Act now

[NeverMore]

A congresswoman has snuck in a bill making it illegal for municipalities to create their own broadband networks, theyby creating direct competition with the big internet providers. Something that is desperately needed seeing as how badly they behave. Unfortunately it has already passed congress so if you want to do something about this you need to contact your senator. This is a bad thing for we who use the internet and it must be stopped. This bill would even stop our towns from enticing services like google fiber from setting up shop in our towns.

More info at EFF...

• https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/07/a ... ompetition

What I find interesting is this...

"Blackburn received $10,000 from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association this year and last year, according to OpenSecrets.org. She received $12,500 in contributions from Verizon, $10,000 from AT&T, $7,500 from Comcast, and $7,000 from representatives of Time Warner Cable. (These donations come from the companies' political action committees, employees, or owners.)" - arstechnica.com

Telecoms, amongst others, are buying our government. Pass the word.

[Andybev01]

A : thanks, Nevermore.

B : she borrowed that coat from her brother, Darth.

[Boogeyman]

Something doesn't add up because based on what I read in the links, Blackburn's amendment restricts the authority of the FCC. Or am I missing something?

[NeverMore]

The FCC already has no authority over the internet. This is just one of many steps Big Tel is taking to maintain their power. It says FCC Chairman, Tom Wheeler is challenging this law, which is weird because he's been under the telecoms' control all along. Unless it's some kind of face saving gesture?

If this bill passes, it basically allows the telecoms to maintain their near monopoly on how the internet is delivered to us. You realize people in other countries pay less and have faster speeds than we do? Companies like Comcast and Time-Warner have almost no competition in the areas they serve, allowing them to pretty much do whatever they please. There's a reason they are considered two of the most hated companies in America. The people know they are getting screwed but they have no other options.

The city of Chattanooga set up their own infrastructure and now has one of the least expensive broadband networks in the country. And at gigabit speeds! What I wouldn't do for access like that. I wonder if this would force them to disable that service? There's a lot of wording about how tax payer money shouldn't be used to maintain the network. I'd gladly fork over some of my taxes for faster speeds at almost half the price.

[Boogeyman]

Listen, you will never hear me say or post a comment that government isn't big enough. But that doesn't remotely address the question I had. According to your links:

Representative Marsha Blackburn introduced an amendment late last night that aims to limit FCC authority to preempt state laws that restrict or prohibit municipal and community high-speed Internet projects or investment.

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.

Hence my question.

[Kolchak]

I was aware of Chattanooga and thats up in Murphs neck of the woods so she might know a thing or two.

I'm all about states rights, so Congresswoman Blackburn has my total support.

[NeverMore]

If not for the fact that the ISPs are playing every angle to stifle competition, I wouldn't have a problem with the states staying out of the internet business. But with the way things are going it would probably be best if the option stays open.

As for the FCC having regulatory power over the internet, I'm all for it if the only other option is the telcoms' defeat of net neutrality.

[Boogeyman]

You do realize that if the FCC has control over the internet, they then have the power to silence speech that the administration they serve, disagrees with? It will be on par with the IRS scandal.

[Murfreesboro]

I've stayed out of this discussion because I really don't know anything about it. I am aware of Marsha Blackburn, certainly, and generally support her.

I didn't really understand that article very well. That first quotation Boogeyman pulled out almost seemed full of the logical equivalent of double negatives, if that makes any sense. You know, Blackburn wants to limit the FCC's authority to preempt laws that restrict or prohibit the sort of thing that is happening in Chattanooga? So the FCC wants to overturn or circumvent state laws that prohibit what is happening in Chattanooga? And Blackburn wants the FCC to keep its nose out of Tennessee?

I'm just confused. But I know I don't trust the FCC.

[NeverMore]

There's the rub. We already know the telcoms don't have our best interests in mind, and it's a crapshoot what the government would do. Internet censorship and spying already exist while regulation seems to have worked with the phone industry. One thing is for sure, the wild days of the internet is over. There's too much money to be made. I think it bugs me most that they are so openly buying off members of our government to get their way. But then, that kind of thing has always gone on.

This all brings to mind the old oil baron days. Cars were originally run by battery but there was money to be made in oil so the barons manipulated our government and the market until they were the only game in town. They've only entrenched themselves deeper since. We may possibly be seeing the beginning of a turnaround on that, at least with automobiles. It remains to be seen what results Elron Musk's recent move with the Tesla patents will bring.

We've already seen some effects of this manipulation with Netflix's deals with Comcast and Time-Warner. They immediately raised their prices afterward. Meanwhile, those two companies are getting payed twice for Netflix to stream movies to our living rooms.

One worry is, if telcoms defeat net neutrality, we may end up with bundled services on the internet like we have with TV. If you want access to sites like Halloween.com you'll have to pay for a service that includes some of Comcast and T-W's offerings as well? It's too early to know what will come of all this but it's prudent to block their moves as much as possible if we want to maintain an open internet.

When you think about it, it really seems crazy that the same folks who provide our internet are also content providers as well. Of course they will want to direct traffic to their sites, and they may eventually have the power to do it.

[Kolchak]

Quagmire and confusion from Washington. What else is new? If there is money to be taxed you can bet that Washington wants its share. Toss in the ability to limit free speech and edit content and you have a workers paradise.....NOT!

[NeverMore]

Apparently it's not just the big two that are messing with us. If you watch Netflix over Verizon's network this may be of interest to you...

• http://iamnotaprogrammer.com/Verizon-Fi ... prvpn.html

At the very least, the article supplies a link on how to test how fast your Netflix stream is. I use a VPN and have noticed I sometimes get a faster connection if I tunnel into a computer in Europe and proceed from there.