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posted by martyb on Friday February 23 2018, @12:21AM   Printer-friendly
from the cable-companies-rejoice dept.

The Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules will be no more in two months: The agency has taken the final step in removing the regulations from its rule book.

But that may not be the end of the story. Dozens of groups are expected to file lawsuits challenging the repeal, and Democrats in Congress will push to reverse the FCC's action.

On Thursday, the FCC published the final notice of the repeal in the Federal Register, which starts a 60-day clock until the rules are removed. The effective date for the repeal is April 23. The FCC voted to repeal the rules on Dec. 14.

https://www.cnet.com/news/fcc-officially-publish-net-neutrality-repeal/#ftag=CADf328eec

Final Notice of Repeal: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/02/22/2018-03464/restoring-internet-freedom


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by leftover on Friday February 23 2018, @03:00AM (3 children)

    by leftover (2448) on Friday February 23 2018, @03:00AM (#642179)

    Basically, we can only vote for whoever is on the ballot. That has been determined completely out of our sight. Why do we put up with that? Taking up pitchforks and torches is a big threshold to cross.

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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday February 23 2018, @04:18AM (1 child)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday February 23 2018, @04:18AM (#642203) Journal

    Basically, we can only vote for whoever is on the ballot.

    FYI: Write-in candidates [wikipedia.org]

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    • (Score: 2) by leftover on Saturday February 24 2018, @12:13AM

      by leftover (2448) on Saturday February 24 2018, @12:13AM (#642746)

      Yes you can write in names and I do that when I can't tolerate voting for either of the main two. Votes for third-party candidates are generally considered as wasted, write-ins even less important than that. I do believe that our Federal Constitutional republic is the best governmental form in history IFF it is being operated as designed. As it is being operated now, it is no better than most other bad forms. Populations have overthrown bad governments before even when active participation was less than a majority. Right now We the People are being deliberately fragmented by knowledgeable and well-funded psychopaths. They don't know the minimum effective percentage but they know they can increase fragmentation at will. That is what worries me.

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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by NotSanguine on Friday February 23 2018, @04:35AM

    by NotSanguine (285) <NotSanguineNO@SPAMSoylentNews.Org> on Friday February 23 2018, @04:35AM (#642218) Homepage Journal

    Basically, we can only vote for whoever is on the ballot. That has been determined completely out of our sight. Why do we put up with that? Taking up pitchforks and torches is a big threshold to cross.

    The rules for putting a candidate (from one of the major parties or a minor/new party) on the ballot (for primary or general elections) in the US varies significantly from state to state [wikipedia.org], some state rules are quite restrictive and others are not.

    I imagine that pitchforks and torches might be a bit excessive (although, depending on where you live, perhaps not) as I imagine that gathering signatures for a nominating petition (as many states require) would be easier and much less stressful.

    In many states, the major parties have created significant barriers to both the primary ballots for major parties and general election ballots for other parties.

    Given that the rules for the former are set by private entities (the parties themselves) and the latter are codified in state laws, changing the state laws seems to be the more likely way to make it easier for a wider array of voices to be heard.

    However, in order to do so, state legislatures/governors must approve such legislative changes, raising the bar for that significantly.

    All that said, while there are practical difficulties, it's certainly possible via hard work and grassroots support, to change the complexion of both state laws and elections. IMHO, the best way to get that going is to start small.

    For some ideas about how to do these things, I recommend Heinlein's fine book Take Back Your Government [amazon.com]

    I'd say that all is not lost and we are not helpless unless we give up.

    Don't give up. As citizens, we not only have rights, we also have a responsibility to ensure that the ideals of our republic are respected. That takes time, energy and money. As Americans, we can have a nation where equality under the law, respect for the rights of all, and fair, honest government.

    In order to achieve that, we need to work together. We may squabble about taxes, the role of government in our lives, federal power vs. states rights, etc., etc., etc.

    Even if we don't agree on the *how*, I'd hope we'd all agree that equality under the law, respect for the rights of all, and fair, honest government are necessities for all of us, if we wish to live in a free society.

    As Grishnakh [soylentnews.org] pointed out in a different context [soylentnews.org]:

    It's just another example of my favorite saying, "every nation gets the government it deserves". It extends to municipalities too.

    Food for thought, I hope.

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