Last month, on his late night talk show, host/comedian John Oliver praised the Internet. He also called out the Trump administration. This is because of their lack of protection for net neutrality. But he wants you to do something about it. He wants you to Go FCC yourself: John Oliver for net neutrality.
So here is what Oliver wants you to do. Type go FCC yourself in any search engine. This will take you straight to the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) website. In fact, it will take you to their proceedings page. Then, you will see a box ‘restoring Internet freedoms. If you want to comment about net neutrality, click on either +new filing or +express. It’s pretty simple from there. If you want to read other comments, click on 17-108 in the box. I must say, comments are many, and they are passionate.
So what is net neutrality? It guarantees ISP’s (Internet search providers) can’t slow down popular websites to help promote the big ones. Therefore, they have to treat everyone equally. For example, a local sports blogger has just as much Internet equality as ESPN. The Obama administration put this in play. But the Trump administration wants to curb net neutrality. In fact, Trump’s new FCC chair is?Ajit Pai. Pai leads the charge to limit net neutrality. In fact, Pai is a former Verizon lawyer.
Surely President Trump didn’t think people would just be okay with cutting down net neutrality. It’s been a fairly big topic in our Boston computer service shop. And from what I’m seeing on that page, the response is fast and furious. For one, I’m for net neutrality. It gives people equal competition. It can help the small guy become the next Amazon, or Walmart, or Verizon, as long as they’re willing to work at it. But I guess the Jeff Bezos’s or Ajit Pai’s don’t like that. And the fact that Pai is in the Trump administration is suspect to me. But I question Oliver’s motives, too. He’s been a staunch Trump critic from day one. Does John Oliver really care about saving net neutrality? Or is he using this issue just to hate on Trump?