Twitter, Amazon, and Pornhub Work Together

This short video, from the Vlog Brothers, does a pretty good job explaining the issue at hand.  It's a little dated, but the issues are essentially the same.

Disappointing.  I had so many notes... so many things to say... I'm so pissed... but now I'm out of time (at least I hope so).  It's supposed to go down tomorrow: we stand up against net neutrality.  Quite a few big, online players (think Twitter, Amazon, Netflix, Github, Atlassian...) are orchestrating an effort to stop the FCC from ending net neutrality.

For those of you who don't know,  net neutrality is pretty much the idea that that the internet should remain as is - with no "governing" body controlling access to content.  This is a big issue, right now, and there seems to be some confusion.  I've run across a few videos and articles from people who think net neutrality is the exact opposite, and should be fought.  If you know anyone in those circles, please make sure they know the facts.  We need to be on the same page.

The internet has leveled the playing field, and given everyone access to an endless stream of information, and means of self-expression.  In short, the government wants in on that.  Don't be fooled by claims of faster and cheaper internet service.  It's just a carrot.  Once we cede control to the FCC, we'll be at the mercy of its policies.  And do you trust it to "fairly" regulate use?  Do you think "undesirable" content will NOT be marginalized, if not completely banned?  I think we will lose our voice.  We'll go right back to pay-to-play, and "being served" preferred content.

Consider the argument that it doesn't make sense for companies and customers to foot the bill needed to support a few sites.  If porn sites, for example, use 30% of the bandwidth in the country, why should all of us support that infrastructure, if we don't watch?  Make the porn companies pay.  Makes sense right?  But what if I told you Netflix was the actual culprit behind 30% bandwidth usage?  Would that make a difference?  Who gets to make that decision, and why?  The point is, we already have a system that works for everybody. Regulation moves away from that.

I think this is an issue on which a very divided country can still agree.  Let net neutrality stand.  Our internet access is too important.

TechCrunch has a great article, if you're interested in learning more.