All Things Net Neutrality

My Meme writing career continues. In the meantime does anyone know where I can get a better template for the Alignment Meme. Keep in mind this is a very rough draft.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1KvAB4xD_Ew/U6tu9oBNFwI/AAAAAAAAAVc/bU6itZwEqSg/w824-h642-no/Character_Alignment_Chart_by_ChopSilverBlood+%2528 1%2529.jpg
Top Row:

Tim Wu: 'The implications of Net Neutrality reaches beyond even its economic impact.' (Lawful Good)

Google: Technically we support Net Neutrality but we really should be putting in more effort to protect it. (Neutral Good)

Reed Hastings [Netflix CEO]: 'the verizon network is crowded right now.' (Chaotic Good)

Middle Row

Supreme Court: 'The FCC under the current circumstances doesn't have the authority to enforce Net Neutrality...however if they were to reclassify ISP's.....' (Lawful Neutral)

Net Neutrality: 'The treasure is buried in the.....' (Neutral)

Tom Wheeler [FCC]: "If the proposal before us now turns out to be insufficient or if we observe anyone taking advantage of the rule, I won’t hesitate to use Title II." (Chaotic Neutral)

Bottom Row

Harry Reid [aka Shy Ronnie]: 'Well I totally said something supporting Net Neutrality in the past but I think right now the important thing is to talk about the 80 year old name of a rascilist (http://youtu.be/vlmGknvr_Pg?t=5m29s) football team.' (Lawful Evil)

Brian Roberts [Comcast CEO]: 'Well technically the conditions of our parole, I mean merger, with NBC requires we honor Net Neutrality until 2018.' (Neutral Evil)

Verizon: 'Sue sue sue lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lobby lobby lobby bribe bribe bribe sue sue lobby bribe lawsuit lawsuit sue lobby.' (Chaotic evil)

Note: The picture used is not of the current Verizon CEO but like I said this is a rough draft.

I'll type more on this later but I'm under the impression that unless your router is this model or newer it will be a non issue.
http://rocketdock.com/images/screenshots/XfinitySMCD3GNV-Wireless-Gateway-V.2.png


They just put this one in my house yesterday, is this good or bad ?

They just put this one in my house yesterday, is this good or bad ?

Bad but you should be able to disable it from your comcast account page

FCC Republican says net neutrality rules too “onerous� for ISPs | Ars Technica (http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/07/fcc-republican-says-net-neutrality-rules-too-onerous-for-isps/)

There is not enough Valium in the world.

There should be no rules until there's "evidence of an actual problem."
http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/53766f7a6bb3f7d73494e4f7/what-happened-when-netflix-paid-for-direct-access-to-comcast.jpg

AT&T Blocking FaceTime | Free Press (http://www.savetheinternet.com/att-facetime)

Bandwidth throttling - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandwidth_throttling#Comcast_Corp._v._FCC)
In 2007, Free Press, Public Knowledge, and the Federal Communications Commission filed a complaint against Comcast’s Internet service. Several subscribers claimed that the company was interfering with their use of peer-to-peer networking applications. The Commission stated that it had jurisdiction over Comcast’s network management practices and that it could resolve the dispute through negotiation rather than through rulemaking. The Commission believed that Comcast had “significantly impeded consumers’ ability to access the content and use the applications of their choice”, and that because Comcast “ha[d] several available options it could use to manage network traffic without discriminating” against peer-to-peer communications, its method of bandwidth management “contravene[d]...federal policy”. At this time, “Comcast had already agreed to adopt a new system for managing bandwidth demand, the Commission simply ordered it to make a set of disclosures describing the details of its new approach and the company’s progress toward implementing it”. Comcast complied with this Order but petitioned for a review and presented several objections.[7]


“Our party has been focused on big business too long. I came through small business. I understand how hard it is to start a small business. That’s why everything I’ll do is designed to help small businesses grow and add jobs.”
-Mitt Romney during 2012 Presidential Election

I'm sure that allowing a handful of ISP's to charge for "fast lane" read 'normal speed' access is going to be great for tech start ups.

Send Us Your Comments | FCC.gov (http://www.fcc.gov/comments) - Proceeding# 14-28 is for Net Neutrality

Also:
Internet giants press for net neutrality in FCC filing | PCWorld (http://www.pcworld.com/article/2453760/internet-companies-press-for-net-neutrality-in-fcc-filing.html)
An association of more than two dozen technology companies including Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Netflix urged the Federal Communications Commission on Monday to create strong, enforceable net neutrality rules for wired and mobile networks

All I have to say in regards to the likes of Google and Facebook showing up on Capital Hill is........
sipTtQ_5q8k
...oh and pushups on my knuckles.

Today’s the biggest day for net neutrality in months. Here’s what’s at stake. - The Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/07/15/todays-the-biggest-day-for-net-neutrality-in-months-heres-whats-at-stake/)
On the other side, members of the telecom industry are arguing to the FCC that new net neutrality rules are not necessary. They and others say that the Internet's done pretty well in the absence of net neutrality regulations so far — and that in fact, adding new regulations would discourage investment in new broadband infrastructure, thereby slowing down the Internet for everyone

This argument from ISP's is easily among the ones that piss me off more than anything. Mainly because its the telecoms themselves that have done their part to make sure investment is stifled both by refusing to upgrade infrastructure and even preventing local municipalities from using their own fiber networks.

This should piss off a lot of you based in the DMV area.

Hundreds of Cities Are Wired With Fiber—But Telecom Lobbying Keeps It Unused | Motherboard (http://motherboard.vice.com/read/hundreds-of-cities-are-wired-with-fiberbut-telecom-lobbying-keeps-it-unused)
In Washington DC, for instance, the country's first 100 Gbps fiber network has been available to nonprofit organizations since 2006—but not to any of the city's residents. During a re-negotiation with Comcast in 1999 in which the company threatened to cut off cable service to the city, Comcast agreed to provide some of its fiber access to the city for the government's "exclusive use."

Here's a more recent story where Comcast's number 2 guy David Cohen was grilled on municipal broadband basically in part because one of the more open secrets out there is that Telecom companies have either prevented municipal broadband from being built or allowing it to be used by residents.
Senator Challenges Comcast, AT&T Execs On Opposition To Municipal Broadband – Consumerist (http://consumerist.com/2014/07/16/senator-challenges-comcast-att-execs-on-opposition-to-municipal-broadband/)

Also just another anecdote that pisses me off about this whole thing is the blatant conflicts of interest that have arisen.

For example in 2011 this story on John Boehner was released
GOP leader John Boehner vows to eliminate ‘net neutrality’ (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/01/gop-leader-john-boehner-vows-to-eliminate-net-neutrality/)

Republicans even tried to use eliminating Net Neutrality as a bargaining chip to raise the debt ceiling (http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/26/house-republicans-want-to-kill-net-neutrality-as-part-of-their-debt-ceiling-bill/).

Boehncer owns stock in Comcast and AT&T (http://maplight.org/us-congress/personal-financial-disclosure/search?StockCompanyOrSource=&searchOpt=2&PoliticianName[0]=John%20A.%20Boehner&YearCovered=All) so if ISP's were allowed to charge for fast lane access in theory the value of these stocks would increase.

On top of that two of Boehners biggest donors are Comcast and AT&T.
John A. Boehner (R-OH) U.S. House | MapLight - Money and Politics (http://maplight.org/us-congress/legislator/155-john-a-boehner)

As upset as I am at the disinterest among key Democrats (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/06/04/why-liberals-are-singling-out-harry-reid-over-net-neutrality/) in being more vocal towards support of Net Neutrality and Open Internet policies its clear that the GOP is a more direct threat.

To the people that side with the ISP's saying they need the ability to throttle services as they see fit because their network is so overused... i'll just drop this off here for you to mule over:
Verizon's Accidental Mea Culpa | Beyond Bandwidth (http://blog.level3.com/global-connectivity/verizons-accidental-mea-culpa/)

To the people that side with the ISP's saying they need the ability to throttle services as they see fit because their network is so overused... i'll just drop this off here for you to mule over:
Verizon's Accidental Mea Culpa | Beyond Bandwidth (http://blog.level3.com/global-connectivity/verizons-accidental-mea-culpa/)

Man, and I thought I was digging deep. Excellent find.

THE PAINNNNNNNNNNNN! PLEASE STOP!!! MY head IT HuRTZZZZZZ!!!

Congresswoman defends “states’ rights� to protect ISPs from muni competition | Ars Technica (http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/07/congresswoman-defends-states-rights-to-protect-isps-from-muni-competition/)

US Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) wants to make sure the Federal Communications Commission never interferes with "states' rights" to protect private Internet service providers from having to compete against municipal broadband networks.

THE PAINNNNNNNNNNNN! PLEASE STOP!!! MY head IT HuRTZZZZZZ!!!

Congresswoman defends “states’ rights� to protect ISPs from muni competition | Ars Technica (http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/07/congresswoman-defends-states-rights-to-protect-isps-from-muni-competition/)

Yeah, this was brutal. Doesn't that go against the free market? We need one of two things to happen in the cable and internet markets. Either regulate the current solutions to protect consumers to guarantee certain levels of service at certain prices, or find a way to inject true competition. The problem with internet/cable providers is that most people have 1-2 legitimate options, more often than not a single option. I know in the Northern VA area the apartment/condo complexes will sign exclusivity agreements with the cable providers.

The really interesting part is look at the cable providers in areas that Google Fiber moved in. Google is able to come in and push the big boys because of deep pockets, most new internet providers don't have that ability. Every city they've moved into the current providers IMMEDIATELY offered faster/better service at a lower price. Showed they clearly have the capability, they just don't have any incentive. The United States is slowly desolving into the luddites of the 1st world. We need infrastructure, we need information, and we need to lower the barrier to entry. We're not a free market anymore, we're protecting these massive companies and their profits rather than forcing them to innovate to stay on top.

You know what, I think I might start treating myself as an ISP. I'm a government contractor. I'm going to start demanding direct payment from the government as well as my company. I think it'll go great!