This article has been imported from chorus.fm for discussion. All of the forum rules still apply. The Washington Post: Federal regulators unveiled a plan Tuesday that would give Internet providers broad powers to determine what websites and online services their customers can see and use, and at what cost. The move sets the stage for a crucial vote next month at the Federal Communications Commission that could reshape the entire digital ecosystem. The FCC’s Republican chairman, Ajit Pai, has made undoing the government’s net neutrality rules one of his top priorities, and Tuesday’s move hands a win to broadband companies such as AT&T, Verizon and Comcast. Fuck these guys, and specifically fuck Ajit Pai. Expand - View Original
All Democrats are in favor of Net Neutrality. Republicans are about an even split. So basically the FCC is about to do something 75% of Americans are not in favor of, in order to serve the interests of ISP giants. Talk about disregarding the will of the people...
The sad reality is that this will really fuck over people in rural areas and those are the motherfuckers that voted for Trump
The Trump base thrives on the internet. Whether it's the younger trolls on reddit/4chan or the older clowns on Facebook, his base will feel it. All this talk of being for open market capitalism will crash and burn when they can't access their troll hive minds. The interest in removing net neutrality lies strictly in huge ISP providers no matter what anyone says now.
“This action by Trump will fuck over those that supported him” is basically the default policy stance of this administration. Trump’s administration is pretty predictable at this point: take an action that will hurt those that support him in a real and tangible way. But then take some superficial action that will anger liberals and provide superficial gratification to those that support him. And it seems to be working.
Pro-Trump Media May Be the Big Loser With Trump's New Internet Rules Citing an “unprecedented power grab of the Obama-era FCC” that is a “trojan horse for censorship,” pro-Trump websites like InfoWars and Reddit’s r/The_Donald applauded the Republican-controlled FCC for its plans to strip Net Neutrality protections on Tuesday. Experts say, however, sites like InfoWars and fringe communities like 4chan would likely be the first to have their websites slowed down by telecoms in the new plan, unveiled by Trump-appointed FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai on Tuesday. Tim Karr, the Senior Director of Strategy at the internet rights nonprofit Free Press, said Pai’s plan would allow telecom giants like Comcast to prioritize their own websites and properties, like Comcast-owned NBC sites.
That is the stuff I am afraid of. Obviously things like Facebook are going to do well (thrive?) under this. I am scared that it will be set up in a way that middle aged Americans won't notice much of a difference and it will settle as the new norm. I could see a brief bit of discontent with new internet "packages" but nothing much. I'd love to be wrong but I think corporate America is too clever.
if this works, it'll be in no small part because attaching Trump to it makes it more appealing to a voter bloc
Worth reading: If you want to see what America would be like if it ditched net neutrality, just look at Portugal
This hits the nail on the head. A lot of people don’t know what the internet is, they don’t use it, they go on Facebook, not the internet. Smartphones have melded the internet with entities on the internet like social media. I’m using YouTube, not the internet! Everything is eventually going to be tiered. I see it as internet following the model of cable TV. Cable TV will probably get cut down a lot (many channels already folding) and the price will go down too. Meanwhile, internet will creep up more and more. Plus the packages were going to be offered, under the guise of GREAT DEALS! Honestly, a lot of this seems inevitable. We’ve fought for Net Neutrality in the past, and we will have to continue to fight for it. And the fighting has actually made a difference. They weren’t going to go with NN during the previous admin (mainly the head of the FCC was against it) but they were flooded so hard with email and calls that they couldn’t ignore it. Was actually a great show of democracy at work. But the ISP’s will keep lobbying for more control and eventually they’ll catch us slipping. It’s sad the people we put in power can abuse us with legislation like this that literally nobody but the ISP giants want. Tell me more about how they’re working for us... get out of here with that nonsense.