You're a mean one, Ajit Pai.
Following the repeal of net neutrality laws in the United states by the FCC led by our favorite dead meme connoisseur, Ajit Pai, the man who auto-correct apparently really hates. Internet service providers have been given free reign to do whatever they want with little to no restrictions, however, as of yet, these monopolies have yet to blatantly block groups of sites and slow connections to competitors for profit; instead they appear to be waiting and moving slowly, as legislation in states is being passed to un-undo net neutrality laws. Obvious throttling would only feed the protests over the repeal of the FCC laws, and anger the majority of
all citizens who supported the laws.
However, that is not to say that they haven't done anything; hell, even while the laws were in effect, service providers have been slowing down categories of content; for instance, data companies have been making the word "Unlimited" useless since 2017, while Net Neutrality was still kicking. In these data plans, service providers have hobbled potential video quality and download speed, charging extra for you to be able to stream videos at high qualities, despite this going straight against the law at the time.
Fortunately, WiFi providers haven't hidden things behind paywalls... yet.
38 states have created their own regulations enforcing net neutrality laws to a greater or lesser degree than the original federal version, despite Ajit Pai and his corporate sponsors' whining. This is because with the repeal of Net Neutrality, they also relenquished their ability to stop states from enforcing their own laws, as a clause they added to combat state legislation was found invalid by the courts. The court decision allows states to create their own versions of the legislation. In New Hampshire, a bill supporting Net Neutrality failed to pass the state house.
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| Ajit Pai drinking his daily dose of Moral-be-gone |
There is a way you can help; send an email (how archaic) to a state rep or senator about how they should support/continue to support net neutrality. Trust me, they aren't the president, someone is likely going to read it. They're a state representative, they aren't that popular, so they'll have the resources for most of their inbox to be read. Put up a little political sign on the edge of your lawn. Bash Ajit Pai on Youtube. Actually bash Ajit Pai. Participate in state politics any way you can.
Be one of these guys, but slightly coherent.
Under EU laws, most of Europe appears to be largely free from similar issues, but
similar fights are taking place worldwide between citizens, governments, and ISPs.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/a3np4a/new-municipal-broadband-map
https://broadbandnow.com/report/municipal-broadband-roadblocks/
https://qz.com/790210/tracing-the-byzantine-maze-of-the-companies-that-have-come-to-control-americas-internet/
http://theconversation.com/net-neutrality-may-be-dead-in-the-us-but-europe-is-still-strongly-committed-to-open-internet-access-89521
https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/22/16691506/portugal-meo-internet-packages-net-neutrality-ajit-pai-plan
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-internet-eu-analysis/false-paradise-eu-is-no-haven-of-net-neutrality-say-critics-idUSKBN1E92SC
https://techxplore.com/news/2019-11-tim-berners-lee-web-inventor-internet.html
https://www.freepress.net/our-response/expert-analysis/explainers/net-neutrality-violations-brief-history
https://www.wired.com/story/year-without-net-neutrality-no-big-changes-yet/
https://www.inverse.com/article/42443-net-neutrality-maps
http://gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/billText.aspx?sy=2019&id=47&txtFormat=html
You assume an understanding of net neutrality that your audience might not have. Why, exactly, is net neutrality so important? Additionally, why do you think the bill didn't pass in New Hampshire?
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the humor of your blog and your ability to make the blog interesting.
ReplyDeleteReading your blog, I have a basic understanding of net neutrality but it would be beneficial if there was a paragraph that described what it is.
Also, you briefly talk about Europe's laws on net neutrality. I was wondering what were the similarities and differences between America's law versus Europe's law on this similar topic.
Unfortunately I ran out of space (and time) before I could cover laws in the EU, but here's a link to one of my sources on the topic. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-internet-eu-analysis/false-paradise-eu-is-no-haven-of-net-neutrality-say-critics-idUSKBN1E92SC
ReplyDelete