WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 05: Proponents of net neutrality protest against Federal Communication Commission Chairman Ajit Pai outside the American Enterprise Institute before his arrival May 5, 2017 in Washington, DC. Appointed to the commission by President Barack Obama in 2012, Pai was elevated to the chairmanship of the FCC by U.S. President Donald Trump in January.
Credit: Chip Somodevilla
The US Federal Communications Commission voted 2-1 today to start the process of eliminating net neutrality rules and the classification of home and mobile Internet service providers as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act.
The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposes eliminating the Title II classification and seeks comment on what, if anything, should replace the current net neutrality rules. But Chairman Ajit Pai is making no promises about reinstating the two-year-old net neutrality rules that forbid ISPs from blocking or throttling lawful Internet content or prioritizing content in exchange for payment. Pai’s proposal argues that throttling websites and applications might somehow help Internet users.
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
After reading about this yesterday, and after sleeping on it, I have decided to cancel my AT&T cell service, and start using google instead. It isn’t much, and unfortunately I have no choice on who I use for home internet, but it is a start. I highly recommend that everyone concerned about net nuetrality take a real look at their options, and start making financial decisions that will minimize their contribution to these companies that have taken over our government. If you have to use AT&T, fine, but buy a phone from somewhere else, don’t finance it through them. If you have to use COX, fine, but buy a router and modem from somewhere else, don’t rent or buy it from them. Use the internet they provide, against them! When voting no longer works, and when public opinion no longer matters, we have to vote with our money. Let’s bring back the boycott, and show these companies who they’ve been ignoring!