Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Net Neutrality In Peril


Trump Federal Communications Commission appointee Ajit Pai is moving forward with the right- wing effort to end Obama era net neutrality rules. Here, briefly, is why this is significant:
The internet without Net Neutrality isn’t really the internet. Unlike the open internet that has paved the way for so much innovation and given a platform to people who have historically been shut out, it would become a closed-down network where cable and phone companies call the shots and decide which websites, content or applications succeed. 
This would have an enormous impact. Companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon would be able to decide who is heard and who isn’t. They’d be able to block websites or content they don’t like or applications that compete with their own offerings. 
The consequences would be particularly devastating for marginalized communities media outlets have misrepresented or failed to serve. People of color, the LGBTQ community, indigenous peoples and religious minorities in the United States rely on the open internet to organize, access economic and educational opportunities, and fight back against systemic discrimination.
There are a number of organizations fighting this Internet takeover, including the ACLU, Team Internet, and Free Press. Millions who've voiced their objections to this rollback have had their voices ignored.

Who's against net neutrality in addition to the ISP corporations?  The usual oligarchic suspects.

If Congress doesn't act, we'll see Mr. Pai in court.

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