Did you know today, July 12, 2017, is Net Neutrality protest day? So they call it Net Neutrality Day of Action. Therefore, all the tech giants celebrate. Expect websites to show pro net messages through pop-ups, GIFs, and other means. Happy net neutrality protest day!
But why are they doing this? Because they want to raise awareness. They also want to encourage millions to fight President Trump’s policy to rollback neutrality rules. The timing is right on. This comes five days before Trump’s reversal begins. But the major player of the rollback is Ajit Pai. He is the FCC’s (Federal Communications Commission) new chairman.
So what can we expect today? We can expect ‘pop-ups’, blocked pages, and even the spinning wheel of death. They do this on purpose because they want to show us the consequence of these rollbacks. Many in the IT service industry protest these rules because they believe it will give unfair advantage to major Internet providers. We mean providers like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast. As of right now, net neutrality stops the big boys from blocking the Internet. This is to give smaller websites a better chance to compete. But if that protection is gone, it gives the giants an opportunity to block the websites, hogging all the glory for themselves. Will they?
However, is this the right way. Is making pop-ups and blocked pages the right way to fight these new laws? Or is this just a plain nuisance? Fortunately, nobody in our Boston computer service shop has run into this. I hope nobody does. Because what this tactic might do is push people to the other side. It might annoy people to the other side. I know the net neutrality protest mean well. But the road to…is paid with good intentions. I’m afraid this could come true. So Happy net neutrality protest day. Will it backfire?