Help Stop Retards in the US Government from Repealing Net Neutrality!
Hey look, those dickbags in the US government are trying to repeal something that the majority of the population wants to keep! Net Neutrality might not be as vital to one’s continued existence as healthcare is, but it’s still important. The Oatmeal has a really nice thing explaining Net Neutrality and I suggest you go read that. Go on, it’s not that long. The sad thing is, that’s from 2014. We’re in 2017 now. TechCrunch wrote a nice article discussing the more technical arguments against Net Neutrality and why they’re not so great. We’ve already had a Defend Net Neutrality day this year. We’ve done this song and dance multiple times now. Politicians are going to KEEP ON PUSHING to repeal Net Neutrality.
Why?
I don’t fucking know. But it’s probably because they want to make more money. ‘They’ being the massive corporations that already control large swathes of the internet in the US as internet service providers (ISPs) and the politicians and lobbyists who work for them.
“But Medic you don’t live in the US-” Shush. A lot of our readers are in the US. Why should they have to suffer slower speeds dictated by their internet service providers? And a HUGE number of websites are hosted in the US. Including the Daily SPUF. Doesn’t sound great for small businesses if ISPs decide to charge extra to have proper traffic go to your site.
“But Medic, what about state rights? States can decide whether they wa-” Hahahaha nope. The FCC are also setting it up so that states can’t implement their own Net Neutrality laws. So much for state rights, eh? Always seems to be the case. It’s state rights when it’s something a Republican wants, but if it goes against their agenda, state rights are bad and the states should do as the federal government tells them to!
Okay, let’s be honest here. Some of this is exaggeration. If Net Neutrality is repealed, we’re not going to instantly end up having to pay an extra $5 a month just to visit Youtube. But repealing Net Neutrality will open the flood gates and allow ISPs to do whatever they want. All for a bit more money. It sets a bad example. Repealing Net Neutrality tells the world that it doesn’t matter what the people want, yet again corporations are more important. And other countries and corporations will realise they can do the same to their own citizens and customers.
If you just roll over and let others take your rights, then that’s what they’ll do.
Hopefully, maybe some people in the US government will listen.
For citizens of the USA, you can call your congressmen and spokespeople and ask them (nicely) to listen to you and to not repeal Net Neutrality. Battle for the Net allows you to do that with ease. If you don’t want to talk to anyone, then you can send the FCC a message.
You want to help? Even if you’re not a citizen of the USA, you can fill out this form.
Under Proceedings, you need to enter 17-108 and select 17-108 Restoring Internet Freedom and hit enter. Under Filings, enter your name and press enter (your name will be in a yellow box) If you’re not in the USA, tick the box that says International before typing your address. Enter an email address. Then enter your comments, saying that you DO NOT WANT NET NEUTRALITY TO BE REPEALED. Be nice about it though.
When you are done, you have to click Continue to Review Screen, read through what you have written then hit the Submit button at the bottom. Make sure you do this otherwise your complaint won’t be filed! Also keep in mind that whatever you write will be put into public records. Although that shouldn’t be a problem if you use Facebook regularly.
If you want something to copy and paste, here’s an example for you:
I am registering this complaint because I believe repealing Net Neutrality will hurt Americans, both users and small businesses, as well as other users around the world. Rather than letting businesses flourish, it will allow ISPs to pick and chose who is worthy of using their services, potentially destroying small businesses and startups. Repealing Net Neutrality will also damage smaller communities and the poor, restricting their access to the internet. This will also impact anyone using any service in America, whether they live in the USA or not. Please do not repeal Net Neutrality.
