So much for people not caring, eh? In this piece, taken from FCC comments, it's
not quite as obvious that the very vast majority of actual comments are pushing
back. But those numbers are bound to come out soon enough.
Microeconomics explains how unregulated monopolies will end up operating.
Anyone who doesn't get that will completely miss what the fuss is about.
Also, yesterday on CSPAN Radio there was an interesting debate on these
matters. One guy who made a lot of sense to me gave his view on what specific
rules should be applied to guarantee neutrality, that most people could agree
on, and what Title II provisions cause the most concerns. I was driving,
couldn't take notes, but the gist was that "most" people would agree on "no
throttling, no blocking, complete transparency."
Some will have issues with zero rating. Some also have issue with "paid
prioritization." On this latter one, paid by whom? The source, on the unwalled
part of this broadband service? Sure that would cause problems. What makes
sense in corporate enterprise networks, or in the inter-carrier backbones that
link these corporate networks, could be a tough sell on the public Internet.
Kind of obvious.
End of thread.
Bert
--------------------------------------------------
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/washington/fccs-open-internet-docket-explodes/166286
Jun 05, 2017 12:05 PM ET
FCC's Open Internet Docket Explodes
Nearly 5 million comments posted, including some off-topic and with famous
filers
By John Eggerton
The FCC's open internet docket, dubbed "Restoring Internet Freedom," has seen a
huge wave of comments-or at least a major update of the number posted-since
Friday, with over 4.9 million posted, up about 2 million from Friday
afternoon's 2.9 million-plus.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), an opponent of Republican FCC chairman Ajit Pai's
proposal to roll back Title II, said earlier this year he thought the comments
would dwarf those in the docket for the 2015 Open Internet order-over 4
million.
With still more than two months left in the comment cycle, he could be right.
Pai has signaled the FCC would err on the side of allowing "questionable"
comments for the sake of a full and robust record.
"[T]here's obviously a tension between having [an] open process where it's easy
to comment and preventing questionable comments from being filed, and generally
speaking, this agency has erred on the side of openness," he told reporters at
last month's public meeting. "[W]e want to encourage people to participate in
as easy an accessible a way as possible," he said.
"Fake comments were filed in the 2014-15 proceeding under names like Donald
Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Stalin, just to name a few," he continued. "This time
around I think the bottom line is I urge everyone who's interested in this
issue to participate in the process in an honest and forthright way..."
The latest comments suggest that the FCC is erring on the side of allowing all
flowers to bloom, including the plastic ones, but that the honest and
forthright might be too much of an ask.
In fact, among the 10 top comment authors, according to the FCC, were the names
Washington Irving (author of Rip Van Winkle) and this screed (yes, it appeared
as an author's name): "What the f--- did you just f---ing say about me, you
little b---h? I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals,
and I've been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and I have over
300 confirmed kills. I am trained in gorilla [sic] warfare and I'm the top
sniper in the entire US armed forces...."
The docket has generated much heated rhetoric and pushback, with counter
charges of bot-driven mass filings for and against the chairman's proposal;
allegations of filings using the names of dead people and even those associated
with a terrorist website, as well as the FCC saying a DDoS attack interfered
with the process at one point.
There have also been calls from Capitol Hill Democrats for an investigation
into charges of fake anti-Title II comments and the FCC DDoS attack.
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