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The Internet Government United States Your Rights Online

Why Is the Internet Association Rewarding a Pro-NSA Net-Neutrality Opponent? 157

First time accepted submitter erier2003 writes The decision to give a major award to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is curious given McCarthy's many questionable stances on Internet-freedom issues. For one thing, the California congressman is an avowed opponent of net neutrality. In May 2014, as the Federal Communications Commission debated new net neutrality rules, McCarthy—then the House Majority Whip, the chamber's third-highest-ranking member—signed a House GOP letter to the FCC warning that Title II regulation represented "a counterproductive effort to even further regulate the Internet."
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Why Is the Internet Association Rewarding a Pro-NSA Net-Neutrality Opponent?

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  • by TWX ( 665546 ) on Monday April 06, 2015 @12:49PM (#49415289)
    I don't know anything about this "Internet Association", but given that the name really doesn't mean anything at all, if they are anti-net-neutrality then maybe they're pro-network-business, and as such they're trying to profit from both ends?

    Just a guess. After all, I can name any organization anything that I want, even if that name is Orwellian doublespeak for exactly the opposite of what it sounds like it should be.
    • Or because not everyone has to share the same opinion, so its obvious people are not going to necessarily share the opinion that network neutrality is a great thing? Shocking I know, but there you have it.

      • Honestly, the "Internet Association" is a frickin' industry group.

        So whatever the hell they're saying is good is what their members have said is good.

        Let's not for a moment think this is anything except what it is ... an organization which is a mouth piece for the corporations which pay for its existence.

        Let's not get all stupid and start acting like it's an independent, autonomous organization which believes in anything but the profits of its members.

        It's a fucking lobby organization that happens to be alr

        • by Rakarra ( 112805 )

          Honestly, the "Internet Association" is a frickin' industry group.

          So whatever the hell they're saying is good is what their members have said is good.

          Let's not for a moment think this is anything except what it is ... an organization which is a mouth piece for the corporations which pay for its existence.

          The group is made up, among others, of Facebook, Amazon, Good, eBay, etc. They've lobbied in the past for stronger net neutrality rules -- they're the corporate group with the most to gain from Net Neutrality, as opposed to the other corporate group with the most to lose, like Comcast, Verizon, AT&T. They are alarmed, as frankly everyone in favor of Internet freedom should be, at the prospect of the FCC deciding it has regulatory authority over how content on the Internet is delivered. Enforcing net ne

    • by msauve ( 701917 )

      I don't know anything about this "Internet Association"...Just a guess...

      Why guess? There's this cool website called "Google," which lets you look things up. For instance, it can point you to the "Internet Association" [internetassociation.org] website!

      And, their website even has information which indicates they support net neutrality, which makes the question legitimate.

  • What with all the politics today?
  • For one thing, the California congressman is an avowed opponent of net neutrality.

    Such opposition to the government's attempts to force ISPs to do certain things alone makes one a freedom-fighter in my book.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      What exactly are they being forced to do? Deliver the services that their customers want and not be allowed to use their last-mile monopoly to force out competition? Oh the horrors!!

      • by x0ra ( 1249540 )
        Do you mean that last-mile monopoly which has been given to them by... local governments ?
        • by Anonymous Coward

          Yes, the ones they lobbied to secure.

          • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

            by mi ( 197448 )

            Yes, the ones they lobbied to secure.

            Woosh... xOra's point was, government's intervention causes harm. That incumbents are happy to use it against newcomers underlines his (and mine) point — we don't love Comcast, we just distrust the government.

            • by Holi ( 250190 )
              "government's intervention causes harm" So is that all the time or just this time?
              • by mi ( 197448 )

                "government's intervention causes harm" So is that all the time or just this time?

                Most of the time. Including this time.

              • by x0ra ( 1249540 )
                This is not the correct approach. Even if I believe that the *original* purpose of a strongly Constitution-bounded limited Government's policies are driven with good intention, it always backfires into less honorable behaviors, and less boundaries, either intentionally or not. When these behaviors became unbearable by too many influential (yet minority) people, it turns into more laws, and inevitably into more dishonorable behaviors. This is the nature of the system.
            • by bmo ( 77928 ) on Monday April 06, 2015 @01:20PM (#49415613)

              Woosh... xOra's point was, government's intervention causes harm.

              And what you don't get is not whether government regulation is a bad or good thing, but what kind of effort do we put into *good* governance. You know, like what everyone else on the planet does, from countries to corporations. Ever hear about "corporate governance"? Ever think of countries as just large corporations? It's an over-simplification (by far) but I think it's the only way to illustrate the "all regulation is bad" idea as lunacy.

              The way broadband is sold in this country, the legality of what ISPs do in their contracts are just shy of outright fraud.

              But hey, all regulation is bad.

              You people want to toss out everything and leave anarchy behind. Forget about good governance, let's just have more burning rivers, consumer fraud, and land-grabs using private armies.

              --
              BMO

              • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

                by mi ( 197448 )

                Ever think of countries as just large corporations? It's an over-simplification (by far)

                It is not just over-simplication — it is simply wrong. Because one does not have to associate with a corporation — not as a customer, not as an employee, not as a shareholder. But a citizen is born with a government and has little choice in the matter.

                But hey, all regulation is bad.

                Yes, most are.

                You people want to toss out everything and leave anarchy behind.

                Strawman. We don't want "anarchy" — we want t

                • enforce contracts

                  Contracts are only valid when both parties negotiate on good faith and without undue pressure. Since natural (and historically government-enforced) last-mile monopolies give ISPs undue power over end users, the best way for the government to enforce valid contracts are to ensure that the ISPs can't use their monopoly or duopoly to deliver less than the customer was due when the contract was signed. Net neutrality, along with other regulation (like punishing AT&T for throttling "unlimited" plans) does

                  • by bmo ( 77928 )

                    Contracts are only valid when both parties negotiate on good faith and without undue pressure.

                    Contracts are also only valid when they're enforceable.

                    Without any power behind a contract (i.e., some sort of laws and force of government, e.g., regulations), contracts are nothing more than "damn pieces of paper" and your "word," whatever that is at the time.

                    This is where the libertarian fantasy drives off a cliff - that we can have contracts without The Man.

                    That only worked when your tribe was > 300 people a

                  • by mi ( 197448 )

                    Contracts are only valid when both parties negotiate on good faith and without undue pressure.

                    Sure, which covers the vast majority of existing Internet Service Provision contracts.

                    best way for the government to enforce valid contracts are to ensure that the ISPs can't use their monopoly or duopoly to deliver less than the customer was due when the contract was signed.

                    Even if an ISP put the exact description of what they plan to do — such as "We may throttle your connections to certain content provide

                    • by Rakarra ( 112805 )

                      Will this damage, the loss of an important liberty, help the individual subscribers'? Are you really arguing, corporation, whose CEO is golfing [politico.com] with the President will be seriously inconvenienced by the President-controlled Federal commission? Crony capitalism much?

                      The President's goes golfing more often with John Boehner. Does that make them buddy-buddy and Obama will do whatever Boehner says?
                      For a President, golf is just another meeting, but at least making the perfect putt lets him tune out what the other guy is saying from time to time.

                  • Since natural (and historically government-enforced) last-mile monopolies give ISPs undue power over end users,

                    If such a thing existed, yes, it would.

                    ISPs can't use their monopoly or duopoly

                    We've moved from "one" to "two". Where in the US has anyone said that only two ISPs can provide service to an area? And government-enforced. Where?

                    Net neutrality, along with other regulation (like punishing AT&T for throttling "unlimited" plans) does exactly that.

                    Net neutrality has nothing to do with breaking up monopolies (or duopolies). It regulates ISPs. When you find an ISP that has a monopoly someplace, let me know. The closest you can get is the telephone company when they act as an ISP in addition to wireline telephone service, but since there are scads of other ISPs (and

                    • by Rakarra ( 112805 )

                      Net neutrality has nothing to do with breaking up monopolies (or duopolies)

                      Net neutrality is the small band-aid on top of the open sore that is the regional monopoly. I see no need to breaking up any monopoly/duopoly company, but I think a true solution is eliminating barriers to competition. Back in the good-old-days of dialup, you might have had the choice of half a dozen to a dozen ISPs, all able to service your various Internet access needs.

                      The "pipe" should be treated like a local utility, with whatever ISP you want, be it AT&T or Verizon or Sonic or Ma's Fish, Chips, and

                  • But are there less intrusive ways to do the same? Of course there is and existing consumer protection laws should cover it without making more laws.

                    We used to only accept government intrusion to the extent necessary and no more. Now it seems like people are willing to jump at the chance to surrender freedom in favor of government intrusion. Perhaps it is because they can force others to do what they want or maybe it's so they don't need to think for themselves. But it is a fact- the bigger the government t

                • by x0ra ( 1249540 )
                  I don't agree with your point. What I want is the end of Government's monopoly in the use of force (ie. own, bear, and use arms in defense of lives and property) as well as end of violence-enforced compulsory theft (also known as taxes). To some extend, anybody should be allowed to negotiate the social contract, and opt-out from unwanted clause.
                  • Do you understand what happens when you end the Government's monopoly of the use of force? I don't think you really do.

                    I'll try to explain and illustrate. Do you know why organized criminal enterprises use force? It's generally not because they're engaged in robbery, though in cases they certainly can be. No, it's to protect their (illegal) lines of business, whether that's drugs or any number of other rackets. They are unable to rely on a neutral third party (i.e. the Government) to enforce their contrac
                    • by x0ra ( 1249540 )
                      How about being able to carry weapons to protect myself from Mikey the Loan Shark ? Currently there is two entities who can use force. The Government, because it decides of the rules, and criminals, because they don't give a fuck about the rule. The latter have been helped by the former to prey on "law-abiding" citizen. To some extend, even the former also prey on "law-abiding" citizen.
                • by bmo ( 77928 )

                  You can't have enforcement of contracts without laws and the power of government behind them.

                  Remind me to never sign a contract with you.

                  Because seriously, you and people like you are what is wrong with libertarianism.

                  --
                  BMO

                  • by mi ( 197448 )

                    You can't have enforcement of contracts without laws and the power of government behind them.

                    What were you trying to say by this truism? That in order to be able to force John to pay Peter after Peter has delivered the goods, the government must be able prescribe, exactly what kind of goods John is allowed to buy and Peter to deliver?

                    Remind me to never sign a contract with you.

                    Too bad. I think, signing a contract with me would've been quite safe for you or anyone.

                    It is the folks, who denounce any contract t

            • Except the monopoly was granted for something BESIDES network connectivity. AT&T and ComCast have used resources granted for one purpose to monopolize another. The new purpose is wholly unregulated but benefits from the previous monopoly status. This SHOULD be regulated as long as they are using the resources they gained from the government.
              • by mi ( 197448 )

                Except the monopoly was granted for something BESIDES network connectivity.

                How is this a defence in any way? The granting of monopoly pushed us closer to Crony Capitalism, period. That government intervention was a mistake — are you trying to solve it with more government intervention?

                If so, it must be clearly marked as temporary — andeven then, it would make no sense to implement it, as long as the original evil remains in place [wired.com].

                • by Rakarra ( 112805 )

                  How is this a defence in any way? The granting of monopoly pushed us closer to Crony Capitalism, period. That government intervention was a mistake — are you trying to solve it with more government intervention?

                  But you have to grant a monopoly in some way, you can't have ISP A, B, C, and D all tearing up the roads to lay lines, or each ISP stringing their own lines along the shared poles. In some locations the ISP has to run lines underneath private property. Local governments don't allow that for sewer mains and power lines for good reason, the same reasoning applied with TV and phone cables. The only problem is that the service providers get full control over the last mile, allowing them to completely shut out c

        • Those local governments only gave them those monopolies because the ISPs demanded them to even deliver service. It's not as if the local governments just up and gave the companies those monopolies against the wishes of the ISPs.

        • Do you mean that last-mile monopoly which has been given to them by... local governments ?

          Which ISP has been given a last-mile monopoly on anything?

          The answer is "none". The telephone companies have last-mile monopolies on their wires. The cable companies typically have only defacto and not dejure monopolies. But those monopolies are not because they are ISPs, it is because they started as other services. In fact, as services, they don't have government-granted monopolies either. Only the telephone companies have a historical monopoly on wired telephony, but there is competition in "telephone

          • Q: What is it called when you can only get high-speed Internet within a particular geographic area from one company?

            A: a monopoly.

            In my area (within the Atlanta city limits), there are three alleged choices for high-speed home Internet (i.e., Internet with a large enough data cap to be usable for things like video, gaming and software updates): Clear Wi-Max, AT&T DSL, and Comcast cable. Clear Wi-Max doesn't work (literally, at all) because the towers are too far away. AT&T DSL doesn't work (literall

            • Q: What is it called when you can only get high-speed Internet within a particular geographic area from one company? A: a monopoly.

              A: an under-served market. Most likely because the costs of providing service are too high to support more than one player.

              It's not a government-enforced monopoly, and laws to enforce net neutrality will do absolutely NOTHING to solve your problem.

              However, Comcast cable is literally the only choice, and is therefore a monopoly.

              It is not a government-enforced monopoly, it is a defacto monopoly, and the existence of the other two services show that. If the costs didn't outweigh the benefits some company would have come in and be providing the service you want. But it might not be at th

              • A: an under-served market. Most likely because the costs of providing service are too high to support more than one player.

                An "under-served market," huh? Alright then: the market I'm talking about is in almost the middle of the ninth largest metropolitan area in the United States, about four miles from the middle of downtown (which, in Atlanta, is not very far at all). If that's not dense enough to support more than one provider, then where the fuck is?!

                It is not a government-enforced monopoly, it is a def

                • An "under-served market," huh? Alright then: the market I'm talking about is in almost the middle of the ninth largest metropolitan area in the United States,

                  And an under-served market is an under-served market no matter where it is.

                  Yes, and a de-facto monopoly is still a monopoly.

                  Yep. However, the solutions are different for the two. For a dejure monopoly, the solution could be as simple as removing the grant. For a defacto monopoly you have to figure out IF there is a problem and then what a fair solution is. (If there's one company in a city selling a specific service, is that because the market is saturated, because the customers love that one company but won't buy anywhere else, or something else.) Is

        • In many states there is no government monopoly. The cable companies divide up the territory in the exact same way even when States allow for competitive access. You're just translating anti-government propaganda onto the issue blindly.

          In Portland we found out how real the availability of competition was when Google Fiber threatened to come to town, and suddenly multiple cable companies were asking for permits for the same neighborhoods. That really happened. There was no barrier in the way. And yet, the who

    • Right, but net-neutrality is good for the NSA because it decreases peering points and allows for mandatory government decryption, so his positions are quite contradictory. This may be a good indication that he's just reading talking points.

    • your concept of freedom fighter is limited to corporate influence aparantly.
  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday April 06, 2015 @12:54PM (#49415357)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by x0ra ( 1249540 )
      Please tell me about *any* company which has no interest in their fourth quarter earnings... Oh, I know, it's called "Government".
      • Fourth quarter earnings, next election polling, same difference. Actually the polling is worse, because they just spend other people's money to buy votes.

    • The Internet Association -- which counts tech giants like Amazon, Etsy, Facebook, Google, Reddit, and Twitter among its members...

      Because these companies have no interest in internet freedom as it pertains to their cattle but as it pertains to fourth quarter earnings.

      That makes a nice slashdot karma-generating soundbite, but it really doesn't answer the question. The companies in question stand to benefit from net neutrality, and aren't likely to be rewarding an opponent unless they felt like there was some other reason to do it.

      Luckily, if you RTFA (I know, I know), you find "Theran pointed to the role McCarthy played in advancing a key tech-industry priority: patent reform. Under McCarthy's floor leadership, the House passed the Innovation Act 325-91 in December 201

  • Maybe this is some sort of new cutting edge format sitcom, this is just the first episode.

  • by Greyfox ( 87712 ) on Monday April 06, 2015 @01:01PM (#49415429) Homepage Journal
    Is it because they're whores and will do anything for loose change? That's pretty much my standard answer for any headline in the format "Why is blank blanking?"
    • by jbengt ( 874751 )

      Is it because they're whores and will do anything for loose change? That's pretty much my standard answer for any headline in the format "Why is blank blanking?"

      Actually, in this case, TFA gives a different answer: Because McCarthy has been pushing patent reform legislation.

  • by ohnocitizen ( 1951674 ) on Monday April 06, 2015 @01:07PM (#49415493)
    "The Internet Association represents America’s leading Internet companies and their global community of users." - Their members [internetassociation.org] are companies that would hurt without Net Neutrality.
    • "The Internet Association represents America’s leading Internet companies and their global community of users." - Their members [internetassociation.org] are companies that would hurt without Net Neutrality.

      As the article originally posted points out.

      Theran pointed to the role McCarthy played in advancing a key tech-industry priority: patent reform. Under McCarthy's floor leadership, the House passed the Innovation Act 325-91 in December 2013. Tech companies hope that the bill, which is designed to cut back on frivolous lawsuits from so-called "patent trolls," will soon pass the Senate.

      Also, these other votes could of his have had an impact on their decision [ontheissues.org].

      It is better to spend less than tax more. (Dec 2005)
      Voted NO on extending AMT exemptions to avoid hitting middle-income. (Jun 2008)
      Voted NO on paying for AMT relief by closing offshore business loopholes. (Dec 2007)
      Taxpayer Protection Pledge: no new taxes. (Aug 2010)
      No European-style VAT (value-added tax). (May 2010)
      Supports the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. (Jan 2012)

      Legislative transparency: post bills on Internet for a week. (Sep 2010)
      Voted YES on protecting cyber security by sharing data with government. (Apr 2013)
      Voted YES on terminating funding for National Public Radio. (Mar 2011)
      Voted NO on delaying digital TV conversion by four months. (Mar 2009)
      Voted YES on retroactive immunity for telecoms' warrantless surveillance. (Jun 2008)
      Voted YES on $23B instead of $4.9B for waterway infrastructure. (Nov 2007)
      Facilitate nationwide 2-1-1 phone line for human services. (Jan 2007)
      Permanent ban on state & local taxation of Internet access. (Oct 2007)
      Prohibit the return of the Fairness Doctrine. (Jan 2009)

      Invested lottery winnings to start deli business at age 19. (Sep 2010)
      Voted YES on workforce training by state block grants & industry partners. (Mar 2013)
      Voted NO on letting shareholders vote on executive compensation. (Jul 2009)
      Voted YES on more funding for nanotechnology R&D and commercialization. (Jul 2009)
      Voted NO on allowing stockholder voting on executive compensation. (Apr 2007)
      Repeal ObamaCare reporting requirements for small business. (Jan 2011)
      Rated 14% by UFCW, indicating a pro-management voting record. (May 2012)

      After all, if you're a CEO, which one is more important to you? net neutrality, or tax loopholes and your overall executive compensation package?

  • by Chris Mattern ( 191822 ) on Monday April 06, 2015 @01:12PM (#49415533)

    A better question might be who is the Internet Association? They certainly aren't part of the internet's governing bodies. Why should we give two cents for what they think or who they give awards to?

  • by PPH ( 736903 )

    Because the NSA has photographs from the last Internet Association post trade show party.

  • Are 4chan, reddit, imgur, and cheezeburger part of this association?

    Then it does not represent the internet.

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