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John Oliver Gets Fired Up Over Net Neutrality, Causes FCC's Site To Temporarily Crash (fortune.com)

Posted by msmash on from the go-fcc-yourself dept.

Three years ago, late night comedian John Oliver propelled an arcane telecom topic into the national debate by spurring millions of ordinary Americans to file comments with the Federal Communications Commission in favor of "net neutrality." Among other things, that effort caused the FCC website to crash, which couldn't handle the "overwhelming" traffic. Now Oliver is back at it, and he is already causing the site some troubles. From a report on Fortune: On Sunday night, Oliver devoted a chunk of his Last Week Tonight show to condemning a plan by the FCC's new Chairman, Ajit Pai, to tear up current net neutrality rules, which forbid Internet providers from delivering some websites faster than others. In the clip, Oliver urges viewers to visit a website called "GoFCCYourself," which redirects users to a section of the FCC site where people can comment on the net neutrality proceeding, known as "Restoring Internet Freedom" in Pai's parlance. Viewers took up Oliver's offer in spades -- so much so that the FCC's servers appeared to be overwhelmed by the flood of traffic. The comment page is currently loading with delays and, according to reports from several outlets, the site went down altogether for a while. On Monday, Ashley Boyd, VP of Advocacy for Mozilla, also published a blog post to remind people that the next 10 days are critical for the internet's future. Much like Oliver, Mozilla is also making it easier for people to voice their opinion. The post adds: Add your name to our letter, and we'll deliver your message straight to the FCC. You can also record an impassioned voicemail using Mozilla's call tool. So far, Internet users have recorded more than 50 hours of audio for the FCC's ears.

4 of 153 comments (clear)

  1. maybe he needs to look in a mirror? by known_coward_69 · · Score: 0, Troll

    he works for HBO that pays ISP's to host their content for better performance than the little guy. and he puts his content up on youtube which has dark fiber across the world and direct links to every ISP on the planet to deliver their content

    but yeah, he's fighting for the little guy. just like bill o'reilly

  2. TV comedians now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Next up on Slashdot: Kim Kardashian offers her wisdom on cyber security. If Hollywood douchebags are on your side, maybe you should reconsider your positions.

    1. Re:TV comedians now? by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 1, Troll

      Next up on Slashdot: Kim Kardashian offers her wisdom on cyber security. If Hollywood douchebags are on your side, maybe you should reconsider your positions.

      Yes, all actors are vapid simpletons, incapable of cogent thought:
      For example: Dolph Lundgren:

      Lundgren received a degree in chemical engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in the early 1980s and a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney in 1982.

      Lundgren was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1983.

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  3. Re:Comedians are running the country now? by edx93 · · Score: 0, Troll

    This is scary considering how wrong or incredibly misleading (read: biased) he has been on issues I'm more familiar with. I'll go ahead and assume the same level of bias on other topics as well. The fact that people (millenials?) gobble up his crap without second thought is mindboggling (FWIW, I am NOT a republican)