Battle for the Internet

Re:Battle for the Internet by guscost on Wednesday July 12, 2017 @06:30PM (#14757229)

Preserving the gains we've made with telecommunications is critical for our future as a civilization, but this still bothers me. The lobbying efforts by ISPs will keep it a monopoly, and the best we can expect is for the government to sanction that monopoly?

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Re:Battle for the Internet by api on Wednesday July 12, 2017 @07:57PM (#14757701)

I wouldn't be so fatalistic. While I personally find some of the ideological currents behind Trump abhorrent, his rise does prove that a huge grassroots movement focused on a specific goal can generate results.

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Re:Battle for the Internet by guscost on Wednesday July 12, 2017 @08:28PM (#14757862)

That's an encouraging thought, but here are two problems with it (sorry):

1. In my understanding many Trump supporters were reacting to their own suffering since the end of the 20th-century manufacturing boom in America. I'm skeptical that a movement of similar impact could succeed organically without its supporters having to suffer a fair amount first. As my middle-school history teacher would say: "Real change only happens when people die."

2. This currently does not resemble a "grassroots" movement at all. It has a snazzy website, the major players are plastering calls to action across their homepages, etc. It's basically the content owners battling it out with the infrastructure owners, and even though I understand the risks (and am a content owner myself) I'm not terribly encouraged to join up.

One small reassurance: At least the content owners aren't the same as the infrastructure owners.

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Re:Battle for the Internet by api on Wednesday July 12, 2017 @09:26PM (#14758122)

The first point is pretty valid. The second I don't buy. Pretty much everyone but the ISPs has aligned interests toward net neutrality.

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Re:Battle for the Internet by guscost on Wednesday July 12, 2017 @09:33PM (#14758149)

You could say that internet access makes it possible for anyone to be a content owner, so I guess I agree in a way.

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