⇠ My right to believe nonsense

Trouble Maker ⇢

Save the Internet

The “Save the Internet” button I saw on my Tumblr dashboard the other day, along with [Explaining Net Neutrality to My Dad][dad], prompted me to finally put my thoughts on this in writing.

NOTE: This is one of the posts I was working on when I posted [this disclaimer on name dropping][namedrop].

I believe in freedom. I believe in a free and open Internet. So when I saw widgets and banners and gimmicks going around about Internet “fast lanes” and censorship, etc, I jumped on the bandwagon like everyone else. I’ve been using the Internet, and building things on it, for years so I have a very solid understanding how things work, so I believed I was “joining the fight” with a real understanding of what was at stake.1

I still believe I understood the issue then better than the average person, but if I’m honest with myself I have to say I hadn’t thought it completely through.

I had friends who talked about how this was just more unwanted government intervention. As a believer in freedom, I’m very suspicious of government too, but I also realize that a [government is not the only source of oppression][oppression], and I figured this is one of those cases where sensible regulation will protect something that is important to society, so I all but ignored those voices.

A few months ago, something hit me.

I read something Mark Cuban said about it online, so I decided to ask him about it on Cyber Dust. He and I have had a few chats about his thoughts on education in the 21st century, so I thought it wouldn’t hurt to see what he had to say. I don’t remember how I started the conversation, and a lot of what he said sounded like rhetoric to me, but some of what he said made me think twice about it. He told me to stop and think about who was behind this recent push. He called them “the Netflixes of the world” and I replied with something about them having an Agenda, to which he responded “Of course they do” and followed with something about how he owned a lot of shares of Netflix ( implying he had no motivation to “trash” them ).

I’m a [big fan][netflix] and former shareholder myself, so we went down that rabbit trail2 for a bit, and I finished by telling him he had made me think twice about it.

And I’ve been thinking more about it ever since.

I understand better why some conservatives might be skeptical, and I agree in principle that…

nothing good ever comes from allowing the government to enact regulations in secret, without public debate, at the hands of lobbyists and to impose new taxes. [Big Red Car][redcar]

but I don’t like the way others are framing this debate.

Spearheaded by President Obama and reluctantly embraced by FCC chief Tom Wheeler, this plan is undoubtedly the U.S. government’s most brazen effort yet to police the Internet—which, until now, has thrived thanks to the absence heavy-handed federal mandates. [reason.com][reason]

If the FCC’s Democratic majority approves Obama’s rules [reason.com][reason]

In practice, therefore, net neutrality means that content companies can’t partner with Internet providers to fund improvements to the last mile [reason.com][reason]

This week, Wheeler issued his proposal to reclassify broadband as Obama suggested. [arstechnica.com][obama]

In the end, there is a lot at stake and I think [what’s being proposed now][speech] is a [sensible approach][sensible] to protect a free and open Internet.





1Brad Burnham does a great job of explaining the stakes [here][history] and [here][testimony] (both videos).

2I told him I sold my stock back when it was tanking and I needed the cash for NYU. He told me he sold then too, but bought a bunch back. He also told me going to NYU is crazy.

[namedrop]: [oppression]: /why-i-call-myself-a-libertarian-socialist-part-one/ [netflix]: /links-for-2009-02-02/ [dad]: http://www.feld.com/archives/2015/02/explaining-net-neutrality-dad.html [redcar]: http://themusingsofthebigredcar.com/net-neutrality-madness/ [reason]: http://reason.com/archives/2015/02/08/dont-extend-the-dead-hand-of-the-fcc-to [obama]: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/02/republicans-claim-obama-had-improper-influence-over-net-neutrality/ [speech]: http://www.pakman.com/2015/02/04/a-sensible-approach-to-net-neutrality-by-the-fcc/ [sensible]: http://www.pakman.com/2015/02/04/a-sensible-approach-to-net-neutrality-by-the-fcc/ [history]: https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y6DVTy9KKEc [testimony]: https://www.youtube.com/embed/kkq_zM6U4eo

⇠ My right to believe nonsense

Trouble Maker ⇢