FCC votes for Internet “fast lanes”, but could change its mind later

Chairman: "There is one Internet: Not a fast internet. Not a slow Internet."

Read the whole story

 

[pallentx]

Do they really need to hear more from us? I think the public has been fairly clear about what they want.

 

[el_segfaulto]

It's been awhile since I've been this disgusted by my country. Kudos, FCC. You have managed to set the wheels in motion to destroy one of the great accomplishments of human-kind.

 

[Dilbert]

but could change its mind later

BULLSHIT. That statement was made to make the sour ruling more palatable. It's a common political strategy. Make your opponents think the unfavorable changes may not happen, or may not be permanent if they happen.

FCC had made their ruling. Try to sugarcoat it as much as they did.

"there is one Internet: Not a fast internet. Not a slow Internet. One Internet."

WHY DID YOU VOTE FOR THIS THEN? Do you think we are that stupid?

 

[C Boy]

The two Republicans voted against?

Strange, I would have figured they would be on the side of big business and not the Democrats.

 

[MisterGrumps]

Fuck Comcast
Fuck AT&T
Fuck Time Warner
Fuck Tom Wheeler

 

[unoriginal]

pallentx[/url]":myn8axfy]Do they really need to hear more from us? I think the public has been fairly clear about what they want.

Like any other terrible, jealous, insane God you may be familiar with, your tears and laments sustain them.

 

[SFC]

"those who have been expressing themselves will now be able to see what we are actually proposing."

We all knew EXACTLY what you were proposing. Congratulations, now that you've clarified everyone still thinks it's a horrible idea. I love how he denies reality by simply claiming he's misunderstood, and people will really agree with him when they just understand what he's doing. I predict about a decade from now, when the internet is in shambles, he'll be making a press release a-la Greenspan claiming "Nobody could have seen this coming. How could we possibly have known Comcast and company would abuse these rules to the point of destroying the internet?"

 

[tjtillman]

C Boy[/url]":3s56o081]The two Republicans voted against?

Strange, I would have figured they would be on the side of big business and not the Democrats.

First, regardless of the political aisle, everyone's bought and paid for.

2nd, they weren't arguing for the rights of the people over the corporations. They were advocating for even less regulation than Wheeler's proposal.

 

[weathertop]

Time to shut it down again. Not only make all sites go dark, but make them excruciatingly slow in doing making that clear.

 

[WIT_IDE]

Republicans: Government agencies shouldn't do the job they are created for and we are here to make sure of it.

 

[carbonfe]

If anyone doubts that the US government is bought and paid for by the highest bidder, just show them this article.

Can we expect anything less from the appointed chairman who used be a lobbyist for the very industries he's supposed to protect the public from?

 

[Deleted member 14629]

Call the FCC. Call them and let them know you are in favor of internet companies being formally classed as Type II Common Carriers. Keep calling them. Make sure there is absolutely no ambiguity about what the people want.

Remember, people who work in DC live in a bubble of PACs and moneyed interests that warp their perception of what people want. If you don't call, you're letting lobbyists set the tone, and they will make sure the FCC thinks the public is ok with this "fast lane" concept.

 

[ztaccardi]

Use Title II

 

[Pyros]

So if we like our "lanes" can we keep them?

 

[killing_time]

I agree with what is said in the large pull quote of the article.

Though there is some odd wording elsewhere in the article.

 

[villageidiotintern]

The internet has now been auctioned off to the highest bidder.

 

[Ysleiro]

I don't get this Tom Wheeler fucker.

His actions say one thing and his words another.

 

[craigdolphin]

Disgusting. Well, here's hoping that the internet companies decide to fight this the way they did SOPA. Start 'slowlaning' all government IP addresses. Banners on all major portals denouncing the FCC's plans and championing Title II 'common carrier' classification. Netflix should start adding popups to customers of Verizon and concast explaining that their subscription costs are going up in part because of their ISP double-billing for the same service.

And of course, here's hoping that people will react by screaming bloody murder at the paid-for politicians with enough volume and rage that they fear the gravy train will end for them personally in November if they do not actually do the job they wer eelected to do: represent the people not the lobbyists.

 

[xs0u1x]

is it time to grab the pitchforks and torches yet?

 

[coppercore]

God damn it.
He we go. I feared this ball would get started rolling.

There's no other way to put it. This is utterly fucking insane in every way.

Here's to hoping Google/MSFT and the like at least do something try to and stop this madness. The FCC surely won't listen to regular people.

Corporations are people too, after all.

According to the Judicial system: Corporate people > Normal People.

Sorry, i'll stop before I go into a long tirade. It's just so god damn depressing anymore seeing all this stuff.

 

[BeanBagKing]

I wonder what would happen if all the corporations opposed to this (Amazon, Google, Netflix) banded together and stopped serving content to Comcast/ATT customers. Instead displaying a link that says "Due to payment requirements, we are no longer able to serve data to your internet service provider. Click [here] to search for an Open Internet ISP in your area"

I'm on Comcast, and if it came down to having high speed internet with no Amazon, Google, or Netflix, or switching to the slower DSL or Satellite in my area, I think I would switch. It just wouldn't be worth it. I wonder how many people would be calling their local Comcast office and asking why none of their websites are working.

I wonder what percent would blame Google et al and what percent would blame Comcast?

 

[icantbelieveitsnotbutter]

I think it's shocking that as technology progresses, the United States lets corporations essentially hold it back in the name of preserving their existing business models and historic profits.

I always lived under the impression that "it's obvious" that we will have more, faster bandwidth, always-on Internet, and so on, and yet what we see is mobile providers and now ISPs putting more and more limits on how much we - and now other corporations - can use the Internet. It's really sad, and probably dangerous.

Maybe Ars Technica should do a big story about that rather than Mario Cart...

 

[M-S-G]

FCC is such a flaky whore

 

[chordonblue]

Ysleiro[/url]":3v9yuv8l]I don't get this Tom Wheeler fucker.

His actions say one thing and his words another.

He's only learned from the best (his boss)...

 

[team:abunai]

1st off:

"If the network operator slowed the speed below that which the consumer bought it would be commercially unreasonable and therefore prohibited."

Hasn't it already been pretty universally shown that ISPs do NOT provide the speeds they promise in most cases?

2nd:

"Wheeler has said he would consider using Title II rules if it turns out that ISPs discriminate against smaller companies."

I think history has shown that they will definitely do this. Isn't that essentially what the deals with netflix have been?

Also, on what planet are these people living where they do not believe that the internet is a telecommunications system?

 

[Eddy Current]

Quoting from the article...

"Republican Commission Ajit Pai said 'five unelected officials'—i.e. the commissioners—shouldn't decide the fate of the Internet. Instead, elected officials should take the lead"

Seriously?! "Elected officials should take the lead". When have elected officials (Congress) been able to get anything done?

 

[xs0u1x]

you know normally this would be depressing, as also the complete apathy of the general population. But then I surf to cnn along side this page and see that rush limbaugh was voted by kids as author of the year for his book titled "Rush Revere and The Brave Pilgrims: Time-Travel Adventures With Exceptional Americans" and I think to myself "oh what's the fucking point" and consider my options for moving to another country.

 

[mbuchman]

giltwist[/url]":1pfwyl4q]I actually felt a little bit hopeful. Chairman Wheeler was very clear that any prioritization could not result in the consumer getting less than had been purchased.

Except that Comcast and friends will offer really slow packages (like 0.5/0/5) but with really fast paid-for services. So your "average" person will get a great connection to Facebook and YouTube, but a really bad connection to a new startup site. Then the startup will never get off the ground, unless they have enough money to pay for a fast link.

Yeah, ISPs might still offer a fast Internet package, but why would the average person buy that if all the common sites they go to are fast? The consumer will be tricked into buying less, thinking it is better than what they had before.

Although, this is starting to sound like how you have to buy a bunch of cable channels you don't want just to get the ones you do...

[edit to make 2nd par. clear]

 

[Anat0lian]

Well everyone, lube up and bend over... the big players need to reach in and grab money from our rump.

 

[OSX@Linux]

Well fuck. That's all I have to say. I'm in too much of a rage to say anything else worthwhile.

 

[claybaby]

Sounds like the terms of the argument have shifted in favor of the ISP's. Instead of discussion of enforcing Title II rules on the service providers they are debating whether they can use section 706. Come on, the ISP's clearly need to be regulated as common carriers. They claim that more oversight will delay network upgrades but a lack of real competition means there is no incentive to upgrade. These monopoly situations are exactly where the government can play a role to advance the development of the internet.

 

[giltwist]

team:abunai[/url]":3geof7kf]1st off:

"If the network operator slowed the speed below that which the consumer bought it would be commercially unreasonable and therefore prohibited."

Hasn't it already been pretty universally shown that ISPs do NOT provide the speeds they promise in most cases?

2nd:

"Wheeler has said he would consider using Title II rules if it turns out that ISPs discriminate against smaller companies."

I think history has shown that will definitely do this. Isn't that essentially what the deals with netflix have been?

Also, on what planet are these people living where they do not believe that the internet is a telecommunications system?

The problem is that, as Commissioner Clyburn noted, the FCC has no rules by which it can do anything at this point. I think Chairman Wheeler was clear that even declaring ISPs as Common Carriers required today's vote to proceed to completion.

 

[Digitlman]

Fuck you, Tom Wheeler. And the FCC as a whole.

 

[giltwist]

mbuchman[/url]":2tt3ootc]
Except that Comcast and friends will offer really slow packages (like 0.5/0/5) but with really fast paid-for services.

Except then they can't call it "broadband" in the scenario you described. The government has legally defined broadband as being a minimum of 4/1. Calling .5/.5 "broadband" would be false advertising.

 

[eLKosmonaut]

That lady standing up and going nuts just makes the "peoples" opinions more crazy and less credible. People such as her are ridiculous...

 

[Malth]

Stupid? Or evil?

 

[Car Analogy]

There is no such thing as a "fast lane". The "fast lane" will consist of today's current network capacity broken up into smaller pieces. So technically the "fast lane" will be slower than what you are getting today. Do they really believe that the network operators are going to build anything new?