Senator Franken and Net Neutrality: Nothing at All Might Be Better

December 17, 2010

Senator Al Franken (D-MN) does not like the new net neutrality proposal and has said publically that it could do "more harm than doing nothing at all." Franken says this for a number of reasons: it exempts wireless broadband from any nondiscrimination provisions, it gives a nod of approval to paid prioritization. In his view, the FCC would be better off waiting and doing net neutrality the right way.

Franken is not alone in his criticism; Republicans don't want any form of net neutrality, while Democrats -- including advocacy groups such as Free Press and the ECA - don't like it because it doesn't do enough.

"I am very worried that the draft Order does not do enough to preserve that openness," he wrote to FCC Chair Julius Genachowski. In fact, as presently written, it could do "more harm than doing nothing at all."

Franken goes on to say that, "absent significant changes to the draft Order as it has been described to me, adopting these rules as they are may actually send signals to industry endorsing any closing off of the Internet that is not specifically prohibited."

Source: Ars Technica

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Comments

Re: Senator Franken and Net Neutrality: Nothing at All ...

Submitted by greevar on Fri, 12/17/2010 - 22:10.

It seems to me that the current version would actually do the opposite of what neutrality means to do. I escpecially don't like the section that encourages ISPs to charge by usage. That gives them the power to make cutting the cable more inconvenient. They don't want us to stop using their expensive legacy services, it's too profitable and competition is scarce. If I want to watch my favorite shows by way of the internet, I shouldn't be punished because it happens to be a large file. They don't cap our connections because the network is overwhelmed, they do it because that makes it harder to depend solely on the internet for communications and entertainment. They're like spoiled children, throwing a trantrum because they can't be allowed to abuse the rules to their benefit. So they lie, cheat, and steal to keep their superior position while the rest of the kids at the table are feeling mistreated.

-Greevar

"Paste superficially profound, but utterly meaningless quotation here."

Re: Senator Franken and Net Neutrality: Nothing at All ...

Submitted by King of Fiji on Sun, 12/19/2010 - 19:02.

"They don't want us to stop using their expensive legacy services, it's too profitable and competition is scarce"

Free to air sattelite. You may not get as many channel as you would via cable but you get enough that makes dumping pay tv worth it considering alot of cable content is already on the internet.

Competition isn't scarce. Its just badly promoted.

Re: Senator Franken and Net Neutrality: Nothing at All ...

Submitted by greevar on Mon, 12/20/2010 - 10:20.

Why would I even bother? Why can't I centralize my phone, TV, and world wide web over one line? It's all anyone really needs today. All of the others are just attempts to milk the public for more money. Screw satellite and cable! I can get any and all shows/movies from the internet and I can watch it when I'm ready to watch it, as many times as I care to watch it.

-Greevar

"Paste superficially profound, but utterly meaningless quotation here."

Re: Senator Franken and Net Neutrality: Nothing at All ...

Submitted by King of Fiji on Mon, 12/20/2010 - 17:17.

@greevar

Just give it time. Eventually some sort of regulation hidden under the disguise of a Law intended to do something else will cripple the internet. It happened with terrestrial radio and its only a matter of time before it happens with the internet.

If your going to make light of free satelite then something is wrong with you sir. : P

Re: Senator Franken and Net Neutrality: Nothing at All ...

Submitted by hellfire7885 on Sat, 12/18/2010 - 06:12.

"Bam, I got you, you're dead"

"Uh, but, i'm wearing armor that's invisible and makes me invincible, so I can'tr die"

"You can't do that"

"Nuh uh, I just did"

"No, I killed you, you can't do that"

*huffs* "I'm going home!!"

Re: Senator Franken and Net Neutrality: Nothing at All ...

Submitted by ZippyDSMlee on Sat, 12/18/2010 - 02:45.

And that is ultimately what big business wants. No law is better than corrupted one.

I have a dream, break the chains of copy right oppression! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/cigital-disobedience/

---

http://zippydsm.deviantart.com/

Re: Senator Franken and Net Neutrality: Nothing at All ...

Submitted by CyberSkull on Fri, 12/17/2010 - 21:50.

He's probably right. The nerfed bill is worse than no law at all.

Shout box

Andrew Eisen: Well, I was right. Both Sony and Microsoft's consoles will be out by the year's end and both will be significantly more powerful than the current gen.05/21/2013 - 5:06pm

james_fudge: thnx05/21/2013 - 4:47pm

Zen: Just to let ya know...you called it the "Xbox 260" in the backwards compatibility article lol.05/21/2013 - 4:26pm

Zen: @PHX Awesome, I will hit those up after class tonight. Going back to college finally! :) My kids have had a blast telling ME to do my homework now lol.05/21/2013 - 4:19pm

PHX Corp: @Zen I sent you a friend request on both PSN and XBL, just a heads up05/21/2013 - 4:16pm

Zen: I noticed it with the football players when EA showed off Madden as well.05/21/2013 - 4:11pm

Zen: Is it just me or is call of duty hitting the "uncanny valley" with their nicely modeled faces and dead looking eyes? I found it distracting and seemed actually "less" real to me lol.05/21/2013 - 4:10pm

james_fudge: it sounds like if you have an HD reciever you'll be able to use it with a pass-through cable... not 100 percent sure yet05/21/2013 - 2:41pm

james_fudge: happening now http://majornelson.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-architecture-panel/05/21/2013 - 2:20pm

E. Zachary Knight: Some reading material for Microsoft on its used games blocks. That will hurt the console more than helping. http://ezknight.net/?page_id=20505/21/2013 - 2:18pm

james_fudge: yeah good luck with over the air TV05/21/2013 - 2:12pm

E. Zachary Knight: But what if I want to only watch over the air tv? I don't subscribe to pay tv. I never will. If that is a requirement, then MS wasted 45 minutes telling me how great TV will be.05/21/2013 - 2:08pm

james_fudge: EZK it will depend on your provider, just like HBO Go i'd imagine.05/21/2013 - 2:05pm

PHX Corp: @IanC there's also a chance that those titles might be Xbox one exclusive, but it's too early to tell afaik05/21/2013 - 2:03pm

IanC: @E. Zachary Knight - MS certainly got the checkbook out for EA, so no surprise on how negative they are over the Wii U.05/21/2013 - 1:54pm

MaskedPixelante: So now I have to wonder, how many of EA's games are skipping the PS4 because of their pro-used stance?05/21/2013 - 1:53pm

E. Zachary Knight: On the TV front, does the XBox One require a cable/satellite subscription or will I be able to use my over the air channels?05/21/2013 - 1:48pm

E. Zachary Knight: Also, that name was not one of the options on our poll.05/21/2013 - 1:42pm

E. Zachary Knight: This presentation also shows why EA has been so negative about the Wii U. They have had a massive hardon for the XBox One forever.05/21/2013 - 1:42pm

james_fudge: two female presenters05/21/2013 - 1:40pm

All shouts

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