{"id":7250,"date":"2017-12-22T19:14:49","date_gmt":"2017-12-23T03:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=7250"},"modified":"2017-12-22T19:14:49","modified_gmt":"2017-12-23T03:14:49","slug":"net-neutrality-far-dead-senators-line-fight-fcc-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/12\/22\/net-neutrality-far-dead-senators-line-fight-fcc-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"Net Neutrality Is Far From Dead as Senators Line up to Fight FCC Decision"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"field-wrapper-attribution\" class=\"field-wrapper content-container clearfix inline-fields\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-article-date field--type-datestamp field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\"><span class=\"pb-timestamp\"><span class=\"date-display-single\">December 21, 2017\u00a0<\/span><\/span>by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Newsweek<\/a><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-subtitle field--type-text-long field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<h3>Voters from across the political spectrum overwhelmingly support an open internet.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"field-wrapper-authors\" class=\"field-wrapper content-container clearfix inline-fields\">\n<div class=\"grouping-prefix\">by\u00a0<span class=\"pb-byline\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/evan-greer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Evan Greer<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"shr_canvas2\" class=\"shareaholic-canvas shareaholic-ui shareaholic-resolved-canvas ng-scope\" data-app-id=\"6840209\" data-app=\"share_buttons\" data-title=\"Net Neutrality Is Far From Dead as Senators Line up to Fight FCC Decision\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/views\/2017\/12\/21\/net-neutrality-far-dead-senators-line-fight-fcc-decision\" data-summary=\"\">\n<div class=\"ng-scope\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-buttons-container shareaholic-ui no-print  flat mini\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-buttons-wrapper shareaholic-ui\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-buttons-animation-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-buttons-heading custom\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"ng-binding ng-scope\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-article-img field--type-image field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"caption-processed\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/cd_large\/public\/views-article\/poop_5.jpg?itok=QCODwWKW\" alt=\"Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai released a video to defend his stance on net neutrality. (Photo: Daily Caller)\" width=\"955\" height=\"500\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-main-caption field--type-text-long field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<p><em>Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai released a video to defend his stance on net neutrality. (Photo:\u00a0Daily Caller)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<p>Cancel the funeral and get ready to fight:\u00a0Net neutrality is far from dead. Our elected officials in Congress have the power to reverse what is swiftly becoming one of the U.S. government\u2019s most unpopular decisions ever. And if they don\u2019t, they\u2019ll pay for it come election season.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re catching up: the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/battleforthenet.com\/\">just ignored<\/a>\u00a0historic levels of public outcry and voted to rip up the basic rules that protect free speech on the internet. Their decision breaks with more than 20 years of bipartisan policy, and hands cable and phone companies the power to control what we see and do online, opening the floodgates for new fees, slowed down access, and even outright censorship.<\/p>\n<p>But 26\u00a0senators have already\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fightfortheftr\/status\/942782046971285504\">signed on<\/a>\u00a0to a Resolution of Disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), a vehicle to overturn the FCC\u2019s net neutrality repeal with a simple majority vote in both the Senate and House. It\u2019s not going to be easy, but it\u2019s increasingly within reach with Democrats in lock step against the FCC rollback and half a dozen Republicans\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/tumblr.fightforthefuture.org\/post\/168473715723\/fcc-chairman-losing-republican-party-support-as\">already<\/a>\u00a0publicly criticizing the move.<\/p>\n<p>Outside of Washington, DC, net neutrality is not a partisan issue. Voters from across the political spectrum overwhelmingly agree that they don\u2019t want their cable companies controlling where they get news, how they stream music and videos, or which apps they use to pay for things, get directions, or communicate with friends and family.<\/p>\n<p>But this FCC decision came from the darkest depths of the DC \u201cswamp.\u201d The guy in charge, a former top Verizon lawyer, openly\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/tech-policy\/2017\/12\/ajit-pai-jokes-about-being-a-brainwashed-verizon-puppet-at-the-fcc\/\">joked<\/a>\u00a0about being a \u201cpuppet\u201d for the industry. Someone funded what appeared to be a sophisticated operation to create confusion around the FCC docket by stuffing it with millions of \u00a0fake comments using stolen identities. And the FCC refused to cooperate with an investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Comcast, Verizon, and AT&amp;T poured money into\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/tech-policy\/2017\/11\/comcast-deleted-net-neutrality-pledge-the-same-day-fcc-announced-repeal\/\">misleading<\/a>\u00a0advertisements, ghost written<a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2017\/12\/14\/that-net-neutrality-op-ed-in-the-wall-street-journal-was-written-by-a-comcast-attorney\/\">op-eds<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.vice.com\/article\/cable-companies-are-astroturfing-fake-consumer-support-to-end-net-neutrality\">astroturf<\/a>\u00a0campaigns, to fool customers into thinking that they would voluntarily abide by the principles of net neutrality, even as they used all of their political power and influence to destroy it. They\u2019ve been busy buying friends in Congress with<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2017\/12\/11\/16746230\/net-neutrality-fcc-isp-congress-campaign-contribution\">ample<\/a>\u00a0campaign contributions, while pounding Capitol Hill with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/tipsheets\/politico-influence\/2017\/10\/19\/comcast-hires-ogilvy-222899?link_id=2&amp;can_id=619b9eb74a1e49e50d41d6796be7983f&amp;source=email-att-has-the-cash-weve-got-the-phone-calls-4&amp;email_referrer=email_260803&amp;email_subject=att-has-the-cash-weve-got-the-phone-calls\">armies<\/a>\u00a0of lobbyists.<\/p>\n<p>But after all of that, they\u2019ve completely failed to build any real grassroots support for their attack on net neutrality, from the left or the right. And every member of Congress knows that.<\/p>\n<p>75 percent\u00a0of Republican voters\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/the-switch\/wp\/2017\/12\/12\/this-poll-gave-americans-a-detailed-case-for-and-against-the-fccs-net-neutrality-plan-the-reaction-among-republicans-was-striking\/?utm_term=.f5f1fc7be862\">support<\/a>\u00a0the net neutrality protections the FCC just slashed. Despite\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/motherboard.vice.com\/en_us\/article\/vbympa\/net-neutrality-fcc-inspector-general-report\">debunked<\/a>\u00a0conspiracy claims spread by lobbyists,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/tech\/2017\/12\/12\/imminent-threat-to-the-internet-tech-pioneers-speak-out-against-repeal-of-net-neutrality\/\">tech-savvy<\/a>\u00a0libertarians and conservatives have been\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2017\/11\/27\/net-neutrality-trump-breitbart-julian-assange-kim-dotcom\/\">winning over<\/a>\u00a0their compatriots on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/beinglibertarian.com\/net-neutrality-necessity\/\">substance<\/a>\u00a0of the issue. Killing off net neutrality would be\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.keepthewebopenforbusiness.com\/\">devastating<\/a>\u00a0for small businesses and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.engine.is\/startups-for-net-neutrality\/\">startups<\/a>. Comcast owns MSNBC. AT&amp;T could soon own CNN.<\/p>\n<p>FCC Chairman Ajit Pai pointed the finger at companies like Twitter, Facebook, and Google, who many on both the right and left feel already have too much control over online speech. But the FCC\u2019s vote only makes that situation worse. The agency\u2019s move amounts to a crony-capitalist government handout to a politically influential industry,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/beinglibertarian.com\/net-neutrality-necessity\/\">concentrating<\/a>power in the hands of near-monopolies and giving them the ability to squash competition and silence free speech.<\/p>\n<p>No matter how hard they try, telecom lobbyists will just never convince a meaningful number of Republican voters that killing net neutrality , and ending the internet as a free market of ideas, is a good thing. And that\u2019s what gives us a unique chance to get our normally gridlocked Congress to take action and overrule the FCC\u2019s politically toxic order.<\/p>\n<div id=\"block-inject-8\" class=\"block-inject block-inject-8\">\n<div id=\"block-block-68\" class=\"block block--block block--block-68\">\n<div class=\"block__content\">\n<div class=\"cta-content-block-one\">\n<div class=\"card\">\n<div class=\"card-header\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Lawmakers in every state have been getting\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/12\/07\/technology\/net-neutrality-protests-opposition.html\">hammered<\/a>\u00a0for months with millions of phone calls, emails, protests, constituent meetings, media requests, and pressure from small businesses at volumes that just never happen. Net neutrality is becoming one of the most talked about political issues in recent human history.<\/p>\n<p>The next phase of the fight will be the most important, and potentially the most dangerous. Already one of Big Cable\u2019s best friends in Congress, Marsha Blackburn, who has\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2017\/12\/11\/16746230\/net-neutrality-fcc-isp-congress-campaign-contribution\">taken<\/a>\u00a0more than $600,000 from the industry, is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/tech-policy\/2017\/12\/gop-net-neutrality-bill-would-allow-paid-fast-lanes-and-preempt-state-laws\/\">pushing<\/a>\u00a0for legislation that would permanently undermine the FCC\u2019s ability to enforce open internet protections. This bait and switch has been in the works for months. The telecom lobby\u2019s end game is to use the crisis they\u2019ve created to ram through legislation that\u2019s branded as a compromise but amounts to a fatal blow to net neutrality .<\/p>\n<p>But that\u2019s exactly why we need to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/battleforthenet.com\/\">push for<\/a>\u00a0Congress to overrule the FCC with a Congressional Resolution of Disapproval. We don\u2019t need legislation that\u2019s been watered down with kool-aid. The FCC did something that a supermajority of people in this country oppose. Our elected officials have to decide whether to rubber stamp that betrayal or overturn it.<\/p>\n<p>The internet makes the impossible possible. If we harness our anger and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/battleforthenet.com\/\">direct it strategically<\/a>, we can get the votes we need to restore the net neutrality protections that should never have been taken away in the first place. Any lawmaker who refuses to listen to their constituents will have to go on the record right before an election as having voted against the free and open web. They would be wise not to underestimate the internet\u2019s power to hold them accountable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-copyright field--type-text field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<p>\u00a9 2017 Newsweek<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-author-profile field--type-entityreference field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<div id=\"cdreams-profile-11686\" class=\"cdreams-profile teaser author\">\n<div class=\"content clearfix grid-size-16\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-profile-img field--type-image field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/evan-greer\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"caption-processed\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/cd_bio_small\/public\/authors\/evan_greer.jpeg?itok=pZZKuHug\" alt=\"\" width=\"65\" height=\"65\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-desc field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<p>Evan Greer is the campaign director of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fightforthefuture.org\/\">Fight for the Future<\/a>, a digital rights nonprofit known for organizing massive online protests to defend free expression on the Internet. She&#8217;s a transgender parent, organizes a monthly queer dance party and travels internationally as a political musician, speaker, and workshop facilitator. Follow her on Twitter:\u00a0<a class=\"ProfileHeaderCard-screennameLink u-linkComplex js-nav\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/evan_greer\"><span class=\"u-linkComplex-target\">@evan_greer<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>December 21, 2017\u00a0by Newsweek Voters from across the political spectrum overwhelmingly support an open internet. by\u00a0Evan Greer Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai released a video to defend his stance on net neutrality. (Photo:\u00a0Daily Caller) Cancel the funeral and get ready to fight:\u00a0Net neutrality is far from dead. Our elected&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/12\/22\/net-neutrality-far-dead-senators-line-fight-fcc-decision\/\"> 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\/7250"}],"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=7250"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7251,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7250\/revisions\/7251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}