The House just voted to wipe out the FCCs landmark Internet privacy protections

[CousinIT]

Source: Washington Post

House Republicans voted overwhelmingly Tuesday, by a margin of 215-205, to repeal a set of landmark privacy protections for Web users, issuing a sweeping rebuke of Internet policies enacted under the Obama administration. It also marks a sharp, partisan pivot toward letting Internet providers collect and sell their customers' Web browsing history, location information, health data and other personal details.

The measure, which was approved by a 50-48 margin in the Senate last week, now heads to the White House, where President Trump is expected to sign it.

Congress's joint resolution empowers Internet providers to enter the $83 billion market for online advertising now dominated by Google and Facebook. It is likely to lend momentum to a broader GOP rollback of Obama-era technology policies, and calls into question the fate of other tech regulations such as net neutrality, which was approved in 2015 over strident Republican objections and bans Internet providers from discriminating against websites. And it is a sign that companies such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon will be treated more permissively at a time when conservatives control all three branches of government.

Supporters of Tuesday's repeal vote argued the privacy regulations, written by the Federal Communications Commission, stifle innovation by forcing Internet providers to abide by unreasonably strict guidelines.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/03/28/the-house-just-voted-to-wipe-out-the-fccs-landmark-internet-privacy-protections/

[Matthew28]

1. The lower 99% is just a number

to profit off of to the goddamn republican party.

[pnwmom]

2. How is a 10 vote margin an "overwhelming" vote?

[KeepItReal]

5. Yeah! The editor has an agenda.

Eom

[Mc Mike]

12. I think the writer was using the 230 -180 preliminary vote, then when the final vote came in,

the editor screwed up when updating the total.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028864255

I notice there are 9 congressional votes missing, that were not yea, nay, present, or non-voting. Interesting.

[rpannier]

32. House Republicans voted overwhelmingly

And they (Republicans) did

[JCanete]

47. exactly...wow, what a dick. nt

[groundloop]

3. "Unreasonably strict guidelines" my ass.... these bastards want to profit off my health records

Right now would be a good time for anonymous to publish health related information of key congress-critters and their families who voted for this bullshit bill. Give them a taste of their own medicine. I'm sorry but I don't like being spied on, whether it's by the government, google, or my ISP. My health information, the websites I chose to visit, and what I purchase is my owned damned business and nobody elses.

[MarcA]

15. Good idea!

[KeepItReal]

4. So you pay for your Internet, and then the greedy bastards sell your browsing history

I think it's really all about certain folks being able capture a targets browsing history and other identifying information. No warrant needed. Just a checkbook.

To do with what they will.

[Worktodo]

6. DU is not https and it should be.

[klook]

41. Try HTTPS Everywhere

from the good folks at EFF.

[retrowire]

7. Great we fucking lost another battle. And from what I read, this is irreversible. NICE.

Wrote my representative and everything.

[They_Live]

8. This will result in lawsuits

Extortion, blackmail, and even more corruption. Thanks, assholes.

[yuiyoshida]

44. THEY really don't fucking care...

They WOULD sell off everyone's grand mother if they could get away with it.

[nocalflea]

9. How do they justify tths to their constituents ?What's the spin here ?

Trickledown economics ? The more money they make by selling your personal information will make the internet cheaper ? How do we the people benefit from this ? Oh damn , I forgot , corporations are people too.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

13. They don't bother. They change the subject or run some bafflegab about "innovation". . nt

[nocalflea]

16. And yet , our elected leaders expect us to be innovative on a bare minimum budget.

[rpannier]

33. Abortion. Gay Marriage. Bathroom Security

[Honeycombe8]

10. Oh, gawd. This is getting worse and worse. nt

[Bernardo de La Paz]

11. Because billionaires have your best interests at heart. You can sleep warm & fuzzy at night on that.

[MarcA]

14. Gerrymandering passed it in the House, but where was the Senate filibuster?

[nocalflea]

17. They're saving their energy for when they fold on Gorsuch.

[onenote]

36. No. See post #35

[onenote]

35. Senate consideration of a resolution of disapproval is not subject to filibuster

Technically it's a resolution, not a law. It is governed by an expedited procedure that differs from that applicable to ordinary legislation.

[MarcA]

37. Thank you for the explanation

[MADem]

18. So, now's the time to take recommendations on the varying VPN offerings out there.

Some are better than others--I know a few people who use tunnelbear, and of course there's HOLA, but I'm sure I'm not the only one interested in hearing the experiences of others with regard to reliability and speed. And cost, of course~.....

[blaze]

19. This is probably worthy of an OP n/t

[Equinox Moon]

23. A VPN thread would be great!

Can someone start it that knows something about them?

[ThingsGottaChange]

29. We really need this!

I definitely want to use VPN but, don't know a whole lot about it. Some are better than others. If we can get recommendations from the pros at Computer & Internet, that would be a huge help. Need to know which have the best bang for the bucks.

[elmac]

20. should be good for another 1000 points on the DOW

[onenote]

22. The rules had been blocked a month ago.

And even if the House had not passed the resolution, they would have stayed blocked, so i'm pretty sure the market already had taken that into account.

[Equinox Moon]

21. I'm calling my ISP in the morning to see if they will allow an Opt-out.

[mdbl]

39. you can't opt out of the law

you can, however, disconnect the service. That's the only recourse at this point.

[dawn frenzy adams]

24. THE WEASEL WORM THAT TRUMP APPOINTED TO CHAIR THE FCC

AJIT PAI


We can thank Ajit Pai, the Chairman of the FCC, who has never met a corporate power he didn't like. He hates Net Neutrality. That will be the next shoe to drop. You better get ready for the fight for the Internet to remain free.

[Alt-Orange]

25. I have a small local company as my ISP

So even if it's just the bigger, greedy ISP that sell your data off I'm still going to call up mine and ask them about it. And if possible ask to opt-out.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

26. What is the significance that this is a "joint resolution"? NT

[MontanaMama]

27. I guess these ass holes forgot

that their internet history and info is now for sale too. This was a big loss.

Anybody know about the opt out procedures?

[PuppyBismark]

28. Is there no veto protection for any of this legislation?

How did the veto disappear? We really need to get the Senate back. If the Dems don't return to control of the Senate in two years, we are sunk. (OK, we're sunk now anyway.)

[mdbl]

40. Rump has the veto power

think he'll use it?

[amerikat]

30. Last weeks vote tally in the Senate.

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=115&session=1&vote=00094#position

Yea...50 votes all R's
Nay...48 votes 46 D's and 2 Ind.

[LakeArenal]

31. Screw the Second Ammendment, what about the 4th's Rights of Privacy?

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects,[a] against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.[2]

[BadgerKid]

38. I think we need an intellectual property or trade secret approach

Because the 4th seems to address physical personal property.

I could see where ISPs might try to charge a higher rate for users who want to opt out of being tracked.

[GReedDiamond]

34. I'm so sick of these motherfucking scumbag assholes...

..."Republicans" - who are now nothing more or less than neo-fascist thugs - are the most corrupt, crooked, foul stinking bastards to ever occupy positions of power I have ever seen, going back to before Nixon.

My hatred of these political cockroaches knows no bounds.

I hope all 215 of them eventually - and slowly - die from particularly nasty and painful forms of bowel cancer.

I know that's pretty harsh but FUCK EM ALL, they deserve such a fate!

[Blue_Tires]

42. GJGE Snowdenistas

But hey, the important thing was just making sure Hillary lost, and everything else after that was gravy, amirite?

So where the fuck are Timm and Greenwald and all the rest?? If Obama was still in office they'd be marching on Washington by now...

[Blue_Tires]

43. I've got a question for white folks in flyover America:

Deep down in your hearts, is this what you really voted for? Did you really feel that sorry for the poor, oppressed internet service providers who are barely breaking even that you wanted them to be able to freely sell our data??

[Kimchijeon]

45. VPN time

Unless your isp isn't one of those known for this kind of practice. (But still better to err on the side of caution.)

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

46. For us idiots, what is this and how will it help?

I don't want to bounce off servers in Russia and North Korea, but how does browsing history, form-filling values, etc, get hidden from the ISPs?