Poll of the Day > Ajit Pai isn't concerned about the number of pro-net neutrality comments.

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/07/ajit-pai-not-concerned-about-number-of-pro-net-neutrality-comments/

One day after a large protest of his plan to gut net neutrality rules, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai was asked if the number of pro-net neutrality comments submitted to the FCC might cause a change in course.

In response, Pai maintained his stance that the number of comments is not as important as the content of those comments.

"As I said previously, the raw number is not as important as the substantive comments that are in the record," Pai said at a press conference following yesterday's monthly FCC meeting.

Pai was answering a question posed by reporter Lynn Stanton of TRDaily. Stanton asked, "shouldn't the number of consumers who feel they are detrimentally affected be a factor in a cost-benefit analysis of what you do?" Pai did not give a definitive yes-or-no answer to the question of whether the number of pro-net neutrality comments would make any difference in his decision.

Pai previously addressed specific comments on one occasion, when he praised the "exceptionally important contribution to the debate" made by a group of 19 nonprofit municipal-broadband providers who oppose the current net neutrality rules. But Pai made no comment later on when 30 small ISPs urged him to preserve the rules.

The FCC is taking comments on Pai's plan to overturn the classification of broadband providers as common carriers and to repeal or replace the net neutrality rules that forbid blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. On Wednesday, advocacy groups held an "Internet-wide Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality," which attracted support from website operators both large and small.

Advocacy group Fight for the Future said the protest resulted in more than five million e-mails and 124,000 phone calls to Congress and more than two million comments to the FCC. Participating websites directed visitors to forms that they could use to submit pre-written comments. There are now more than 7.6 million public comments on Pai's "Restoring Internet Freedom" proceeding.

The deadline for filing initial comments is July 17, and reply comments are due August 16. The FCC will make a final decision sometime after that, but Pai said he hasn't decided on timing yet.

Many of the anti-net neutrality comments were submitted by spam bots impersonating people whose names and addresses were taken from data breaches. There's also been evidence of a smaller amount of pro-net neutrality bot activity. The FCC has not been removing fraudulent comments from the record.

"We want to weigh all comments and make sure that we take a full view of the record, and again make the appropriate judgment based on those facts and the law as it applies," Pai said yesterday.

When net neutrality rules were implemented in 2015, Pai claimed that the agency was "using legal authority the FCC doesn't have." But the entire net neutrality order was upheld last year by a federal appeals court, which rejected legal challenges from broadband lobby groups.

Pai's intentions are clear. When he announced his plan to overturn the 2015 net neutrality order, he said, "Make no mistake about it: this is a fight that we intend to wage and it is a fight that we are going to win."

Courts have generally allowed the FCC to classify broadband however it wishes, a fact that might help Pai in his battle. Still, net neutrality advocates say that comments could be important when Pai's FCC has to defend its decision in court.

For more information on FCC comments, read our story, "How to write a meaningful FCC comment supporting net neutrality." Comments are being taken at this link.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/07/saving-net-neutrality-tips-for-writing-persuasive-comments-to-the-fcc/

https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/proceedings?q=name:((17-108))

Good ol' government cherry-picking.

What did people think was going to happen? That this outcry would lead to a change of heart? When has anything in the Trump administration been reversed due to outrage?
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Zeus posted...

What did people think was going to happen? That this outcry would lead to a change of heart? When has anything in the Trump administration been reversed due to outrage?

Go shove a lightning bolt up your arse, Zeus.

More like

"Lulz, you can't do anything to our oligarchy! We're gunna make a lot more money now!... i mean what, would could just cut the governments internet whenever we want."
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WastelandCowboy posted...

Zeus posted...

What did people think was going to happen? That this outcry would lead to a change of heart? When has anything in the Trump administration been reversed due to outrage?

Go shove a lightning bolt up your arse, Zeus.

Closest Zeuses come to cyberin.
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Why does ajit pai remind me of cartoon villains?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6hvRcgsL4I
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Geez, Wasteland, why so hostile?
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Zeus posted...

What did people think was going to happen? That this outcry would lead to a change of heart? When has anything in the Trump administration been reversed due to outrage?

Well, you're absolutely correct, the Trump administration doesn't give a fuck if the vast majority of the country hates their policies.
But while most would state that as an indictment of Trump and his administration, we all know you say it as a twisted sort of praise.

is his name

a shit pie
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Not surprising really, the greed of this country, if not the planet, just isn't a shock to anyone anymore, at least not to me anyway, I bet these people would choose money over the lives of their family if they could only save one or the other.....
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Kaguya_Kimimaro posted...

Not surprising really, the greed of this country, if not the planet, just isn't a shock to anyone anymore, at least not to me anyway, I bet these people would choose money over the lives of their family if they could only save one or the other.....

Excerpt from "The Marquis de Sade and His Accomplice," by Jean Paulhan

"I don't doubt that. Civilization has changed the aspect of Nature; civilization nonetheless respects her laws. The rich of today are just as ferocious in their exploitation of the poor as the violent used to be in their vexation of the helpless. All these financiers, all these important personages you see would bleed the entire population dry if they fancied its blood might yield a few grains of gold."

streamofthesky posted...

Zeus posted...

What did people think was going to happen? That this outcry would lead to a change of heart? When has anything in the Trump administration been reversed due to outrage?

Well, you're absolutely correct, the Trump administration doesn't give a fuck if the vast majority of the country hates their policies.
But while most would state that as an indictment of Trump and his administration, we all know you say it as a twisted sort of praise.

He was elected by the American people, therefore the country is on board to some degree. Second, the issue of net neutrality ISN'T embraced by the majority, just a super-loud minority. The vast majority of people don't give a shit about net neutrality because many of them aren't even all that internet-savvy.

And it's not necessarily a form of praise, although on some level I can respect somebody for not caving under (somewhat overblown) pressure. The thing to remember is that Trump built his brand on being the anti-PC candidate, which is a reaction to SJWism and PC culture run amuck. So I at least somewhat like the fact that Trump has the guts to do what the Democratic party has been too spineless to do by not allowing a minority of super-vocal whiners to shame and dictate what people do. That's not to say that I personally agree with the ruling, since I half want the internet to government-run like a utility because it essentially is a utility.
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Zeus posted...

What did people think was going to happen? That this outcry would lead to a change of heart? When has anything in the Trump administration been reversed due to outrage?

The government has been trying to clamp down on the Internet in various unpopular ways for more than 20 years now. Every single time one of these proposals come up, they usually try to sneak it through without anyone noticing, then once people notice they try to ride out or ignore the rampant public outcry, and then, once the rampant bitching gets too strong, Congress decides to cover its ass and shelves the idea for a few more years in the hopes that they'll be able to slip it through in disguise under another name next time.

If you're going to blame Trump for this one, you'd also better be prepared to call bullshit on Obama, Bush, AND Clinton as well. Because every single one of them have been guilty of it.

If anything, if protests and complaints in general are starting to lose force, I'd be far more likely to blame the rash of frivolous horseshit protest movements that have been popping up left, right, and center for the last decade or two. Eventually, once you start getting used to tuning out the whiny assholes for constantly crying wolf, it starts to get a lot easier to ignore even the legitimately valid issues.


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ParanoidObsessive posted...

If you're going to blame Trump for this one, you'd also better be prepared to call bullshit on Obama, Bush, AND Clinton as well. Because every single one of them have been guilty of it.

While I agree on some level, the guy who actually does something either grasps the laurel or takes the heat rather than the people who either wanted or unsuccessfully attempted to do the same. Plus, in general, there's little structural benefit for the regulation to be repealed which makes the inevitability seem... well, a bit less than inevitable.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

If anything, if protests and complaints in general are starting to lose force, I'd be far more likely to blame the rash of frivolous horseshit protest movements that have been popping up left, right, and center for the last decade or two. Eventually, once you start getting used to tuning out the whiny assholes for constantly crying wolf, it starts to get a lot easier to ignore even the legitimately valid issues.

Preaching to the choir.
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Gotta' have the last word, huh Zeus?