A Tech Agency’s Thoughts On The Net Neutrality Vote
A Slack Discourse On, “What Does This All Mean Anyway?”
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blackmon [2:02 PM]
can someone explain to me what this will cause to happen in less than 200 words?
I’ve heard the doom and gloom side of things
I wanna know the real tangible how I will experience this thing side
ya know?
joeyvadala [2:03 PM]
jcutrell [2:02 PM]
More money out of your pocket to big telecom. But you have EPB, so probably not so bad.
joeyvadala [2:03 PM]
The short answer is nothing, today. But over the next few years, ISPs will begin to subtlety shape the content available on the internet through their power to charge more or less money to different users of bandwidth.
russ.pate [2:03 PM]
the fight isn’t over yet
advocacy groups are already petitioning congress
joeyvadala [2:03 PM]
^ that is also true
blackmon [2:05 PM]
word.
wasn’t the current state of net neutrality a rule passed just like 2 years ago?
svg [2:09 PM]
Internet use will be like cable plans. With cable, you pay for more channels. With internet you’ll pay for more access (Social Media Package, Sports Package, News Package)
blackmon [2:10 PM]
Oh geez.
Good thing I hardly use the internet anywayz.
kody [2:10 PM]
Ah, the old Head In the Sand approach.
Good response to public policy.
:troll:
blackmon [2:11 PM]
I’m not saying I won’t (and haven’t already) worked to petition it
but heck, it really won’t affect *me* terribly right now. I hardly use internet except at work. I’m still on a pre-paid phone account, y’all.
russ.pate [2:11 PM]
i’m just gonna go work on the farm
cows are wireless
nickmorrison [2:11 PM]
To be fair. Comcast has also said that they won’t do that.
kody [2:12 PM]
#trustcomcast
nickmorrison [2:12 PM]
I say that to say that you never know what people will do in the future.
russ.pate [2:12 PM]
i trust comcast about as far as I can throw a telephone pole.
more than likely netflix would see the charge not us tho right?
blackmon [2:13 PM]
what was the state of net neutrality before the obama administration?
jcutrell [2:14 PM]
So, very quickly, the rundown.
1. The document passed explicitly outlawed 3 main things. Throttling, blocking, and paid prioritization.
2. If repealed (which it was), these three things become 100% legal.
3. Net neutrality wasn’t particularly concerning because the physical coverage was the primary way to compete. Now, there are a few major players in the industry (Comcast, Verizon, Charter, and a few others). These major players own most of the lines that are run. (EPB is a major exception, most places don’t have it.)
Also, the internet wasn’t nearly as big of a deal before. It was growing but not like it is today.
svg [2:17 PM]
Also, most of those companies are not just ISPs, they also have connections to media and therefore a biased hand in content distribution
jcutrell [2:17 PM]
4. The repeal of the net neutrality doc from 2015 includes the legal allowance to hide practices from consumers. So, Comcast can say they “won’t prioritize content”, but then turn around and block other content (or throttle it) without telling you.
So, furthermore to Stephen’s point, if you look at who supported this repeal, it included primarily large media companies (and the people who would benefit from those media company’s successes).
kody [2:19 PM]
Including a lot of representatives who were supported in their election by telecom lobbyists.
Very sketch.
jcutrell [2:19 PM]
What this could effectively mean is that Verizon, who has a vested interest in Yahoo, could _legally_ degrade or totally block your access to Google services, or charge you extra to use them. Even if Verizon is the ONLY provider you can choose for your area.
Not only COULD they, but they have a private interest to do so.
And, they could just do that without any oversight or accountability.
They could also modify content that is delivered to your phone.
The previous classification as a “common carrier” disallowed all of that.
The repeal was to undo the classification as a common carrier.
The reason the term common carrier even exists is because of utilities.
jcutrell [2:22 PM]
So, for example, there is only one way to get electricity in Chatt. You can’t choose your private provider of electricity; there is virtually no competition. Furthermore, your dependency on electricity requires that it is… well, dependable. That it doesn’t surge and destroy things you have connected to it. That it is serviced in a reasonable amount of time. That the grid extends to places within the service area. Etc etc etc — all of that is supported by the classification as a utility (common carrier).
Other common carriers also include airlines, for example. Private companies that provide a standardized service, where the standardization is particularly important.
lindseygaff [2:22 PM]
wowee this is a lot to catch up on in slack :upside_down_face:
blackmon [2:24 PM]
@jcutrell I knew I could count on you for a good run down
I was so sick of trying to read articles about it
jcutrell [2:25 PM]
There’s more to the story, for sure, but that covers the reasons I think it should stay in place at least.
blackmon [2:43 PM]
https://blog.whiteboard.is/a-tech-agencys-thoughts-on-the-net-neutrality-vote-1b39f127f58f
:grinning:
thegreatpaatsby [2:44 PM]
Don’t worry, these big companies boil the frog aka you wont notice any changes until it’s too late :thumbsup::skin-tone-6:
With Love From the Humans of Whiteboard
