Net Neutrality Protest

From Tom Taylor's NOW column this morning...

Tomorrow is “Break the Internet” protest day. Some groups opposed to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s planned Thursday vote to totally reverse the Net Neutrality policy he inherited from Tom Wheeler aim to bring the issue front-and-center to all users. Here’s what the organizers say – “This Tuesday, December 12, ‘Break the Internet’ on your site, on Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube or in whatever wild creative way you can, to get your audience to contact Congress.” It says “That’s how we win.” It claims that sites including Etsy, Pinterest and Reddit are “already working to drive calls and messages to stop the FCC.” That’s reminiscent, says John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable, of the “SOPA/PIPA online slowdown protest” of January 2012. That worked, though it appears more sites were on board for that (protesting the Stop Online Privacy and Protect IP acts) than for “Break the Internet.” See the organizers’ page here. There’s still protest inside the FCC itself, from the two Democratic Commissioners. Jessica Rosenworcel slams the Commission’s refusal to provide documents to the New York State A-G about the alleged identity theft around public comments about Net Neutrality. Rosenworcel says the agency’s letter to A-G Eric Schneiderman “shows the FCC’s sheer contempt for public input.” But this is likely to be another 3-2 vote – unlike the 2015 Net Neutrality decision, a vote to dismantle it.

We have to mobilize, people. These bastards are really going to hand over full control of the internet to three or four companies to do as they wish.