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[Ed note: Some important context for this submission appears in this c|net article: Internet sites to protest Trump Admin's net neutrality plan
A group of activists and websites including Imgur, Mozilla, Pinterest, Reddit, GitHub, Etsy, BitTorrent and Pornhub are planning a campaign Tuesday to draw attention to an upcoming FCC vote that could radically reshape the way the internet works.
[...] Tuesday's campaign is the latest effort by activists to dissuade the FCC from repealing Obama-era rules that effectively classified internet service providers as utilities. The classification, known as Title II, forced companies like Verizon, AT&T and Comcast to treat all internet traffic equally. Last week, protesters marched outside Verizon stores around the US.
Earlier, a handful of tech trailblazers -- including Vint Cerf, a founding figure of the internet Steve Wozniak, a co-founder of Apple; and Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web -- posted an open letter on Tumblr criticizing the proposed repeal of net neutrality.
"The FCC's rushed and technically incorrect proposed order to abolish net neutrality protections without any replacement is an imminent threat to the Internet we worked so hard to create," the letter said. "It should be stopped."
Imagine if all sites defaulted to, say, dial-up or ISDN speeds unless they paid extra for full-speed internet. The large, incumbent sites on the net could easily absorb such costs. Smaller, new, or niche sites (such as SoylentNews) could not afford to pay for faster access. If this is not what you want, then contact the FCC and/or your elected representatives and let your view be heard.]
takyon writes:
Ajit Pai jokes with Verizon exec about him being a "puppet" FCC chair
On Thursday night in Washington, DC, net neutrality advocates gathered outside the annual Federal Communications Commission Chairman's Dinner to protest Chairman Ajit Pai's impending rollback of net neutrality rules.
Inside the dinner (also known as the "telecom prom") at the Washington Hilton, Pai entertained the audience with jokes about him being a puppet installed by Verizon to lead the FCC.
Pai was a Verizon associate general counsel from 2001 to 2003, and next week he will lead an FCC vote to eliminate net neutrality rules—just as Verizon and other ISPs have asked him to.
At the dinner, Pai played a satirical video that showed him planning his ascension to the FCC chairmanship with a Verizon executive in 2003. The Verizon executive was apparently Kathleen Grillo, a senior VP and deputy general counsel in the company's public policy and government affairs division.
The speech was apparently not supposed to be public, but Gizmodo obtained footage of Pai's remarks and the skit. You can watch it here.
The vote is currently scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 14. The FCC and Federal Trade Commission announced that they will work together to punish ISPs that don't keep their promises (assuming they make any).
Previously: Washington DC Braces for Net Neutrality Protests Later This Month
FCC Plans December Vote to Kill Net Neutrality Rules
FCC Will Reveal Vote to Repeal Net Neutrality This Week
Comcast Hints at Plans for Paid Fast Lanes after Net Neutrality Repeal
More than a Million Pro-Repeal Net Neutrality Comments were Likely Faked
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday December 12 2017, @11:01PM (7 children)
Oh, we're going by "stuff and things" rather than respect for and protection of fundamental human rights? Call me old fashioned then.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Thexalon on Wednesday December 13 2017, @03:18AM (3 children)
The EU Conventions on Human Rights actually protect a number of rights that the Bill of Rights doesn't. For instance, member governments cannot execute anybody. Of course, that goes the other way too: I'm guessing the one you're upset about is that there's no constitutional right to carry guns, but the flip side of that is that you usually don't have any reason to in Europe because few other people are packing heat, and the Europeans generally consider the US to be a bit backwards precisely because so many are carrying guns.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday December 13 2017, @03:45AM (2 children)
I was actually thinking speech but yes, Europe has an exceedingly long history of disarming its populace for the express purpose of making them easier to subjugate.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday December 13 2017, @07:26PM (1 child)
Article 10 of the EU Convention on Human Rights specifically grants the freedom of speech and expression.
What you're probably thinking of is the German efforts to make the Nazi Party and Nazi symbolism illegal. Even in that case, you're allowed to express the viewpoint that, say, all Jews should be murdered, you simply can't call yourself a national socialist or the SA nor be waving around swastikas and wearing brown shirts with armbands and such.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday December 13 2017, @07:56PM
I was actually thinking of "hate speech" laws in particular but they're not even close to the only exception. And the EU has only even been a thing for a fairly short time. How many more exceptions will be carved out in the next fifty years, even without the inevitable ramp-up in the use of the obviously designed-to-abuse term "hate speech"? Face it, you have no free speech.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 13 2017, @09:27AM (2 children)
You are arguing against the US and for Europe here right? I've seen many USians complain about their constitution being violated and not worth much anymore, next to that you have things like Guantanamo.
You know all those weapons that are banned for war? That's usually after the US has used them and the rest of the world slaps some sense into the US about how inhumane those weapons are.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday December 13 2017, @11:51AM
That was a joke, yes? Europe not only tells its subjects what they can say but then disarms them so they have no means of redress. They've been doing it for thousands of years with no signs of ever stopping.
I think you'll find that Germany is the primary culprit there. Isn't Germany in Europe?
Even a shat-upon U.S. Constitution is better than what Europeans have. Except Poland. I'm mostly cool with Poland.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 13 2017, @10:23PM
"That's usually after the US has used them and the rest of the world slaps some sense into the US"
whines some sense into us maybe. nobody's slapping shit, motherfucker.