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Common Dreams reports
Last Week Tonight host John Oliver on [May 7] issued another powerful rallying cry to save net neutrality protections, and, repeating the outcome of his 2014 plea, his viewers flooded the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) site, causing it to temporarily crash.
[...] Oliver said it's worth noting that [FCC Chairman Ajit] Pai is "a former lawyer for Verizon", a company which "won a lawsuit which meant that if the FCC wanted strong, enforceable protection, its only real option was to reclassify the ISPs, and yet he cheerily insists under questioning that there is just not evidence that cable companies were engaging in rampant wrongdoing".
"Title II is the most solid legal foundation we have right now for a strong, enforceable net neutrality protections", Oliver said, and urged "we, the people, [to] take this matter into our own hands".
To that end, Last Week Tonight bought the domain name gofccyourself.com, which redirects users to the official FCC page[1] where open internet advocates can leave a comment and call for these protections to remain in place. (Oliver notes that it simplifies the commenting process the FCC "has made more difficult since three years ago".)
"Everyone needs to get involved. Comment now, and then maybe comment again when the FCC makes its proposal official. Even call you representative and your senators", Oliver urged.
So successful was the start of his campaign, according to Motherboard, that there was such a high volume of traffic flooding the Federal Communications Commission that the site temporarily went down. As of this writing, it is up and running again.
[1] The fcc.gov page is almost entirely behind scripts.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday May 09 2017, @04:10PM (1 child)
(Oliver notes that it simplifies the commenting process the FCC "has made more difficult since three years ago".)
Hell, I have that page open in two browsers, with javascript enabled on both of them. I can't find the button to click to leave a comment.
"For assistance with using ECFS, please contact the ECFS Help Desk at 202-418-0193 or via email at ECFSHelp@fcc.gov."
WTF, before I can leave a comment, I have to write to them, to ask permission? Maybe there's a Youtube tutorial. They have tutes for damned near everything today . . . EFCS returns some interesting hits on photography and front or rear curtain syncs. I don't see anything for the FCC.
AHH-HA - the first link in TFS is a Youtube video! Ahhhh - click the link, and then click "express". Geez, Louise, how about "comment? Got that, people? If you want to leave a comment, you have to click the "express" button.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday May 10 2017, @06:05PM
"Click on the link that says express, and then, and only then, can you leave your comment"
Doesn't make it any less dumb, but at least it's documented dumb.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves