Net Neutrality? Do You Understand It? It Is Important To Anyone Who Wants Equal Access To Information.

by Pamela Williams
I am going to admit that I did not understand the fullness of Net Neutrality before I started this report. We are at risk as Internet users of losing our magical world of cyberspace.  Our freedoms to access and even comment on this subject are being taken away as we speak.  
Trump has appointed a new FCC Chairman, Ajit Pai, to repeal Net Neutrality.  Under Obama it survived as a protection for the American Internet consumer.  The roles that Title I and especially Title II of the Federal Communications Act plays heavily in equal online access for us all.   We are at a crossroads, and stand to lose our privacy and freedoms to make online choices.  These choices include search engines and even commenting on websites.
Trump is on the side of corporations, and WE THE PEOPLE are at a loss.  He is betraying every day Internet users by giving corporations like Google all the freedom they seek over us. You can go here to voice your displeasure to the FCC by visiting www.gofccyourself.com.
Three years ago, a 20-minute net neutrality video went viral. It helped spur an outpouring of public comments that led the Federal Communications Commission to enact tough regulations protecting the free flow of online content.
Now, with current FCC Chairman Ajit Pai moving to dismantle the tough legal oversight behind those rules — which prohibit broadband companies from blocking websites, slowing connection speeds and charging for faster delivery of certain content —  Internet users are urging the agency to leave net neutrality alone.
I think the cold hard truth is  Internet service providers are eager to block competitors’ content. Further I see Pai as a dangerous public official who has said he wanted to take “a weed whacker” to telecommunications regulations and vowed that tough net neutrality rules’ “days are numbered.”
 
www.truthdig.com/report/item/killing_net_neutrality_is_a_critical_goal_in_trumps_campaign_against_free_s
Trump’s Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai unveiled his plan to undermine open internet protections during a speech hosted by right-wing group FreedomWorks in Washington, D.C.
President Trump’s FCC chairman said he plans a May 18 vote to launch a proposal dismantling the legal framework essential to maintaining Net Neutrality. Pai said he will recommend that the agency jettison Title II protections and once again classify broadband access providers under Title I of the Communications Act — a move that would undermine the sound and successful basis for the FCC’s landmark 2015 Open Internet Order.  
As just one example of that success — and despite Pai’s falsehoods to the contrary — ISP aggregate investment has gone up since the vote. In the two years since the FCC rules were passed and Title II was reinstated, investment by publicly traded broadband providers has increased by more than 5 percent compared to the two-year period prior to the ruling.
Free Press was outside the venue of Pai’s speech to provide attendees with information that highlights the many inaccuracies in previous Pai statements about Net Neutrality. Chief among these lies is Pai’s frequent claim that “broadband investment remains lower today than it was when the FCC changed course in 2015.”
Free Press distributed the following fliers to people as they entered:
— Free Press Extra: Fake News at the Newseum
— ISP Capital Expenditures: 2013–2016
— In Their Own Words: ISP Statements to Investors About Title II’s Lack of Harmful Impacts
Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron made the following statement: 
“Pai is lying about investment and wooing the right-wing fringe to continue his long-standing war on internet freedom. His willingness to trot out alternative facts and recycle long-debunked industry talking points should worry anyone who cares about the free and open internet. There aren’t many details available yet on his proposal, but his intent is clear: to destroy the internet as we know it and give even more gatekeeper power to a few huge companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon.
“The outlines of Pai’s proposal are unworkable — which is probably the idea. The federal courts rejected the Title I approach twice when the FCC tried it before. And the FCC can’t simply reverse itself because its new chairman is a right-wing ideologue. Broadband is a telecommunications service, because ISPs carry traffic for internet users — this is obvious. The FCC said it was when it reclassified broadband internet access as a telecom service in 2015, the courts agreed a year later, and Pai cannot prove otherwise now. The Title II rules are working well, investment is up and any confusion in the market is coming out of Pai’s mouth. So we’re confident that if the FCC ever passes this plan, it will lose in court.
“The chairman did go out of his way to mention Free Press in his speech. While Free Press appreciates any shout-out, I’d prefer he not rely on out-of-context quotes from the professor who was one of our founders. If Pai wants to know what Free Press really stands for, he could visit our website or read any of the literally thousands of pages we have filed on the topic of Net Neutrality at the FCC over the past decade.
“In fact, I wish Pai would do just that because he might learn that his claims about broadband investment are bogus and see just how well the Net Neutrality rules are actually working. It might take him out of his bubble and show him the thousands of startups, small businesses, artists, social justice organizers and community leaders who support the free and open internet.
“If Pai would stop spending so much time with industry lobbyists and hate-mongering cranks, he might actually learn about the millions of people who fought for real Net Neutrality because they want this remarkable space for free expression, popular organizing and economic innovation to thrive. But he’ll be hearing from them soon enough.”

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4 thoughts on “Net Neutrality? Do You Understand It? It Is Important To Anyone Who Wants Equal Access To Information.”

  1. You can always look at the other side of any argument. Google, Facebook, Netflix, Hulu, etc., are all yelling the loudest because they are the beneficiaries of “net neutrality”. They use much more bandwidth then say IWB here but, they do not have to pay more to send their traffic under net neutrality. All the FCC is saying is that Netflix and others, because they hog large amounts of bandwidth, should have pay more to send their traffic. It won’t slow down your trip to IWB to read the news. As always, “follow da muny”.

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  2. The internet was fine before, stop crying about stuff you apparently still don’t understand or at least go to a corner and cry in a “safe space” and shut up~

    Reply
  3. Net neutrality won’t affect the whole country in the same way. East coast and Middle West are fucked, but West coast might be not. Nevertheless – there is a reason while 21 million Americans live outside the USA.

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