Old Maddie Hines, Killed by Illegal Alien

GOP Demands Biden, Harris Launch Probe into Twice-Deported Illegal Alien Accused of Killing Grayson Davis

Previously-Deported Illegal Charged With Killing Arkansas Children’s Hospital Nurse in Horror DUI Crash

New Data on Migrant Crime Rates Raises Eyebrows, Alarms

Thousands of 'potentially fraudulent voter registration applications' Uncovered, Stopped in Pennsylvania

Michigan Will Count Ballot of Chinese National Charged with Voting Illegally

"It Did Occur" - Kentucky County Clerk Confirms Voting Booth 'Glitch'' Shifted Trump Votes To Kamala

Legendary Astronaut Buzz Aldrin 'wholeheartedly' Endorses Donald Trump

Liberal Icon Naomi Wolf Endorses Trump: 'He's Being More Inclusive'

(Washed Up Has Been) Singer Joni Mitchell Screams 'F*** Trump' at Hollywood Bowl

"Analysis: The Final State of the Presidential Race"

He’ll, You Pieces of Garbage

The Future of Warfare -- No more martyrdom!

"Kamala’s Inane Talking Points"

"The Harris Campaign Is Testament to the Toxicity of Woke Politics"

Easy Drywall Patch

Israel Preparing NEW Iran Strike? Iran Vows “Unimaginable” Response | Watchman Newscast

In Logansport, Indiana, Kids are Being Pushed Out of Schools After Migrants Swelled County’s Population by 30%: "Everybody else is falling behind"

Exclusive — Bernie Moreno: We Spend $110,000 Per Illegal Migrant Per Year, More than Twice What ‘the Average American Makes’

Florida County: 41 of 45 People Arrested for Looting after Hurricanes Helene and Milton are Noncitizens

Presidential race: Is a Split Ticket the only Answer?

hurricanes and heat waves are Worse

'Backbone of Iran's missile industry' destroyed by IAF strikes on Islamic Republic

Joe Rogan Experience #2219 - Donald Trump

IDF raids Hezbollah Radwan Forces underground bases, discovers massive cache of weapons

Gallant: ‘After we strike in Iran,’ the world will understand all of our training

The Atlantic Hit Piece On Trump Is A Psy-Op To Justify Post-Election Violence If Harris Loses

Six Al Jazeera journalists are Hamas, PIJ terrorists

Judge Aileen Cannon, who tossed Trump's classified docs case, on list of proposed candidates for attorney general

Iran's Assassination Program in Europe: Europe Goes Back to Sleep

Susan Olsen says Brady Bunch revival was cancelled because she’s MAGA.

Foreign Invaders crisis cost $150B in 2023, forcing some areas to cut police and fire services: report

Israel kills head of Hezbollah Intelligence.


Status: Not Logged In; Sign In

United States News
See other United States News Articles

Title: Net neutrality is now officially on life support. HereÂ’s what happens next
Source: Vox
URL Source: https://www.vox.com/2017/12/14/1677 ... et-neutrality-repeal-explained
Published: Dec 15, 2017
Author: Aja Romano
Post Date: 2017-12-15 19:58:05 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 2416
Comments: 28

The Federal Communications Commission has voted to repeal net neutrality, despite overwhelming public support for the regulation, which requires internet service providers like Verizon and Comcast to distribute internet access fairly and equally to everyone, regardless of how much they pay or where they’re located.

Despite last-minute requests to delay the December 14 vote from some Republican members of Congress, it went through as scheduled, thanks to the support of a much longer list of Republicans who favored the repeal and urged the vote to be held without delay. As had been heavily predicted for months, the vote was split 3-2 along party lines, with the FCC chair Ajit Pai and the other Republican members Michael O’Rielly and Brendan Carr voting for repeal and Democratic commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel voting to protect it.

The vote to repeal came in spite of overwhelming bipartisan support for net neutrality from the public, as the FCC was clearly determined to move ahead with the repeal. Tensions were high during the hearing — and at one point, in the middle of Pai’s remarks, the room was evacuated for about 10 minutes due to an apparent security threat.

The implications of the repeal are vast and complicated. If it’s left unchallenged, it will almost certainly fundamentally change how people access and use the internet. But it could be a long time before we start to see the full effects of the FCC’s vote — and there’s even a ghost of a chance that the repeal might be overturned by the US Court of Appeals.

Here’s what you need to know about what could happen next.

Protesters at a 2015 net neutrality rally.

Media Action Grassroots Network

1) What was the FCC actually voting on?

The FCC voted on the Restoring Internet Freedom Order, which concerned the repeal of Title II protection for net neutrality.

Title II is a decades-old regulatory clause that explicitly classifies internet service providers (ISPs) as telecommunications companies, meaning they’re essentially classified as utilities and subject to the same regulations that other telecommunication companies — also classified as utilities — must abide by. That basic regulatory standard is what people are referring to when they talk about net neutrality. Title II was first applied to ISPs in 2015, after a hard-won fight by internet activists.

Placing ISPs under Title II was the only legal way — barring the unlikely introduction and passage of Congressional legislation instituting complicated new regulatory procedures — in which these companies could be regulated. Now that the FCC has repealed Title II classification for ISPs, the ISPs will essentially be unregulated.

2) Why does it matter if ISPs are regulated or not?

Classifying ISPs as utility companies under Title II meant they had to treat the internet like every other utility — that is, just like gas, water, or phone service — and that they couldn’t cut off service at will or control how much of it any one person received based on how much that person paid for it. The idea was that the internet should be a public service that everyone has a right to use, not a privilege, and that regulating ISPs like utilities would prevent them from hijacking or monopolize that access.

The best argument for the rollback of this Title II protection is that maybe the internet isn’t a public service — maybe it’s just another product, and in a free market system, competition over who gets to sell you that product would ensure accountability and fair treatment among providers, if only due to economic self-interest.

But there’s a huge problem with that argument, which is that, as far as the internet is concerned, there really isn’t a free and open market. In the United States, competition among ISPs was driven down years ago thanks to the consolidated nature of internet broadband infrastructure, which has typically been owned by major corporations, shutting out local ISP competitors.

That’s why many people don’t really have much choice about which company they pay for internet access — that access has been monopolized by a handful of powerful companies. In fact, nearly 50 million households have only one high-speed ISP in their area.

In other words, these particular utility companies, now unregulated, have free reign to behave like the corporate monopolies they are. Where net neutrality ensured the preservation of what’s been dubbed “the open internet,” its repeal will open the door for ISPs to create “an internet for the elite.”

3) What will happen to the internet without net neutrality protections in place?

Net neutrality mandated that ISPs display all websites, at the same speed, to all sources of internet traffic. Without net neutrality, all bets are off.

That means ISPs will be free to control what you access on the internet, meaning they will be able to block access to specific websites and pieces of software that interact with the internet.

They might charge you more or less money to access specific “bundles” of certain websites, much as cable television providers do now — but instead of “basic cable,” you might be forced to pay for access to more than a “basic” number of websites, as this popular pro-net neutrality graphic illustrates:

ISPs will also be able to control how quickly you’re served webpages, how quickly you can download and upload things, and in what contexts you can access which websites, depending on how much money you pay them.

They’ll be able to charge you more to access sites you currently visit for free, cap how much data you’re allowed to use, redirect you from sites you are trying to use to sites they want you to use instead, and block you from being able to access apps, products, and information offered by their competitors or other companies they don’t like.

They can even block you from being able to access information on certain topics, news events, or issues they don’t want you to know about.

Finally, they’ll be able to exert this power not just over individual consumers, but over companies, as well. This could result in the much-discussed “internet fast lane” — in which an ISP forces a company like Twitter or BitTorrent to pay more for faster access for readers or users like you to its websites and services. Larger, more powerful companies likely won’t be hurt by this change. Smaller companies and websites almost definitely will be.

We already have a good idea of how these scenarios might play out, because in the era before net neutrality existed, ISPs tried instituting all of them: via jacked-up fees, forced redirection, content-blocking, software-blocking, website-blocking, competitor-blocking and still more competitor-blocking, app-blocking and still more app-blocking, data-capping, and censorship of controversial subjects.

If net neutrality advocates have made it seem like there’s simply no end to the worst-case scenarios that unregulated ISPs might subject us to, it’s because they’ve learned from experience. This history of ISP exploitation is a major reason that advocates for net neutrality fought so hard for it to begin with.

We also know that many ISPs, notably Comcast, already have their eyes on the aforementioned “fast lane,” also known as “paid prioritization.” (Disclaimer: Comcast is an investor in Vox’s parent company, Vox Media, through its NBC-Universal arm.)

And lest you believe that the current FCC is prepared to make sure that such offenses are fully sanctioned and dealt with by the government, think again. FCC chair Pai is a vocal proponent of letting ISPs self-regulate, and seems perfectly content to ignore their contentious and often predatory history.

Not only that, but the FCC is explicitly preventing state consumer protection laws from taking effect regarding net neutrality. That means that once the repeal is final, the rights of states to govern themselves won’t apply to protecting net neutrality. (Though California and Washington each vowed after the vote to try to protect it anyway.)

4) Who will be most affected by the repeal of net neutrality?

Women, minorities, rural communities, and internet developers will feel the fullest effects of this repeal.

The general argument among net neutrality advocates is that without an open internet, members of society who have historically been marginalized and silenced will be in danger of being further marginalized and silenced, or marginalized and silenced once more — particularly women and minorities.

We’ve seen in the past that ISPs can and will censor access to controversial subjects. Without regulation, situations could arise in which underprivileged or disenfranchised individuals and groups have less access to speak up or contact others online.

One worst-case scenario that we haven’t yet seen in America, but which is worth considering given the current heated political climate, is that ISPs could potentially play a role in limiting or marginalizing certain communities during times of urgency — for instance, an ISP might choose to block a mobilizing hashtag like #BlackLivesMatter at the start of an organic protest.

This might seem like a dire prediction, but there’s precedent for it: In 2011, the Egyptian government heavily censored certain websites during the Arab Spring. And in Turkey, under the administration of President Erdogan, the country has become notorious for censoring websites and blocking hashtags, at one point banning Twitter altogether.

Rural areas of the US — where internet access is already scarce due to a lack of ISPs operating there — will be further subjected to corporatization and monopolization of their internet infrastructure.

More than 10 million Americans already lack broadband access, and as the Hill notes in an overview of the potential impact of net neutrality’s repeal, “Good broadband is a small town’s lifeline out of geographic isolation, its connection to business software and services, and its conduit for exporting homegrown ideas and products.” Without regulatory inducements, corporate ISPs will have little incentive to develop infrastructure in such areas.

Another group that will be heavily impacted by net neutrality’s repeal — one that’s often overlooked but extremely crucial — is innovators and developers and people who create stuff for the internet. Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the internet as we know it, recently summed up the repeal’s potential effect on these developers:

If US net neutrality rules are repealed, future innovators will have to first negotiate with each ISP to get their new product onto an internet package. That means no more permissionless space for innovation. ISPs will have the power to decide which websites you can access and at what speed each will load. In other words, they’ll be able to decide which companies succeed online, which voices are heard  —  and which are silenced.

Again, this all sounds pretty dire — but that’s because it is. The people with the most expertise, the most investment in creating a progressive internet, and the strongest ability to advocate for an open internet could be prevented from doing their best work because of a lack of ability to pay for access to an ISP-controlled space.

It’s important to note, too, that because the nature of the repeal is unprecedented, we can’t necessarily predict every group and demographic that could potentially feel its impact.

5) Why did the FCC vote to repeal net neutrality when it had such overwhelming bipartisan support, and when the effects of a repeal seem so dire?

Pretty much everybody supports net neutrality — it’s one of the few bipartisan issues that most of Congress and most American citizens agree on. The glaring exceptions are the giant ISPs who are reigned in by the regulation.

Over the last nine years, Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T have collectively spent over half a billion dollars lobbying the FCC to end regulatory oversight, and especially to block or repeal net neutrality. They found a loyal friend in Pai, who was appointed to the FCC in 2012 by then President Barack Obama, and named chairman by President Donald Trump shortly after Trump took office in January. Pai previously worked for Verizon and voted against the 2015 net neutrality ruling as a minority member of the FCC, calling it a “massive intrusion in the internet economy.”

So Pai has basically always supported the repeal of net neutrality, despite the overwhelming public support for it. He believes the 2015 ruling was frivolous and unnecessary, and has also argued, in opposition to hard evidence, that investment in the internet shrinks when net neutrality is in effect. With Trump’s full backing, he has made undoing it a priority.

In fact, even though Pai is legally required to seriously consider the voice of the public when he makes decisions, he has made it clear that he never truly intended to consider most of the millions of comments submitted in support of net neutrality through the FCC’s website since it began the repeal process in May. That’s because the vast majority of those comments were duplicates that came through automated third-party advocacy websites. While many of them were likely submitted by spambots using fake or stolen identities and emails to file comments, many more of them were likely submitted by people using the tried-and-true method of sending a form letter to the government to express their opinions. Pai also rejected the form letters out of hand: Once the number of duplicate comments came to light, the FCC declared that it would be rejecting all duplicated comments as well as “opinions” that came without “introducing new facts.”

Essentially, even though nearly 99 percent of the unique comments that the FCC received were pro-net neutrality and anti-repeal, and even though the entire point of a democratic process is to allow people to express their opinions, the FCC chose to dismiss pretty much every opinion that was expressed, because spambots and auto-duplicated opinions were involved. FCC commissioner Rosenworcel, one of the commission’s two minority Democrats, acknowledged this during the December 14 vote to repeal, noting "the cavalier disregard this agency has demonstrated to the public.”

As Dell Cameron at Gizmodo put it, “To be clear, when the FCC says that it is ‘restoring internet freedom,’ it is not talking about your freedom or the freedom of consumers.”

6) What happens now, in the immediate aftermath of the vote?

A flurry of lawsuits from tech companies, internet activists, and think tanks will likely descend upon Washington — starting with a protective filing by internet activists that will appeal the FCC’s vote to prevent the repeal from immediately taking effect.

Mere hours after the FCC vote, the Attorney General of the state of New York announced a multi-state appeal of the ruling, to which a number of other states quickly signed on. The exact number of states participating in the appeal will grow over the coming weeks — technically after a suit is announced, the states (as well as any latecomers to any other lawsuits filed) will have 60 days to join in before the suit closes.

These lawsuits will petition the US Court of Appeals for a review of the FCC’s order. After a filing period of 10 days, all of the lawsuits will eventually be punted collectively to one of the Court of Appeals’ 12 circuit courts, and the ultimate outcome will be largely dependent on which court hears the appeals.

If the repeal does eventually go into effect, the FCC will institute one very thin piece of ISP regulation in place of net neutrality — a version of a 2010 transparency ruling that requires ISPs to inform consumers when the ISPs are deliberately slowing their internet speed. The FCC will be passing off the enforcement of this transparency stipulation to the FTC, in a long-planned and recently formalized agreement that will allow the two commissions “to work together to take targeted action against bad actors.”

7) When will the repeal go into effect?

We simply can’t know at this point. Establishing a workable timeline will depend on a whole heap of factors, such as which circuit court ends up hearing the appeals, whether there is a motion to relocate the appeals to another court, any motions or counter-motions filed on the appeals, and so forth. There’s also the likelihood that net neutrality advocates will ask for stays of the FCC’s ruling so that it can’t take effect while motions are still being heard and appeals are being deliberated.

Additionally, there’s one alternative to the appeals process that’s definitely a longshot, yet still a possibility: Congress could move to pass a joint resolution overturning the repeal and establishing new regulatory oversight. However, given how firmly many Republican politicians have stood behind Pai’s repeal campaign, this seems highly unlikely to happen unless the 2018 midterm elections result in a major upheaval of Congress, and could take years to hash out.

In a nutshell, we don’t know how long will it take to fight the repeal in the court system, so we can’t know when — or if — it will take effect. It’s likely that even if a court overturns the FCC’s decision, that court may only overturn part of it and not the entire thing.

What the final version of a net neutrality repeal might look like, and when it might take effect, are both unknown at this point, with the future of an open internet hanging in the balance.


Poster Comment:

Cui bono?

Over the last nine years, Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T have collectively spent over half a billion dollars lobbying the FCC to end regulatory oversight, and especially to block or repeal net neutrality. They found a loyal friend in Pai, who was appointed to the FCC in 2012 by then President Barack Obama, and named chairman by President Donald Trump shortly after Trump took office in January. Pai previously worked for Verizon and voted against the 2015 net neutrality ruling as a minority member of the FCC, calling it a “massive intrusion in the internet economy.”

So Pai has basically always supported the repeal of net neutrality, despite the overwhelming public support for it. He believes the 2015 ruling was frivolous and unnecessary, and has also argued, in opposition to hard evidence, that investment in the internet shrinks when net neutrality is in effect. With Trump’s full backing, he has made undoing it a priority.

Follow the money.(4 images)

Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread  


TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest

#1. To: All (#0)

"The control of information is something the elite always does, particularly in a despotic form of government. Information, knowledge, is power. If you can control information, you can control people."

Tom Clancy

“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul

Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.

Deckard  posted on  2017-12-15   20:06:24 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: Pinguinite, Stoner, A K A Stone, Gatlin, GrandIsland, hondo68 (#0)

Despite last-minute requests to delay the December 14 vote from some Republican members of Congress, it went through as scheduled, thanks to the support of a much longer list of Republicans who favored the repeal and urged the vote to be held without delay.

The Republicans ignore their constituents (5-1 of Republicans are in favor of net neutrality and opposed this monstrosity), and once again your elected shills have sold out to the globalist corporations.

The 265 (Republican) members of Congress who sold you out and how much it cost to buy them

“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul

Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.

Deckard  posted on  2017-12-15   21:17:16 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#3. To: Deckard (#2)

Its no surprise you like the OBAMA abomination. Wipe off that Kenyan man mayo that's been sprayed on your face in the shape of a snowflake.

I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح

GrandIsland  posted on  2017-12-15   21:32:10 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#4. To: GrandIsland (#3) (Edited)

Its no surprise you like the OBAMA abomination.

Yeah - that's the reason I'm against this ruling, along with the vast MAJORITY of Republicans. Because....OBAMA!

Could you possibly be any more of a caricature?

I guess you won't mind having alternative news sites blocked or limited since you get all your talking points from MSM propaganda outlets.

You probably don't even mind having your choices limited and paying more to access the interwebs, right?

How about if you explain why ending net neutrality is a good idea? Think you can do that sport?

...man mayo

You have an obsessive fascination with all things relating to men's dicks and associated fluids - does your wife know you are a homosexual?

Just come out of the closet already Dorothy.

“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul

Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.

Deckard  posted on  2017-12-15   22:06:07 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#5. To: Deckard (#4)

How about if you explain why ending net neutrality is a good idea? Think you can do that sport?

Because government controlled "neutrality" is no better than government controlled equality... you filthy O'bunghole loving liberal.

I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح

GrandIsland  posted on  2017-12-15   23:11:54 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#6. To: GrandIsland (#5)

Utterly clueless.

We're done here, you've shown that you don't understand the issue at all.

“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul

Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.

Deckard  posted on  2017-12-15   23:33:07 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#7. To: Deckard (#6) (Edited)

We're done here,

Of course we are... you never could defend the positions you take when you take a position to help with your AGENDA.

You love this big daddy gov regulation... when it suits you. You filthy libtard Media shill AND EMPLOYEE. Snowflake CNN fear mongered the reversal of that racist scumbag past presidents doing.

I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح

GrandIsland  posted on  2017-12-16   7:28:45 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#8. To: GrandIsland (#7)

You love this big daddy gov regulation... when it suits you. You filthy libtard Media shill AND EMPLOYEE. Snowflake CNN fear mongered the reversal of that racist scumbag past presidents doing.

May I inject a perspective towards your post cited above into your discussion?

buckeroo  posted on  2017-12-16   7:34:55 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#9. To: Deckard, GrandIsland (#6) (Edited)

We're done here, you've shown that you don't understand the issue at all.

If it understanding the non-issue about ending net neutrality you want….then: “I‘m your huckleberry.”

For I’m here paraphrasing some interesting remarks to tell you that while working from your desk at the little TV station on the Upper Peninsular in Michigan, you are right in there with your misguided MSM cohorts and you are all predictably up in arms over the end of net neutrality. You and your fellow media weirdos like CNN believe the move will “end the internet as we know it.” Come on now, fess up, you naysayers and doomsday fans see the end of something in everything you read and promulgate….don’t you? Sure you do….admit it.

I see where your media idol, MSNBC’s Ali Velshi conducted an interview with a former FCC commissioner about net neutrality and complained when his guest started hammering him with facts and legal statutes. And here you are on Liberty’s Forum again making an ass of yourself complaining about the same insignificant happening.

You single-minded and thought-restricted evil senseless media people just can’t stand to be hammered with facts and legal statutes. I know this because you have shown it to be true numerous times here on Liberty’s Flame when I mercilessly hammered you.

Luckily, the cohosts of Today in Media, Saagar Enjeti and Amber Athey, are here to debunk some common talking points about net neutrality.

“The internet operated from its inception until 2015 under the current law that was instituted yesterday,” Enjeti explained. “So how can it possibly be the end of the internet as we know it?”

“The internet is constantly changing, the internet since its inception has been a place of growth and innovation,” Athey concurred.

“It’s liberal hyperbole to its absolute extreme,” Enjeti concluded.

Make sure you check out the video below by Today in Media to see all of the media’s silly takes about net neutrality and other issues like mass shootings and President Donald Trump.

Gatlin  posted on  2017-12-16   8:31:52 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#10. To: GrandIsland (#7) (Edited)

your AGENDA

My agenda here is internet freedom. You really are quite fearful of that word "freedom", aren't you?

Your agenda is an internet that blocks or slows down any sites that you disapprove of and paying more for internet services.

You still haven't given me a reason why you think net neutrality is bad, other than...OBAMA.

You love this big daddy gov regulation...

You really are insane.

“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul

Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.

Deckard  posted on  2017-12-16   9:04:33 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#11. To: Deckard (#10)

My agenda here is internet freedom.
That being true, then your Internet freedom agenda is in no causal jeopardy from this action. Even though your perspective is definably shaded because you cannot see out from the dark world you have chosen to live in and factually learn that the end of net neutrality is not the end of Internet freedom. The reason is that internet freedom and net neutrality are totally two different concepts. You should know this….ignorant one. Net neutrality is not your feared big government being prevented from censoring certain conduct. It is simply allowing network providers to prioritize some content over other content on the web is the way they provide efficient internet service. Now, what’s wrong with that?

Gatlin  posted on  2017-12-16   9:21:25 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#12. To: Gatlin (#9)

Come on now, fess up, you naysayers and doomsday fans see the end of something in everything you read and promulgate….don’t you? Sure you do….admit it.

Yeah - you and GI, - the word "freedom" is such a scary word, isn't it.

Net neutrality mandated that ISPs display all websites, at the same speed, to all sources of internet traffic. Without net neutrality, all bets are off.

That means ISPs will be free to control what you access on the internet, meaning they will be able to block access to specific websites and pieces of software that interact with the internet.

ISPs will also be able to control how quickly you’re served webpages, how quickly you can download and upload things, and in what contexts you can access which websites, depending on how much money you pay them.

They’ll be able to charge you more to access sites you currently visit for free, cap how much data you’re allowed to use, redirect you from sites you are trying to use to sites they want you to use instead, and block you from being able to access apps, products, and information offered by their competitors or other companies they don’t like.

(And I'll bet you really love this one):

They can even block you from being able to access information on certain topics, news events, or issues they don’t want you to know about.

Just think - no more Activist Post, FTP, Blacklisted News and other alternative sites that you disapprove of could be blocked if they don't toe the corporate/government line.

Yeah - I can see why you would approve of this ruling Parsons.

The 265 (Republican) members of Congress who sold you out and how much it cost to buy them

The assholes you voted for, you know the ones who are supposed to listen to and serve their constituents have sold us out for their own personal gain.

“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul

Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.

Deckard  posted on  2017-12-16   9:22:55 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#13. To: Gatlin (#11)

That being true, then your Internet freedom agenda is in no causal jeopardy from this action.

Hmmm...let me see.

Should I trust you and the government who has lied to us time and time again, or should I trust the actual facts?

I'm gonna go with B on this one Parsons.

...that the end of net neutrality is not the end of Internet freedom.

Repeating that lie over and over still doesn't make it true.

It is simply allowing network providers to prioritize some content over other content on the web is the way they provide efficient internet service.

Good grief, it's clear now that you never even read the article.

“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul

Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.

Deckard  posted on  2017-12-16   9:27:54 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#14. To: Deckard, Whomever Seeks The Actual Truth of the Matter (#0)

Pai has basically always supported the repeal of net neutrality, despite the overwhelming public support for it.

He believes the 2015 ruling was frivolous and unnecessary, and has also argued, in opposition to hard evidence, that investment in the internet shrinks when net neutrality is in effect. With Trump’s full backing, he has made undoing it a priority.

AND once again Deckard gets it wrong.

This entire VOX argument is a typical spin from a typical Leftist Media Outlet.

Let's all be reminded that like all language and phrases coined by the Gubmint and Leftist-Media, "Net Neutrality" actually means THE OPPOSITE. Pai's ruling also nullifies 0bama's ruling in 2015 (which would make the entire hypocritical Left whine, weep, and screech, "UNFAIR!!"

Since 0bama's "Net Neutrality" ruling in 2015, Facebook, Google, YouTube have ALL gone after conservatives and CENSORED/BANNED THEM with impunity. And with it, many inconvenient truths.

This over-officious "Net Neutrality" was, was merely an over-officious license to censor and ban conservative or truthful speech, enforced under the guise of "Hate Speech" (as defined of of by the Stalinist-Fascist LEFT.

As we know, this gubmint law was all one-sided and biased against ONLY conservatives, leaving the Left to launch lies and propaganda with ZERO moderation.

MORE PROBLEMS?:

1) Your source: VOX is a Far-Left propaganda mill. You'll notice who is complaining the most about about this ruling: THE LEFT and Snowflake Nation; Google, Facebook, George Soros, Hollywood, etal. Those who want to keep on monopolizing and controlling public information but don't want pesky conservatives and the truth getting in the way.

2) BOO-HOO. You mean VOX, GOOGLE, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Yahoo, the ACLU, HOLLYWOOD, -- a WHO'S WHO of Leftist-run Social Media Data-Harvesters who are ALREADY CENSORING AND BLOCKING CONSERVATIVES for "Hate-Speech" -- have a problem with this ruling? AGAIN, WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU??

Yes, I say LET the above Social Media Data-Harvesters CHARGE the addicted Idiotic Sheeple for voluntarily donating daily personal data dumps and bloviations; their "LOOK AT ME!" Selfie-Whore posing; their hourly Thumbs-UP! for cursing Trump and God, their cat lady photos, or Anfifa/ISIS Organizing.

3) All you really need to know about this so-called "net neutrality" is that 0bama was for it. That alone sez it was bad FOR CONSERVATIVES; GREAT FOR LEFTIST-FASCISTS who clearly used it as a tool and sledgehammer.

Liberator  posted on  2017-12-16   10:27:00 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#15. To: All, Breitbart tells it like it is (#14)

The End Is Nigh: 9 Crazy Leftist Predictions for Net Neutrality Repeal

Proponents of the repeal, including FCC chairman Ajit Pai, say that Net Neutrality, which classified internet service providers as “common carriers” who must treat all content equally (even if it takes up more of their resources), was too heavy-handed a regulation and needed reform.

Pai has argued that there was no justification for the Obama administration’s 2015 introduction of Net Neutrality.

“The Internet wasn’t broken in 2015” says Pai. “There was no market failure that justified the regulatory sledgehammer of Title II.”

Amen, Brother Pai!!

And now, check the insane tweets of the Left, and their foot-stomping tantrum and paranoia on display. If THEY are against this ruling, you KNOW IT MUST BE THE ABSOLUTE RIGHT THING!:

1) The End of the Internet As We Know It!

“The End of the Internet As We’ve Known It Since 2015 when Net Neutrality Was Introduced, so About 2 Years Lol” was probably too cumbersome of a headline for CNN.

2) The end of Net Neutrality means the “silencing” of gays and “marginalized communities” 

ISPs, as we all know, have three major concerns: broadband infrastructure, bandwidth usage, and the type of genitals your partner has. That’s just how capitalism works.

3) The end of Net Neutrality is an attack on “reproductive freedom”

Yes, this is the true purpose behind Comcast’s evil plan: everyone thinks they’re worried about the huge streaming services that suck up vast amounts of their bandwidth. In reality, their entire business model is dependent on paychecks from the Pro-Life Alliance. Who knew?

4) SUICIDE! ABUSE! MENTAL HEALTH! ANOREXIA! BUZZWORD!

We’re going to need the fire department to deal with takes this hot.

5) The end of Net Neutrality will lead to a new civil war

Watch out guys, he used a 300 animation. I think he’s serious!

6) The end of Net Neutrality is the end of free speech on the internet

There’s free speech on the internet? That’s news to us.

7) The end of Net Neutrality means the end of democracy

Yeah, it sure would suck if the internet were dominated by one big corporation with documented ties to an established political dynasty and the power to swing elections with a few algorithm changes. Oh wait.

8) $14.99 for Twitter!

This truly is a dystopian future, isn’t it? Others were quick to expand on Banksy’s predictions:

9) The end of Net Neutrality means the FCC chairman will try to meme

OK, this one was true.

Liberator  posted on  2017-12-16   10:40:22 ET  (2 images) Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#16. To: Deckard (#0)

Follow the money.

We did.

It led straight to 0bama, Soros, Facebook, and the usual Leftist suspects and Globalist/Statist lobbyists.

Liberator  posted on  2017-12-16   10:42:18 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#17. To: GrandIsland, Deckard (#5)

Because government controlled "neutrality" is no better than government controlled equality...

EXACTAMUNDO.

Liberator  posted on  2017-12-16   10:58:21 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#18. To: Liberator (#16) (Edited)

Follow the money.

We did.

It led straight to 0bama, Soros, Facebook...

Yeah, right.

...and the usual Leftist suspects and Globalist/Statist lobbyists.

Well, you got that part right.

The 265 (Republican) members of Congress who sold you out and how much it cost to buy them

If Republican voters are against repealing net neutrality just as much as Democrats, how can this be a leftist issue?

Sometimes policy is wrong regardless of political affiliation.

You're still pushing the false left-right paradigm. This is NOT a left vs Right issue,

More than 80 percent of voters oppose the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) plan to repeal its net neutrality rules, according to a new poll from the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation.

The survey presented respondents with detailed arguments from both supporters and opponents of the repeal plan, before asking them where they stood on the rules. It found that 83 percent overall favored keeping the FCC rules, including 75 percent of Republicans, 89 percent of Democrats and 86 percent of independents.

Both sides are getting screwed here.

Pro-homo sites will get preference while those that speak out against the gay agenda will be blocked or at minimum made more difficult to access.

You don't think that sites that publish "conspiracies" about 9/11 will be affected?

“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul

Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.

Deckard  posted on  2017-12-16   11:17:52 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#19. To: Deckard, GrandIsland (#13) (Edited)

Good grief, it's clear now that you never even read the article.

You try to spring that defensive shit time and time again with no avail. It doesn’t work….So, stop doing it.

Furthermore, you are attempting to suggest that I have not read the article and therefore I must read the article you personally choose because it is one you like and agree with on the content and it is written by an author who holds the same view as you….before I understand what there is to know about net neutrality. Good grief, man….come off it.

In the first post on this thread, you used a quote:

"The control of information is something the elite always does, particularly in a despotic form of government. Information, knowledge, is power. If you can control information, you can control people."

Okay, let me ask you: Who controls information under net neutrality and who controls information without net neutrality?

I will answer that for you.

Under net neutrality it is the “Big Brother Government” [that you hate so much] who uses the FCC to control the Internet and therefore since “Big Brother Government” controls the Internet, isn’t that controlling information? Sure it is. And didn’t you just support that notion by using a quote that said when this is done under a despotic form of government this is bad? Sure you did. And haven’t you always said while using various phrases and word forms that our government is truly a despotic form of government? Sure you have.

I will pause here to agree with what GrandIsland said about you….you are definitely talking AGAINST yourself and you don’t even realize that you are doing it.

Now, without net neutrality and the FCC deciding who does what, you will have the internet service providers [better referred to as the Free Marketers] like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon having the power to do exactly the same thing the “Big Brother Government” was doing under net neutrality….that is meddling with Internet traffic. Right? Of course it is. But that is “Free Market.” is it not? Of course it is.

So, this begs the question: Which is the lesser of two evils…since it is you who is always look for evil? Is it the federal government acting under the FCC, or is it the “Free Marketers” acting as private industry under the Free Market system. I respectfully await your answer.

Should I trust you and the government who has lied to us time and time again, or should I trust the actual facts?
Hey, there. You need to realize that you ask the most stupid questions. Of course you should without a doubt place your undying TRUST in me. But, be that as ti may….yu are now blindly trusting the government who has lied to us time and time again under net neutrality. It is the government under FCC who controls the Internet under net neutrality. Those are actual facts…trust them.

Why can’t you understand all of this?

Gatlin  posted on  2017-12-16   12:22:27 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#20. To: Gatlin (#19)

You are the minority.

More than 80 percent of voters oppose the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) plan to repeal its net neutrality rules, according to a new poll from the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation.

The survey presented respondents with detailed arguments from both supporters and opponents of the repeal plan, before asking them where they stood on the rules. It found that 83 percent overall favored keeping the FCC rules, including 75 percent of Republicans, 89 percent of Democrats and 86 percent of independents.

And furthermore - you support the globalist agenda.

Your views on this are decidedly out of sync with the majority of Americans.

Just like your misguided and foolish support of the "Magic Bullet" theory.

You really think the government is just going to step out of the way? fed.gov is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Corporate state.

“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul

Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.

Deckard  posted on  2017-12-16   12:31:55 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#21. To: GrandIsland, Deckard (#5)

Because government controlled "neutrality" is no better than government controlled equality.

I just tried to tell Deckard essentially same thing about government controlled “neutrality.”

I feel sure that he didn’t understand it coming from you and neither will he understand it coming from me.

But, you are of course absolutely correct

Gatlin  posted on  2017-12-16   12:36:39 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#22. To: Deckard (#20)

You are the minority.

Damn, this once again makes me so proud to be in the minority.

I was in the minority when Hillary officially won the popular vote by nearly 2.9 million.

Just like your misguided and foolish support of the "Magic Bullet" theory.

Man, you are truly crazy. You jus pull anything out of you ass if you can readily locate spam and post it.

Where did you get the idea I “support” it?

Besides, you digress again. You can NEVER stay on the point. We are discussing net neutralit….remember?

Gatlin  posted on  2017-12-16   12:49:16 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#23. To: Deckard (#20)

And furthermore - you support the globalist agenda.
Explain to me specifically what the globalist agenda is on net neutrality and then I will be the one to decide if I support it….and you cannot decide for me.

Gatlin  posted on  2017-12-16   12:54:23 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#24. To: Deckard (#20)

Your views on this are decidedly out of sync with the majority of Americans.

Nah, you got that wrong.

The majority of Americans are decidedly out of sync with my esteem views on this..

Assuming there is validity in the percentage number you post.

Gatlin  posted on  2017-12-16   12:58:54 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#25. To: Deckard (#10)

My agenda here is internet freedom. You really are quite fearful of that word "freedom", aren't you?

So... you applaud GOVERNMENT granting you freedom through POLICING the net speed... but any other time GOVERNMENT POLICED ANYTHING ELSE, that's Orwellian.

GO FUCK YOURSELF YOU HYPOCRITICAL SHIT STAIN.

I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح

GrandIsland  posted on  2017-12-16   13:48:37 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#26. To: GrandIsland (#25)

GOVERNMENT POLICED ANYTHING

How are you doing with the little children as you escort them to & fro elementary school each day? Do you wear a firearm strapped on your waist to ensure compliance to your will?

buckeroo  posted on  2017-12-16   13:55:27 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#27. To: buckeroo (#26)

Do you wear a firearm strapped on your waist

Just when I'm not sleeping.

Dumb shit

I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح

GrandIsland  posted on  2017-12-16   15:57:42 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#28. To: Gatlin (#21)

I just tried to tell Deckard essentially same thing about government controlled “neutrality.”

Unfortunately, we both waste our time. He's an Alt-Agenda personality. He will hear nothing unless it supports his AGENDA.

I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح

GrandIsland  posted on  2017-12-16   20:36:19 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest

[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Mail]  [Sign-in]  [Setup]  [Help]  [Register] 

Please report web page problems, questions and comments to webmaster@libertysflame.com