{"id":7033,"date":"2017-12-06T19:00:51","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T03:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=7033"},"modified":"2017-12-06T19:00:51","modified_gmt":"2017-12-07T03:00:51","slug":"saving-net-neutrality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/12\/06\/saving-net-neutrality\/","title":{"rendered":"Saving Net Neutrality"},"content":{"rendered":"<header>\n<p class=\"lead\">As the elimination of net neutrality looms, the Bay Area may find a few sneaky ways to keep the fair-and-equal internet access.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"author-meta\">\n<li><a class=\"author url fn\" title=\"Posts by Joe Kukura\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sfweekly.com\/author\/jkukura\/\" rel=\"author\">Joe Kukura<\/a>\u00a0(SFWeekly.com)<\/li>\n<li>Wed Nov 29th, 2017<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" src=\"http:\/\/1ryzas42x65e2oosia40bgli.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/news2-2.jpg\" sizes=\"\n     (max-width: 640px) 640px,\n     (max-width: 1024px) 1024px,\n     (max-width: 1200px) 1200px,\n     (min-width: 1201px) 1200px, 100vw\" srcset=\"http:\/\/1ryzas42x65e2oosia40bgli.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/news2-2.jpg 800w, http:\/\/1ryzas42x65e2oosia40bgli.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/news2-2-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/1ryzas42x65e2oosia40bgli.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/news2-2-30x23.jpg 30w, http:\/\/1ryzas42x65e2oosia40bgli.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/news2-2-640x480.jpg 640w, http:\/\/1ryzas42x65e2oosia40bgli.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/news2-2-300x225@2x.jpg 600w, http:\/\/1ryzas42x65e2oosia40bgli.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/news2-2-30x23@2x.jpg 60w\" alt=\"\" \/><em>If net neutrality is overturned, users may be blocked from accessing certain websites. (Courtesy photo)<\/em><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-attachment medium wp-caption-text\"><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>Internet users nationwide have their cords in a bundle over an impending repeal of net neutrality \u2014 the longstanding principle that internet service providers cannot charge for or slow down certain websites.<\/p>\n<p>While the consumer protections of net neutrality appear likely to megabyte the dust, the Bay Area might manage to keep its net neutrality, thanks to state legislation, a proposed city-run internet network here in San Francisco, or a few independent local internet providers who promise to keep the current system in effect.<\/p>\n<p>The Federal Communications Commission, led by Trump appointee and former Verizon corporate lobbyist Ajit Pai, has the votes lined up to repeal net neutrality. The top four internet service providers in the U.S. \u2014 AT&amp;T, Comcast, Charter, and Verizon \u2014 have all campaigned hard in favor of these new rules that would let them limit, block, or charge extra for the websites of their choice.<\/p>\n<p>The new rules would allow Verizon (which just purchased Yahoo) to block Google and Gmail, forcing people to use the crappy and easily-hacked Yahoo search and email services instead.<\/p>\n<p>Or consider Comcast, whose 25 million subscribers \u2014 27 percent of all U.S. internet users \u2014 \u00a0make them the nation\u2019s top internet provider. The company insisted in a statement that \u201cComcast\u2019s commitment to our customers remains the same: We do not and will not block, throttle, or discriminate against lawful content.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But on Tuesday, Comcast abandoned its previous promise that it would not implement more expensive \u201cfast lanes\u201d for higher-bandwidth sites like Netflix and YouTube.<\/p>\n<p>In the midst of all of this, state Sen. Scott Wiener vowed to propose a law that would keep net neutrality in effect in California, eliminating the possibility of big telecom companies charging more money for the same services they\u2019re providing now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf FCC ends #NetNeutrality nationally, we should adopt net neutrality in California,\u201d Wiener tweeted on Nov. 27. \u201cI\u2019m exploring legislation to do so. The FCC claims it has the power to overrule state net neutrality laws. I don\u2019t agree. California needs to protect open internet access.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, the airwaves and internet the FCC regulates are considered \u201cinterstate commerce\u201d because those airwaves cross over state lines. While many states and localities are likely to join California in pushing legislation to keep net neutrality in effect, there is plenty of legal precedent that a federal commission like the FCC can override individual state and local laws.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless, if the big telecom companies do successfully throttle our internet access, there are other options. The Bay Area is home to several smaller providers, like Monkeybrains and Sonic, and the latter tells\u00a0<i>SF Weekly<\/i>\u00a0that net neutrality will remain in effect for their customers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRegardless of the FCC\u2019s decision, we are committed to operating our network net-neutral,\u201d Sonic founder and CEO Dane Jasper says. He also insisted that Sonic would not sell its customers\u2019 browser histories, which internet providers can now do thanks to new legislation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe fundamentally believe that a healthy internet is dependent on the trust of its users,\u201d Jasper says. \u201cMonitoring and selling browsing history strips away already-eroding trust. A competitive market is necessary for customers to have the best service at an affordable price. Instead of favoring the consumer, the FCC\u2019s plan will only serve to put more power in the hands of internet service incumbents, stunting innovation and growth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the same time this battle is being waged, San Francisco proposed its own citywide fiber network to provide high-speed internet access to all local residents. That effort is spearheaded by Sup. Mark Farrell, who is on record as a staunch opponent of repealing net neutrality.<\/p>\n<p>A representative from Farrell\u2019s office tells\u00a0<i>SF Weekly<\/i>\u00a0that the rollback of net neutrality would not stop this project, though the proposed city-owned network has not rendered a decision on whether to adhere to net neutrality.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, San Francisco already has the free and open #SFWiFi network operating in 32 parks, plazas, and open spaces across town. There are no plans to change any component of that network.<\/p>\n<p>So who knows, maybe some San Franciscans who don\u2019t want to pay extra for Netflix will just sit in Dolores Park and stream movies on their phone to avoid paying the extra bandwidth fees. But at the local level, the state level, and among our upstart smaller internet service providers, there is a strong desire to preserve the current free and open system of net neutrality.<\/p>\n<p>The FCC will vote on repealing net neutrality on Dec 14. And with Republicans holding three of the five votes, repeal is likely to pass.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the elimination of net neutrality looms, the Bay Area may find a few sneaky ways to keep the fair-and-equal internet access. Joe Kukura\u00a0(SFWeekly.com) Wed Nov 29th, 2017 If net neutrality is overturned, users may be blocked from accessing certain websites. (Courtesy photo) Internet users nationwide have their cords in&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/12\/06\/saving-net-neutrality\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7033"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7033"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7034,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7033\/revisions\/7034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}