[opendtv] Re: F.C.C. Proposes Privacy Rules for Internet Providers - The New York Times
- From: Craig Birkmaier <brewmastercraig@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2016 20:14:32 -0500
Regards
Craig
On Mar 12, 2016, at 7:35 PM, Albert Manfredi <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Hardly Pandora's box, Craig, unless you really believe that the "do not call
list" for your telephone service was such a terrible thing. This is a very
close equivalent of the do not call list, applied to your IP connection. I'm
all for it.
As Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors) liked to say, "Surprise, surprise."
This is nothing like the do not call list, which is a gigantic joke!
We keep our land line just to screen unwanted calls. Let me count the ways that
"do not call" is a used on a daily basis:
- it does not apply to politicians- here in Florida the number of robo calls is
incredible. And apparently it does not apply to pollsters either.
- we get 4-5 calls a day from numbers that are spoofed - caller unknown.
- we get several calls a day from people who just do it anyway.
-and I get 2-3 solicitation calls a day on my cellphone, which is also illegal.
But the comparison is irrelevant, as the article pointed out. The FCC has no
authority to regulate Google and Amazon and Facebook; these companies make
billions selling our personal data.
The important takeaway from the article is that only months after claiming
Title II authority to regulate the Internet, the FCC is proposing rules that
will only apply to the ISPs they can regulate, while the companies that have
been selling our data for years will NOT be regulated.
If someone acquires, say, a Facebook account, he has to understand the
possible consequences. But just as you would not expect your telephone
company to monitor everything you say on the telephone, and to sell the
information to telemarketers, you also should not have to accept the Internet
service provider feeling free to carry on such practices.
Why not? I have never given Google or Amazon permission to sell my data. It
looks like the proposal is to allow subscribers to "opt out." Should I not have
the same option with ANY internet service?
These regulations usually, possibly always, result from flagrant abuse by
overly greedy SOBs. The do not call list convincingly makes this point. It
did not exist until after flagrant abuse of the telephone system began. If
anything, it was overdue.
And it is totally worthless.
Internet email almost imploded with spam already. In retaliation, email
providers now have institute draconian spam filters, that frequently end up
blocking legitimate messages. Excessive greed becomes a big nuisance for
everyone.
There are tons of options to deal with spam. Some work better than others.
Letting Google handle your mail and their suite of cloud-based apps is, as you
say, an invitation for them to abuse your privacy, fortunately some companies
have higher standards...
The sky is hardly falling if the government does its job, Craig.
The government has no business sticking its nose into everything we do. And
when it does it usually does the job poorly.
Sorry, gotta go...another robo call...
Regards
Craig
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