In the much-needed good news category, the Federal Communications Commission voted this week to classify broadband Internet as a public utility, a big win for net neutrality. This means that no content is blocked and the Internet isn’t separated into pay-to-play fast lanes for Internet and media companies that are bigger and slow lanes for small companies that talk about racism, like, well, TWIB:
Tom Wheeler, the commission chairman, said the F.C.C. was using “all the tools in our toolbox to protect innovators and consumers” and preserve the Internet’s role as a “core of free expression and democratic principles.”
Thank god, our fast access to GIFs is safe, am I right?
Team Blackness also discussed a man who tried to pay his bar bill for a rock, the unveiling of diverse emojis, and even more talk on white privilege and dealing with racial issues.
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Just Some Fuckhead
Our ability to doublepost without incurring extra charges has been maintained.
Villago Delenda Est
Don’t be so sure it’s safe
The vile monopolist filth that are AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast are all planning on fighting this in the courts.
John Nelson
@Just Some Fuckhead: What’s up with the double post shaming?
Bobby B.
THE CORPORATION SHALL PREVAIL YE FOOLES. Comcast paid good money for their thralls and will not see their money wasted.
Mike J
@Bobby B.: Google has a much, much larger market cap. Apple has about enough cash to buy 100% of Comcast’s stock.
boatboy_srq
@Villago Delenda Est: One more argument for treating Internet access as a utility: in the modern marketplace, if (following the Libertarian model) you don’t like what the purveyor of the service is doing, what are you going to do? Unplug?
You’d think that every single enterprise that depends on digital sales/delivery would be onboard with net neutrality in a CPU cycle.
boatboy_srq
@Mike J:
America, meet the iNet.
schrodinger's cat
@Villago Delenda Est: Verizon and Comcast’s customer service is far worse than any DMV I have had to encounter.
Villago Delenda Est
@boatboy_srq: One would think, but the problem is that they do not think any of this shit through. They’re all obsessed with short term gain.
Major Major Major Major
OT: RIP Spock :(
boatboy_srq
@Villago Delenda Est: Apple’s had enough bad harvests that keeping the nestegg makes sense for them (anyone remember the IIsi/Quadra700 days, for example?). Still, the product name has a nice ring to it.
Grumpy Code Monkey
Relevant articles:
Republicans in Congress already trying to overturn FCC’s latest votes
Bring on the lawsuits—FCC chairman says net neutrality will survive
FCC votes for net neutrality, a ban on paid fast lanes, and Title II
Net neutrality is “safe”, at least for the moment.
The Internet, however…
Lenovo PCs ship with man-in-the-middle adware that breaks HTTPS connections
EFF unearths evidence of possible Superfish-style attacks in the wild
Lenovo promises to cut the crapware in the wake of Superfish debacle
Uncle Ebeneezer
Thank you Aaron Freeman for pointing out the fussy child element of Nicole Sanders. That was the first thing I thought of the other day. All the whining by PA defenders of “But she meant well, why she should anyone speak up about anything if you’re just gonna criticize them” sounded just like a bratty 5 year old who’s upset that their parents would point out that they appreciated them cleaning their room but they actually did a couple things wrong/poorly.
KG
@boatboy_srq: depending on where you’re at, you have some “options”. I can “choose” between my local cable provider (Cox), Verizon, and possibly AT&T for Internet services (which they always want to bundle with tv and phone services, neither of which I want because I have satellite and a cellphone). Of course, it not much of a choice since they all end up using the same lines, provide the same speeds and at the same prices…
And of course, there’s the argument that you need Internet access in this day and age. Looking for a job? Good luck checking the want ads in a paper when everyone else applied yesterday, especially if you’re mailing your resume, they might get it after they hired someone. Trying to find a number for take out? Good luck figuring out what’s on the menu if you do. It’s really kind of insane when you think about it
Roger Moore
@boatboy_srq:
It makes sense for Apple to keep a lot of money if you’re thinking about it from the standpoint of an Apple CEO or other employee, since they’ll be able to keep their jobs for longer if/when the company’s cash cows dry up, but it’s not obvious that shareholders do well that way. The shareholders might be better off getting a big dividend and using it to diversify their portfolios. That’s not to say that Apple should distribute all of its cash holdings- it should have some cash on hand to spend on acquisitions and investments in future technologies- but the pile they’re sitting on now is way bigger than they really need.
Belafon
@boatboy_srq:
That’s true, but most of them can’t send lobbyists to DC with the checkbook open.
schrodinger's cat
@Roger Moore: Isn’t that true about many corporations, though?
Roger Moore
@schrodinger’s cat:
Most companies don’t keep nearly as much cash on hand as Apple does, even relative to their size. Apple has almost $180 billion in cash and securities, which is an absurd amount to keep on hand. It doesn’t serve much of a business purpose and looks a lot more like they’re waiting for a tax holiday to bring it onshore than that they’re keeping it for some more legitimate purpose.
Ruckus
@Roger Moore:
Didn’t we just have a tax holiday not that long ago?
I’d bet they keep cash because it makes a lot of sense today if you don’t want to invest in other corps that have holdings that you don’t like, like maybe competitors or possible competitors. Why sweeten the pot for someone else? IOW isn’t it akin to keeping you money under the mattress?
Mandalay
So far Rahm Emanuel doesn’t seem to be getting any heat for his evasiveness and silence on this issue…
If ever an issue called some leadership, this is it. Step up and tell us what’s going on Emanuel, you vile fucker!
AxelFoley
@John Nelson: What’s up with the double post shaming shaming?
Paul in KY
@AxelFoley: What’s with all the questions on double post shaming or double post shaming shaming?