Slashdot Mirror


Senator Diane Feinstein Trying to Kill Net Neutrality

An anonymous reader writes "According to the Register, Senator Diane Feinstein is attempting to put language into the stimulus bill that would kill net neutrality. The amendment that her provision was attached to was withdrawn, but lobbyists tell Public Knowledge that Feinstein hopes to put it back into the bill during the closed-door conference committee that reconciles the House and Senate versions." Bad Senator! No Cookie!

9 of 873 comments (clear)

  1. Re:More and more evidence by Lendrick · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Yes, to regulate a given industry, you want the party who isn't in the pocket of that particular industry. Generally that's the Democrats, as the Republicans are in a lot more pockets, but there are some exceptions, and Hollywood is one.

  2. Re:How ridiculous. by TubeSteak · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What I don't get is how content that was never voted on in the original Senate or House bill can get added during the conference committee.

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
  3. Re:Ummm... by jackspenn · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Yeh, I have a lot of friends who believed by "change" Obama intended to:

    su - President
    del /SpecialInterests
    cd /newUS
    ./configure
    make
    make install


    Unfortunately for them, by "change" he meant:

    su - President
    mv /SpecialInterests /opt/agenda2009

    and they never expected to see

    cp lobbyists /home/whitehouse/cabinet/

    or

    cp taxcheats /home/whitehouse/cabinet/

    --
    Respect the Constitution
  4. Re:How ridiculous. by Shakrai · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The hypocrisy of the democrats who ripped on republicans and Bush and now ignore it when they do the EXACT same type of stuff just kills me.

    My favorite was all the whining I heard from the far-left when Bush was selling the TARP plan by telling us how society was going to collapse if we didn't pass it. "Bush is just trying to scare us so he can raid the treasury!" they all said. I'm glad that Obama is above such fear-mongering to pass his agenda. He would never use loaded words like "catastrophe", would he?

    --
    I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
    We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
  5. Re:I didn't know Feinstein was a Republican.... by NoodleSlayer · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Feinstein is that special brand of Democrat coming from a state where there's almost no viable Republican challengers so she's free to give the American people the bird as much as she wants. There's rumors that Schwarzenegger might run against Barbara Boxer in 2010 though.

  6. Re:I didn't know Feinstein was a Republican.... by Malevolyn · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm going to have to agree with you on this one. I gave up the label thing (and ended any personal party affiliation) long ago when I finally realized it doesn't really mean all that much, but this borderlines on FUD and it actually happens in quite a few places.

    --
    Your ad here.
  7. Re:I didn't know Feinstein was a Republican.... by sumdumass · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The problem is that a corporation doesn't act by itself. It acts at the direction of the board and management that direct it's actions. In essence, we do have the death penalty for corporations because any manager or director shown to have intentionally killed someone, will be subject to the death penalty just as you or I would.

    Don't let this separate entity thing confuse you. It you take all the people out of a corporation, it will do exactly nothing. It won't sell anything, it won't poison anyone, it won't pollute the environment, it won't do anything. Now just as there are with most laws, there is a component called intent. If you intend to set out and do something illegal, you get the full charges pressed against you. If you unintentionally do the same, then you get lesser penalties. Being a corporation does nothing to hide the actions of the people involved and they will be held accountable to the same respect. At best, the corporation will end up being fined in addition to any penalties assessed to the employees responsible for any wrong doing.

    Take this peanut problem we currently have where a shipment of tainted peanuts were used knowing they were bad. It's a criminal investigation that will whoever ordered the shipment to be used as well as anyone who knew about its condition but didn't report it to be exposed to criminal fines and penalties. If the order came from the owners themselves, the corporate veil will not protect them at all.

    That's something else that people seem to ignore. The Corporate veil only protects the owners or shareholders who took no direct action in the illegal activity. A misconception is that if you incorporate, your bullet proof or something and that simply isn't true. If your actions cause damage, you are personally responsible too. If your business practices cause a bankruptcy, your personal assets aren't protected. If you are responsible for anything the corporation does, you can be and most likely are responsible. Now when you invest in something and take a silent approach and a worker comes in still drunk and kills another employee or kills a civilian not affiliated with the company, then you are separated from his actions even though the company might not be. That's the only protection a corporation offers someone.

  8. Re:I didn't know Feinstein was a Republican.... by hansamurai · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It shouldn't matter what opinion you have on net neutrality, there is absolutely NO reason this should be in the stimulus bill.

    Support the One Subject at a Time Act:
    http://www.downsizedc.org/etp/campaigns/83

  9. Re:Why not? by Walkingshark · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I don't know, I'm finding myself more and more drawn to the ideas of David Brin in regards to privacy. I think the ultimate answer in a world with the kind of computer technology we have (and will soon have) is to not try and fight the inevitable forms of electronic surveilance, but to make it so that the eye is omni directional. I think perhaps our focus should be on finding a way to make sure that politicians can not exempt themselves from tansparency, and in fact that they are subject to increasing levels of scrutiny compared to the scrutiny they level at us.

    I think a good first step would be to hire an "archivist" who is tasked with following every congressperson and top level government official around and recording in video and audio (and making copies of all electronic and analog communications they make) everything that they do, every meeting they have, etc.

    If they haven't done anything wrong, they have no reason to object, right?

    --
    The world you experience is only a close approximation of reality.