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House Democrats Shelve Net Neutrality Proposal
crimeandpunishment writes "A compromise on net neutrality appears to be as likely as Google and China becoming BFFs. House Democrats have pulled the plug on efforts to work out a compromise among phone, cable, and Internet companies. House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, who shelved the proposal late on Wednesday in the face of Republican opposition, said, 'If Congress can't act, the FCC must,' and called this development 'a loss for consumers.' Internet companies and public interest groups say the new regulations are needed to keep phone and cable companies from playing favorites with traffic, while those companies insist they need flexibility so high-bandwidth applications don't slow down their systems." The net neutrality debate seems to have fallen victim to the extreme polarization evident in the larger political culture.
"Phone and cable companies insist they need flexibility so high-bandwidth applications don't slow down their systems."
Fine. Let them charge the content producers by bandwidth. The wider bandwidth your content needs, the more you will pay. Low bandwidth content (most web pages actually) would get a free ride, things like Hulu and Youtube would probaby have to open their wallets to help support the inferstructure. Just so long as nobody gets priority over anybody else. First come first serve, but if you take more than average you pay for it.
Combine this with the COICA act the Demofucks are pushing on "fast track" through the Senate right now, though, and you maybe see why the Rethuglicans (and anyone without major brain damage or MafiAA membership) are afraid?
THAT bill, which is coming up for a wee-hours vote while everyone is being distracted by other issues (thanks for "fast-tracking", Corrupt Shitwad Leahy!), is nothing but a censorship package, complete with the ability to shut down websites without actual findings of fact or evidence of a crime and the ability to order US ISP's to "black out" websites overseas that whoever's in charge from the government finds "objectionable."
Great Firewall of America, here we come... bought and paid for by the Chinese money laundered to the Democrats in the past couple decades, and ready soon to "black out" the same sites the Chinese already black out.
Because liberals still are under the delusion that government has the ability to do good, despite decades of evidence to the contrary.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
I'm so tired of the "they're equally bad" argument. They aren't. Republican's have systematically destroyed the middle class in the last 30 years, not the Democrats. The Republican's are lying hypocrites that utilize threats of violence and appeal to the most racist/homophobic members of our society.
They are both bad, but they are not equally bad.