Speak up to save the Internet. (Credo Action/Color of Change petition)

[StarfarerBill]

"Without strong net neutrality rules, we might have to rely upon the good will of large telecoms to protect our access to the diversity of political perspectives. We can't let the corporate lobbyists win.

"Show the Federal Communications Commission that there is strong public support for keeping the Internet fair, open, and accessible. Sign the petition today."

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/fcc_nn_coc/

[and-justice-for-all]

1. K&Rec

[dysfunctional press]

2. people should know by now that we're going to get whatever the power elites want us to have...

any power or choice that anyone imagines the hoi polloi having is just an illusion.

[StarfarerBill]

3. Some of us choose not to surrender.

I'd rather fight for an illusion than settle for leavings.

[dysfunctional press]

5. fight all you want...in the end, you'll still just get the leavings.

nice bluster, tho...:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[StarfarerBill]

8. Thank you; I shall.

Nice indifference, though... :nopity:

[dysfunctional press]

11. it's not indifference- it's reality.

don't worry- you'll probably figure it out too, after you have a few more years behind you. :hi:

[StarfarerBill]

13. Letting those in power define your "reality"...if that's not indifference, I don't know what is.

I'm 45; from your viewpoint, I imagine I'm incorrigible.

I bet Free Republic would like your idea of realism, though. :bye:

[dysfunctional press]

15. maybe it just takes longer for you to catch on to the reality of the situation...

eventually, even don quixote did.

you'll get there. :hi:

[StarfarerBill]

17. Thanks, but I prefer conscious company.

:hi:

[dysfunctional press]

20. i can understand you wanting that...

because that way, you'd have someone to look out for you, and keep you from hurting yourself until you come to your senses.

good plan. :hi:

[StarfarerBill]

22. Don't worry about me; it's the premature demise of your caring you should be concerned with.

But you have others to shoulder your burden, so carry on not carrying on. :hi:

[dysfunctional press]

23. psst...beating your head against the wall is not 'shouldering the burden'...

see how confused it's made you...?

[Ignis]

4. K&R. Good for Credo! (nt)

[Luciferous]

6. Signed

[Posteritatis]

7. Online petitions are utterly without worth. (nt)

[StarfarerBill]

9. Then don't sign it.

[Posteritatis]

10. I didn't, and I encourage others not to.

Slacktivism sucks. Not only are online petitions worthless on their own, but they convince people who sign them that they've "done" something and thus don't have to do anything difficult like pick up a phone or write a letter. After all, they filled out an insecure easily-spoofed form, and that's better, right?

[StarfarerBill]

12. It's one way of doing things; not better or worse. Why limit options?

I put this petition here because I believe it can do some good.

I encourage you to write a separate post explaining why it either shouldn't be signed or shouldn't be here, or both. Further, I believe your post should give those phone numbers and addresses you feel people should be contacting in lieu of signing this petition.

Finally, if this issue isn't important to you, I encourage you to ignore this and all other posts regarding it.

[Posteritatis]

14. Nope; it's worse. Period.

It can't do any good. People will receive their little e-petition, go "Oh, it's an online petition," and throw it out because they'll (generally correctly) presume that it's been stuffed with spoofed signatures. Because they always are. They're meaningless and intrinsically untrustworthy, just like all other online polls that DU and FR regularly tell people to sic their multiple email accounts and IPs on. Why should anyone trust something that's almost certainly full of forgeries?

And no, I don't particularly feel like ignoring it. They're a bad idea that serve only to reduce the amount of effort people are willing to engage in to effect change (note that you're telling me to do your homework for you even now). Challenging that is important to me.

If you don't like that I'm going to call that bullshit, then I suggest you expend the effort to learn how to cope when someone calls a spade a spade.

[StarfarerBill]

16. I once again encourage you to make your feelings known in a separate post,

as this seems very important to you. If you feel that it takes away from other activism, then by all means you should work to have it stopped. Proclaim it!

Actually, I'm asking you to do your homework: not by favoring Net Neutrality, of course, but by blocking one means of demanding that it come to pass, as I gather that NN isn't a sufficiently important issue to you to do what you say needs to be done.

Your opinion is just that to me, an opinion; I choose not to let you or anyone else limit me with it.

[Posteritatis]

19. No, I'm denying that it even is a means of demanding that it come to pass.

If you think it is, you're wrong and I'm not and that's all there is to it.

Me, I'm writing my MP and (with rather fainter hope) local telcos, which will get me heard more than any online petition ever will.

Nice job trying to claim I don't support net neutrality, which I've been aware of much longer than the recent news hullabaloo that introduced the concept to most people has, because I think a certain method of complaining about things is utterly, utterly ineffective, by the way. Attempted mindreading for purposes of misdirection is always hilarious.

[StarfarerBill]

21. Until you just mentioned it, I had no evidence that it was important to you; now you've said so.

And of course, arbitrarily claiming one is right and the other is wrong with no proof is equally droll.

For myself, I'd never discourage anyone from using every means available to push for what they believe is important; online petitions are simply another of those means, your opinion to the contrary notwithstanding.

So, I'm going to continue to post these petitions as I get them; what you choose to do with or about them is up to you.

[onestepforward]

18. Signed.