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* This video is by far the best and funniest explanation I’ve ever seen of “Net Neutrality” and why it’s so important. It also includes some hilarious digs at online commenters. The most offensive swear words have been bleeped, but there’s still some naughty bits, so beware. Either way, you absolutely must take the time to watch the whole thing. John Oliver is a genius…
* Related…
* FCC Comment Page Buckles To Its Knees After John Oliver Asks Everyone To Comment
* Rep. Latta Breaks New Ground In Introducing Anti-Net Neutrality Bill Where Almost Every Claim Is Laughably Wrong
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 12:29 pm
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“Good Evening, Monsters,” lol
That is good stuff, the last 3 minutes is Genius.
Worth the watch. Funny!
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 12:47 pm
Brilliant!
Comment by Anon-Partisan Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 12:52 pm
The Rauner parallels here are curious — especially with the headline.
Comment by Frenchie Mendoza Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 12:54 pm
Glad this was posted around lunch time so I could watch the whole thing. Jon Stewart built on something all the talk show guys before him started. Stephen Colbert refined it. This guy John Oliver is perfecting it. Very, very funny. And smart.
Comment by A guy... Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 1:10 pm
Good thing I finished my lunch before watching that or I would have had soda coming out my nose.
Comment by Skeptic Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 1:12 pm
Ha ha but let’s be real this guy will NEVER be comptroller!
Comment by William j Kelly Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 1:15 pm
Pure genius. And yes, I will now head to the FCC site to comment on the proposed cable company f$ck@ry rules!
Comment by Concerned Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 1:18 pm
#NotAllCommenters
– MrJM
Comment by MrJM (@MisterJayEm) Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 1:24 pm
OMG, I have been trying to explain to my librarian friends why we should care about the FCC rules and Net Neutrality. John Oliver explains it in such a way that I sure never could.
I forwarded the link to our librarian listserv with a warning that the language was adult and should probably be watched at home and not on school equipment. Most schools block YouTube anyway but I don’t want any to violate their district’s policies.
Comment by Nearly Normal Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 1:46 pm
This guy is great. The best half hour of teevee right now.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 1:48 pm
No doubt this video is why Net Neutrality is leading in the number of comments filed in the past 30 days–from the fcc.gov/comments page
Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet 47061
Applications of Comcast Corporation and Time Warner Cable Inc. for Consent to Assign or Transfer Control of Licenses and Applications 1824
In the Matter of revision of the Commission’s Rules to Ensure Compatibility with Enhanced 911 Emergency Calling Systems. 203
Comment by Nearly Normal Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 1:55 pm
Too bad there’s not an anti-trust division in the Justice Department. The dude from TimeWarner just copped, on camera, to the existence of a monopolistic cable cartel.
And people claim Obama’s a commie……
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 2:22 pm
Oh wow, very funny, clever AND informative. The Triple Crown of getting people aware and motivated to take action.
Comment by Tommydanger Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 2:22 pm
Oliver is brilliant on this, and preserving net neutrality is important. Unfortunately, Oliver is also right that the big ISPs have virtually bought the government, from the FCC to Congress. One of Illinois’ own U.S. reps, Bobby Rush, has received more than $25,000 from the likes of AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and Time Warner in this election cycle alone. Little surprise that he was a knee-jerk signer of a letter to the FCC a couple weeks ago that supported his donors’ position that the FCC shouldn’t require net neutrality. When he’s not busy being a yes-man for the ISPs, maybe Rush might think to ask his rich buddies why the people in his district on the South Side are so poorly served by them.
Comment by OldSmoky2 Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 2:23 pm
Rich, thanks for posting this.
It was well worth the watch.
It changed my mind on the topic.
This is not at all about the free market and letting those with the bucks access a faster internet…this is just a bald power grab. Loved the Usain Bolt analogy.
Comment by Jake From Elwood Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 2:49 pm
LOL! Need to forward this to some of my friends.
Comment by RNUG Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 3:04 pm
Been writing my comments to the FCC already. Anybody out there who believes that Net Neutrality should go away hasn’t been paying attention to what those cable and telco’s have been doing.
These folks make the old railroad robber barons of the late 1880’s and early 1900’s look like amateurs by comparison.
Planning to have two tiered internet service (if 2, why not more; all at higher prices and progressively poorer service); then charging both the customer and the content providers for the same service, and at continuously higher prices.
And, as pointed out in the video, their customer service is absolutely pitiful. If it was any worse, there would probably be a case for consumer fraud.
The most interesting point is in this TechDirt post. The link is http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140531/06534827423/verizon-begs-to-be-classified-under-title-ii-subsidies-screams-about-parade-horribles-any-other-time.shtml
The telcos all want to be Title I providers (no Net Neutrality), but when it comes down to building, maintaining, getting r-o-w access, and all sorts of federal subsidies, then they want to be doing that work under Title II. They just don’t want the ‘common carrier’ obligations that come with Title II.
There’s your ‘corporate welfare’/'crony capitalism’ hard at work.
———
Btw, saw this comment:
“The Rauner parallels here are curious — especially with the headline.”
Nice try. Most PE folks aren’t against Net Neutrality. In fact, more than not are in favor of it- and support is increasing daily. Net Neutrality levels the playing field, and much of the PE business is working with startups and disruptive technology. A free and open internet is a big part of that.
It’s terribly hard to have disruptive technology if you have the cable companies and telcos setting up ‘toll booths’ all over the internet, with the goal of setting up multi-tiered access, and controlling speeds and considerably inferior access.
The pols are way, way behind the curve on this one. There’s a reason that Google came out this week with their satellite internet access for ‘underserved populations’.
Once it comes out that there’s a substantial part of the US being ‘underserved’, well, there’s a real possibility that the manure is going hit the ventilator.
Comment by Judgment Day Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 3:55 pm
“In fact, more than not are in favor of it- and support is increasing daily” (Disclaimer, I’m also in favor of neutrality.) Why should they care? It’s just the marketplace doing its thing. .. supply and demand and all that. Shouldn’t the government just keep its mitts off?
Comment by Skeptic Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 4:45 pm
thank you HBO for making Sunday late nights relevant. Brit power!
Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 5:00 pm
==== FCC Comment Page Buckles To Its Knees After John Oliver Asks Everyone To Comment ====
One has to wonder if the programers for the FCC site are the same fools that brought us the Obamacare website.
Comment by Kerfuffle Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 5:26 pm
“It’s just the marketplace doing its thing. .. supply and demand and all that. Shouldn’t the government just keep its mitts off?”
IF it was the marketplace doing it’s thing, I’d agree. But it’s not. The cable companies and the telcos have been building out their networks (such as they are) under Title II, where they get all sorts of subsidies and r-o-w access (seriously big money, btw) in exchange for being subject to ‘common carrier’ rules, but then they get waivers for their ‘common carrier’ provisions and requirements, or just don’t do the work required at all, and then at the same time want to be Title I when it comes down to charging for service.
Sort of like “what’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is negotiable”.
IF government should keep it’s mitts off, should have done it a long time ago. Besides, there’s like 20 states where the cable companies and telcos have corrupted states to where they have passed legislation prohibiting municipal broadband. Up to now, governments have all been partners in ‘crony capitalism’ at it’s worst.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/02/isp-lobby-has-already-won-limits-on-public-broadband-in-20-states/
IF Google does satellite internet (broadband access) across the US, then I’m good with it. Then we’ll start to have real competition.
Comment by Judgment Day Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 5:39 pm
“One has to wonder if the programers for the FCC site are the same fools that brought us the Obamacare website.”
Not Likely. Those folks only probably did the usual 500 record ‘load’ test. Probably sourced it out at the beginning, unlikely they had any meaningful ‘validation’ requirements, the contractor probably offshored it to someplace like India, and nobody ever thought they would ever get to 10k comments on a topic.
Oops. Oh, well. Once more, our federal government in action.
Comment by Judgment Day Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 5:45 pm
Think of it this way:
“If builders build houses the way the federal government contracts for software development, the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization”.
Comment by Judgment Day Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 5:48 pm
===Jon Stewart built on something all the talk show guys before him started. Stephen Colbert refined it. This guy John Oliver is perfecting it. Very, very funny. And smart. ===
I want to seize the day before it slips away and take advantage of this most rare, perhaps unique opportunity to say that I agree with @A guy…
Comment by Mighty M. Mouse Tuesday, Jun 3, 14 @ 10:48 pm