I keep trying to figure out if the opponents of Net Neutrality are simply misinformed as to what it's about, or are intentionally claiming it to be something it is not.
Net Neutrality is, simply, the rule that like content will not be discriminated against (e.g., by throttling its speed) by an internet provider. It doesn't have anything to do with prioritizing porn over medical devices, or the government discouraging ISPs from offering faster broadband to its customers, or increasing the internal speed of its services.
It means that while Netflix can buy much bigger pipes out onto the Internet than I can, if I'm building my own steaming service Comcast can't say, "Well, Netflix has paid us more money, so we're going to throttle down your streaming service going to our customers until you pay us more money, too." Or, worse, "Sorry, Netflix, we've decided to start streaming our own content, too, and our stuff will go to our customers at a much higher speed and quality than your stuff will."
As ISPs buy up media companies (and vice versa), this becomes a bigger and bigger potential issue. Politicians in Congress and the FCC who mistate this are, at best, showing their ignorance, and at worst, showing whose interests they are actually representing.
The Internet needs paid fast lanes, anti-net neutrality senator says
Net neutrality is just a “slogan.”
The opponents of Net Neutrality are motivated by (a) greed (the providers and their pundits) and (b) ignorance (their uneducated puppets). This asshole is a pundit.
+John Hummel That's my presumption, but I guess I still come from an era when folk would be ashamed to mislead in such a bald-faced manner.
You and me both, +Dave Hill. What happened to honor? (In that question, I sound like a conservative. But these days, it seems only liberals have honor.)
+John Hummel I'm not even going with honor it's reverse ostensible disincentive, shame.
I have to assume that it's malice, because the party line is always "rural internet" which frankly is pandering to the base.
"For the better part of 20 years, you people in the rural areas haven't had decent internet, because frankly there's no economic incentive to provide it, and in fact several large companies have actively lied about what they would accomplish. But now, net neutrality is keeping you from getting the bandwidth you deserve!"
They are incapable of that, +Dave Hill. (Even my dog is capable of that, by the way.)
Lying to the uninformed, +Greg Stockton. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. Their stock-in-trade.