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Related: About this forumHow Lobbyists Killed Net Neutrality
Transcript:
Okay this week the federal court overturned the net neutrality rules passed in 2010
by the Federal Communications Commission, FCC.
Those rules prevent your internet providers like Verizon AT&T Comcast or
Time Warner
from indiscriminately blocking or slowing down
your internet service and here's why the whole situation is both
absurdly corrupt and completely avoidable.
Over the past 20 years the Internet has evolved from emails then to web pages, then to
audio then to games now television and tons of other amazing stock.
It is the primary source for most communications,
and during those twenty years the largest phone and cable company
lobbyists
have become one of the biggest spenders in Washington to buy politicians and
control the Internetto maximize profits. They pass laws that literally prevent competition. That's why
you hardly have
any choices for your internet provider and you have extremely slow and
expensive service in comparison to other countries,
but back to net neutrality. The story starts in 2002 with this guy,
Michael Powell. He's the son of former Secretary of State Colin Powell and he got a job running the Federal Communications Commission. I'm sure
there's no nepotism there.
The internet was growing fast. An industry lobbyist convinced Powell
to classify the Internet as an information service
rather than a telecommunications service. Who cares, you ask?
Federal law says that telecommunications
are a regulated service. That's how the government made sure
that every home in america had affordable home phone service in the
20th century. It's why
when dialup internet first started there was lots of competition
and low prices. It's why there were strong protections against anyone
wire tapping your phone service in the good old days.
On the other hand, information services are
barely regulated. A few years after Powell's decision
companies like Comcast got busted favoring their Internet content over
others and
it all came to a head when this guy, Julius Genachowski was appointed by President
Obama to run the FCC.
The president had said on the campaign trail that he would take
a backseat to no one on net neutrality, so nervous
industry lobbyists started throwing lots of money and propaganda around, calling
net neutrality a
government takeover of the internet. They got seventy two house democrats to join most
republicans
in calling for the FCC to stand down.
So actually passing strong net neutrality rules have required
chairman Genachowski to reclassify
Internet as a telecommunications service or the new rules would eventually get thrown out by the courts.
Everyone knew it but Obama's FCC caved to cable and phone lobbyists,
passed weak net neutrality rules and claimed victory and so we arrive at 2014. The
court has now thrown out the rules.
Congress won't say much because they're bought and the only one who can
realistically fix this is Obama's new FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler
but Wheeler, now wait for it, is the former president
of the the National Cable Television Association .
The government official who could fix this is the former chief lobbyist for
the company's
who just won the court case against the FCC
so that they can screw consumers and make more money.
If this isn't yet another reason for everyone
in this country to stop what you're doing and join an American
anti-corruption movement
dedicated to ending this nonsense I don't know what is.
https://represent.us/action/how-lobbyists-killed-net-neutrality/
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How Lobbyists Killed Net Neutrality (Original Post)
octoberlib
Jan 2014
OP
Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)1. Everybody's happy with their trinkets
No one's gonna get out of their recliners and march. Imagine being out there in the elements - freezing or sweating or missing American Idol.
pam4water
(2,916 posts)2. A a know a people how have dropped cable and internet because it got
too expensive. That is about he only feed back people have now.
pam4water
(2,916 posts)3. K&R