I didn’t die because of the illegal reclassification of the Internet by the Obama dominated FCC. They changed it from an information service (unregulated) to a telecommunications one (regulated back in 1936). Changing it back again was supposed to result in all of us DYING (emphasis mine, reformatted)!
Net neutrality mania was so intense that one year ago FCC Chairman Ajit Pai had to cancel his appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show because of death threats he’d received. That was the same day the FCC published its final rule repealing “net neutrality.” So-called experts predicted that removing this cumbersome Obama-era regulatory scheme — which granted the FCC virtually unchecked power over internet providers — would lead to the demise of the internet. Repealing “net neutrality” regulations “would be the final pillow in (the internet’s) face,” said The New York Times. The ACLU said it “risks erosion of the biggest free-speech platform the world has ever known.” CNET declared that “net neutrality repeal means your internet may never be the same.” CNN labeled repeal the “end of the internet as we know it.”
One of the Democratic commissioners on the FCC claimed that repealing “net neutrality” would “green light to our nation’s largest broadband providers to engage in anti-consumer practices, including blocking, slowing down traffic, and paid prioritization of online applications and services.” There were protests and lawsuits. The biggest companies on the internet mounted online campaigns. Democrats vowed to make “net neutrality” a major campaign issue. A year later, none of the horror stories came true. In fact, average internet speeds climbed by roughly a third last year. The number of homes with access to fiber internet jumped 23% last year, according to the Fiber Broadband Association.
Oh, and “net neutrality” was a nonissue in the Democratic midterm campaigns. One party official said that Dems didn’t campaign on it because: “It’s not something that people bring up in their top list of concerns.”
Funny, I didn’t die. Nor my family or friends. Or GraniteGrok. Things hummed right along then – and are doing so now, one year later. In fact, without the “loving and compassionate” Hand of Government watching out for me, my Internet speed has actually gone up four-fold: from 100 to 400 MBs.
Get this – same price. Competition. Capitalism! They want to give me something for some of my money. I want to give them money for something they’re offering. The price was right – because of technology and because of capitalism, I’m getting MORE value for my money than ever before. And for a wee bit more, I could get 1 GBs speed. All without that heavy hand of Government dictating how I was to be treated. Instead, I’m getting treated much better – because by offering more, they can still make a profit from me.
And I’m OK with that because *I* see (instead of busybody politicians and bureaucrats on my “behalf”) that I am receiving value added.
Bernie and Occasional-Cortex must not be happy campers over this.
(H/T: Instapundit)
