Current FCC Net Neutrality Rules... Bad?
Back when I heard about the FCC’s proposed Net Neutrality rules, I was pretty stoked. Their six rules describing how users should be treated really made me optimistic. But then I realized there was a problem.. a BIG problem.
The phrase “reasonable network management” and the phrase “do not… apply to activities such as the unlawful distribution of copyrighted works.”, introduce loopholes that allow content providers and ISPs to engage in censorship and other infringements of free speech in the name of ‘copyright infringement’. The current state of the rules are not sufficient to provide true network neutrality. “Reasonable network management” needs to be explicitly defined as to allow no room for ISPs to bend the rules, and there should be no provision or compromise given in favor to copyright owners. These provisions completely undermine the entire set of reasoning I and many others support net neutrality.
There was the ‘war on drugs’ and the ‘war on terror’, which wasted our taxpayer money and resources for little to no benefit. I highly doubt that a similar ‘war on copyright infringement’ will prove fruitful in the long run.
Please sign the petition below letting the FCC know that these rules should apply to all parties, including the RIAA and the MPAA:
I envision that the Internet in coming years will be very essential to our economic health as well as the health of the freedoms that our republic provides. The protection of network neutrality and the rights of citizens’ freedom of speech on the Internet is a foundational step that should not be ignored or be complacent about.