Why Net Neutrality Matters
Because this is your ISP if net neutrality goes away:
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski wants to solidify net neutrality into firm operating rules for commercial ISPs (both wired and wireless providers) and has approved a notice of new rulemaking which starts the process. Senator John McCain (R-Get Off My Lawn) has introduced legislation to block these rules. My own opinion is that everyone who relies on their access to the internet has a big stake in this effort and it’s time to let your legislators know that net neutrality is important to you and your pocketbook.
Tags: Net Neutrality
This is one of those instances where the reflexive Conservative fear of government makes no sense whatsoever. When Beck says, “You have a freedom of speech or the government. You can’t really have both.”, or McCain says it would be a “government takeover of the internet” they show that they have no grasp of the issue. Does Beck really not understand that far from getting in the way of free speech, government ensures it? Where do you think the 2nd Amendment is? A government document. THE government document. I’ve seen conservatives on this site say that the government doesn’t give rights, it protects them. They are correct. The internet already is open, but moving towards not being so. Government protection will only ensure that that freedom and openness remains for all.
All this is is another example of the right’s reverse-engineering of a position. They start with “Obama or the Democrats want it, so it must be bad.” From there, they come up with reasons (they need not make sense or be consistent with their other positions) why it is bad.
I’ve seen conservatives on this site say that the government doesn’t give rights, it protects them.
Conservatives want to protect the rights of Comcast, Verizon, Disney….
What would today’s conservatives have said about putting up telephone lines as a public infrastructure project?
The same thing southerners said back in the 1820s when it came to “internal improvements” — “Not with my money.”