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Net neutrality advocates are planning two days of protest in Washington DC this month as they fight off plans to defang regulations meant to protect an open internet.
A coalition of activists, consumer groups and writers are calling on supporters to attend the next meeting of the Federal Communications Commission on 26 September in DC. The next day, the protest will move to Capitol Hill, where people will meet legislators to express their concerns about an FCC proposal to rewrite the rules governing the internet.
The FCC has received 22 million comments on "Restoring Internet Freedom", the regulator's proposal to dismantle net neutrality rules put in place in 2015. Opponents argue the rule changes, proposed by the FCC's Republican chairman Ajit Pai, will pave the way for a tiered internet where internet service providers (ISPs) will be free to pick and choose winners online by giving higher speeds to those they favor, or those willing or able to pay more.
The regulator has yet to process the comments, and is reviewing its proposals before a vote expected later this year.
(Score: 2) by Hyperturtle on Wednesday September 20 2017, @04:26PM
I think the problem is coverage, not quality.
(I won't even get into who is eligble for said coverage and how to fund it)
I have to wonder if some of our incredibly expensive cures would be less expensive of the economies of scale were to kick in -- or if only people like the pharma bro guy are responsible for many of the costs of what could be cheap, but isn't.
Anyway, a taxpayer handout for everyone to get covered, plus jerks like him and his business plans to raise prices because he can -- clearly will make any solution cost more than it has to, even if we had remained with what we had before the ACA. It's insurance that pays through the nose most of the time, and our system makes our premiums go up in part due to that kind of greed.
But there's no question the US has among the most advanced medical care systems for diagnosis and treatments that one could hope for. In intractable problem is that many people hope to be a part of it and don't have the resources to do so.
Preventative maintenance coverage could do a lot to keep costs down...while still offending nearly everyone as not being enough in either direction.
Regardless, I'd pay a few more bucks in taxes* as part of some massive government initiative to try to prevent the spread of preventable illnesses and raise the standard of living, but that opinion is not shared by everyone.
*I don't know what that amount actually is, but my opinion of what acceptable costs would be based on what actually is proposed and who is actually covered...the sky is not the limit