this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023
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[–] [email protected] 41 points 11 months ago (1 children)

MAKE THE INTERNET A UTILITY!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

It's already almost there. My power company installed fiber last year and started their own ISP.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I'll believe it when I see it.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 11 months ago (1 children)

With Anna Gomez confirmed to the FCC effective yesterday, the Democratic commissioners now have a majority and can push through policies like this. Of course, it could be overturned by future Commissioners too.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago (1 children)

We really can't rely on things like net neutrality to flip flop every new administration (assuming the high likelihood of each new administration appointing their own commissioner).

We would need legislation to solidify net neutrality.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago

While it would be much better if net neutrality was legislated, this flip-flop isn't a complete loss.

  1. Even if this change is only temporary, it still improves things for that time.
  2. Businesses don’t like having to change back and forth based on Federal policy. Even if congress can’t pass net neutrality, many businesses will give up if they have to adjust every 4-8 years.
[–] [email protected] 30 points 11 months ago (1 children)

How about instead of establishing this via the regulatory process we have Congress actually pass law that enshrines fundamental rights online? Don't get me wrong, I'll take whatever, but as we've seen rule making can change these things based on who the President has selected to seat on the committee and if they seat just the right person, boom, all those rights are now gone again.

Bringing back NN via the regulatory process is a step, but as has been demonstrated, even long standing precedent before the courts is NOT an indicator of any long standing policy of the United States. That the only means by which any of us can have any kind of long standing right is via legislation (for the simple fact that usually there's too much confusion to entirely undo anything once passed, but even then every so often the cards come up in just the right combination) and Constitutional Amendment.

That's it. That about covers all the means by which the US has long standing position on anything. Which that's pretty shitty because having a "direction" is slightly important for a nation, but that is where we are now. So great, glad to hear the FCC wants to implement rule making to add regulation that gives us "Net Neutrality", but that's going to last all the way up till some former Verizon lawyer becomes chairman of the FCC (Ajit Pai), who will unsurprisingly, dismantle all regulatory process of the FCC. And round and round we go.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago

All the big ISPs will pay Congress to be excluded.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago

Maybe they should have made the previous $42 billion given to the telecoms contingent on this being enforced.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Cool. Go get ‘em. Now do the whole news / journalism thing.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)

Honest question, have we been impacted by any of this? I'm all for net neutrality but so far I haven't noticed the lack of it

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

There have been historic instances of corps going against the spirit if not the rule of net neutrality if we have ever really had such a thing in the US

The most open move I recall was made by cell carriers that also owned media companies -AT&T? They would use their cell service to punish or hinder usage of non-owned media. They'd limit the resolution of or throttle the speed of competitors services to their customers. Ex. watch our content at 1080p, but competitors are limited to 480p. That or they would "zero-rate" (not count usage against your data limit) their own services. Ex. watching our content doesn't count against you 1GB limit, but watching our competition's does.

I don't know if it still happens though. I'd be surprised if it wasn't just more subtle now.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I hate the culture of downvoting for simple questions that might seem obvious. If you're lurking and reading this, stop doing that.

My understanding is that no ISP makes it public that they block a large number of sites despite the fact that they are currently technically allowed to do so, but there are a number of isolated incidents of small and short-term access issues that may charitably be mistakes, and also throttling on a site-by-site basis does definitely exist and is employed by a number of ISPs. This regulation does more preventing a backslide into corporate rule and less uplifting our current conditions.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

I haven't personally noticed a single thing.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

After what they're trying in Europe we neehttps://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/12/eus-digital-identity-framework-endangers-browser-securityd net neutrality

[–] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago

Ha, sure. I'll believe that when I see it.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago

Fucking finally...

[–] [email protected] -2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

That would require the US government to do something that actually helps the people in the US at the cost of corporate profit so they definitely won't do this

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago

So many things could have been done different and better if the ultimate veto power wasn't "what do rich assholes want?"