Net Neutrality Is Circling The Drain

Federal Communications Chairman Ajit Pai has announced that Internet neutrality will go out of existence on Monday, June 11.  So if you try to access an environmentalist or anti-poverty activist Web site, you can expect to be out of luck.

But maybe not.  This Wednesday, May 16, the Senate is expected to vote on preserving Net neutrality via a resolution, and if the pro-Net-neutrality forces can get one more vote for a simple majority, that would be half the battle won.  There would then be a push to get at least 218 House members to support the Senate's resolution.  To say that it would be an uphill battle is an understatement.  That's why there are going to be massive demonstrations at congressional district offices tomorrow to get the resolution through.

But, even after all that, come Tuesday, June 12, when you click onto a site that your Internet service provider can't tolerate, or doesn't want to have compete with its own site (for streaming movies or whatever), the image below will be all you get.

After waiting thirty minutes for it to load. 

I thought Net neutrality was supposed to officially end in April.  I was wrong, obviously, but not as wrong as Net-neutrality activists will be if they think they can stop its repeal this late in the game.

Pai Creamed

Although a virtual lack of media attention on the Internet neutrality issue these days would have you believe that the Internet deregulation sought and won by Federal Commutations Commission  (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai is a done deal, pushback against Pai is gaining steam . . . even within the FCC itself.   And not just for the FCC's repeal of the neutrality regulation.

It seems that Uncle Charlie's own inspector general is looking into Pai's dealings with Sinclair Broadcasting Group, a conservative media company that owns several local TV stations across the country - many of which are network affiliates, meaning that Sinclair stations in numerous markets can pre-empt any national network program they do not like in favor of, say, a locally produced cooking show.  Or a documentary against single-payer health insurance. According to the New York Times, Pai may have had improper contacts with Sinclair before he became FCC chairman and may have committed improper acts to facilitate Sinclair's takeover of Chicago-based Tribune Media, which owns the Chicago Tribune and several television stations across the country.

FreePress.net reports that Sinclair, already the largest owner of TV stations in the United States, had a close relationship with Donald Trump throughout the 2016 campaign and that that Trump even brokered a deal for favorable news coverage from the company's various newscasts. "Since his appointment as FCC chairman," FreePress.net says, "Pai has worked overtime to clear the decks for Sinclair’s purchase of Tribune: He’s reduced the agency’s longstanding media-ownership limits and overturned rules that required broadcasters to maintain physical studios wherever they broadcast."

Tribune Media, by the way, owns WPIX-TV, broadcasting on Channel 11, in New York.  If Sinclair gets its hands on this station, Yankees home baseball games may be the only New  York-based programming you see on it.  

Meanwhile, thanks to the efforts of Senator Susan Collins of Maine - a Republican - fifty senators have endorsing a resolution that would reverse the FCC's repeal of Net neutrality; if one more senator signs on, and it will pass in that chamber.  Momentum to reverse the repeal is gaining in the House, and even though Trump could easily ignore or block the repeal, the growing hostility against Pai cannot be denied.

And as if that weren't enough, New Jersey's new governor, Phil Murphy, just signed an executive order that requires Internet service providers doing business in New Jersey to recognize Net neutrality principles in order to do business with the state government, making New Jersey the third state that requires Internet service providers "adhere to the principles of net neutrality" if they want a contract to do business with the state.  New Jersey also became the twenty-second state to join a lawsuit against the repeal. 

I'm pleased to report that I have had no Web site access issues with my Internet service provider.  Access to my e-mail, on the other hand, has been a different story - its e-mail server keeps going down.  Maybe I should make my Yahoo e-mail account my primary one . . . 

Okay, I guess I can go back to the Winter Olympics now . . .  

Private Browsing For Private Profit?

One of the many crimes against democracy that Donald Trump has distracted us from with his foreign policy MO -"speak loudly and carry a really big stick" - was his signature of a new law that allows Internet service providers to sell people's private online information - including our Internet browsing histories - to various companies, so that we can be advertised to more easily than we already are.  The new law got reported, then the media went on to other things so you'd forget about it, because, hey, some Internet service providers are owned by the same companies that own broadcast media outlets (I ain't namin' names).

"Your Internet data belongs to you, and nobody else," Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) told his constituents in an e-mail.  "But it’s clear the Trump Administration favors corporations over your right to privacy. We must fight back."

Yeah?  How?

Senator Booker's suggestion was to sign a petition of his (which I did) and contribute to his campaign fund (which I didn't).  But it's clear that we as Americans need to find a way to make it unprofitable for Internet service providers to sell our browsing information.  Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), who voted for the legislation, suggested that we simply stop using the Internet, which is roughly the equivalent of living in Phoenix and choosing not to drive.

We can't avoid the Internet entirely.  So here's what I propose what you can do to frustrate your Internet service provider when it wants to sell your browsing information.

First, try to browse as many sites with little commercial value as possible in addition to commonly visited commercial sites you yourself may visit regularly.  Browse Web sites for historical societies, for example.  After all, there's no money in history - not much of a future in the past.  You don't have to browse them exclusively, just enough to get them thoroughly in the mix of your browsing history.  And read, really read the content on historical-society sites, don't just click on them and move on - because you just might learn something.

Second, abstain from buying anything online, because that's what Internet service providers look for the most.  Consider, oh, I don't know, buying things in brick-and-mortar stores - live, in person!  Just buy something online if you can't find it anywhere in stores.  And if you do buy something that's not widely available in stores, your browsing information will only reveal that you buy unpopular products, and who's going to make money off that?     

And now for the fun part.

Third, browse commercial sites that are completely and utterly useless to advertisers.  Like this one!

Go out with a professional clown? Hey, don't knock it until you've tried it! :-D

Fourth, type in URLs for non-existent Web sites.  Or click on this link a couple dozen times a day, as it links to absolutely nothing but this:

Here are some more made-up URLs to click on.  How about this one?

Or this one?

And, for good measure, how about this one? 

Remember, whether you click on these links or enter your own made-up URLs, do it over and over so your Internet service provider will leave your history alone and bother someone else.

Finally, if you really want to visit a useless site that your Internet service provider can't make a dime off . . . well, there's always this blog.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date.  Green hair, auguste-style face, red nose, makes balloon art and bakes a mean custard pie . . . could be the one. ;-)