Daily Links: 12/14/17 – Net neutrality edition

As expected, the FCC under Chairman Ajit Pai, a former Verizon executive, has voted to dismantle its net neutrality rules that prevented cable companies from fucking up the free and open Web, arguably the greatest invention and the most powerful tool for democracy in human history.

• What does an Internet without net neutrality look like? Try the Removal of Net Neutrality Simulator extension for Chrome to give you a hint of what you’re in for.

• If you think the above is an exaggeration, it’s not far from what we’ve seen in real-world cases. It’s also exactly what’s happening right now in Portugal, which has no net neutrality protections.

• Some are hoping the FTC will step in and do the job. It won’t.

• Others are hoping states will step in and present their own net neutrality rules. But companies like Verizon, Comcast and wireless carriers are already pushing the FCC to block that, too.

• It’s difficult to describe how brutally dishonest the FCC and Ajit Pai’s arguments against the need for net neutrality rules are.
  • Pai’s primary claim, that repealing the current rules will return the Internet to how it was just two years ago, is pure bullshit.
  • Pai says that net neutrality somehow harms the sick and disabled. It doesn’t.
  • Pai says net neutrality harms small ISPs. The FCC’s own data shows that’s a lie.
  • Pai & co. claim net neutrality rules stopped companies investing in the Internet framework. That’s bullshit based entirely on garbage lobbyist data.
  • Pai claims that lack of competition between Internet companies, the primary reason net neutrality is an issue, has been fixed. It very obviously hasn’t.
  • And too many more to list here.
• Of course, cable companies shovel horseshit at your face, too.
  • AT&T ignores countless surveys showing people overwhelmingly support net neutrality to lie and pretend they don’t.
  • Speaking of AT&T, they also deceived their customers into opposing net neutrality in the guise of defending it.
  • Verizon (Ajit Pai’s old home) lies the lyingest lies ever about how no-one’s talking about killing net neutrality rules, man.
  • Comcast also lies about how just because they want net neutrality rules gone doesn’t mean they want to take advantage of that, even though they pushed for it, but, like, for no reason, so don’t worry.
  • Speaking of Comcast, watch how quickly their promise to avoid “paid prioritization” disappeared from their website when it became clear they’d have their way.
  • Back to AT&T again: They’re now pretending they won’t do anything to screw with net neutrality, either, even after years and millions of lobbying dollars spent opposing the rules that protected it.
  • And meanwhile, ISPs were jumping at the chance to screw their customers over even before the FCC’s repeal of their net neutrality rules took place.

• Meanwhile, the people who actually built the Internet were quick to slam the repeal.

• … Not that Ajit Pai cares, as he was too busy lashing out at everyone from Hollywood to Silicon Valley over their universal condemnation of his plan.

But there’s hope yet. Also as expected, the entire Internet is in an uproar, with everyone from the ACLU to the New York Attorney General to many in Congress vowing to fight the FCC in both judicial and legislative arenas. Lawmakers’ phones are going to melt all over DC over this, and they know they’d better pay attention. If there’s one issue that crosses party lines, it’s that everyone loves their Internet just the way it is, and anyone caught trying to tamper with it is in for a world of hurt.

So make ’em hurt. (With civil protest, that is.)

As a final note, I’d like to thank the valiant crew at Techdirt for their years of hard work in researching and educating about tech policy generally and net neutrality in particular.