http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/29/15100620/congress-fcc-isp-web-browsing-privacy-fire-sale
>The 265 members of Congress who sold you out to ISPs, and how much it cost to buy them
>Republicans in Congress just voted to reverse a landmark FCC privacy rule that opens the door for ISPs to sell customer data. Lawmakers provided no credible reason for this being in the interest of Americans, except for vague platitudes about “consumer choice” and “free markets,” as if consumers at the mercy of their local internet monopoly are craving to have their web history quietly sold to marketers and any other third party willing to pay.
>The only people who seem to want this are the people who are going to make lots of money from it. (Hint: they work for companies like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T.) Incidentally, these people and their companies routinely give lots of money to members of Congress.
>So here is a list of the lawmakers who voted to betray you, and how much money they received from the telecom industry in their most recent election cycle.
>>126661
Yes, and I won't be voting for him again.
>>126661
The FCC was a retarded idea to begin with, so I don't give a shit. If you don't like your ISP, find a new one, don't buy it, or start up your own company. Nobody is forcing you to buy internet.
Mine did and I want the money they gave him. SUcks
>>126673
>If you don't like your ISP, find a new one
You do understand that in many areas of the country, certain ISPs have monopolies over whole cities and metro areas, right? There isn't any competition that would incentivize these companies to do anything good for their customers.
>>126675
Simple solution: lift government regulations on ISPs so new companies can be started. Governments form monopolies, not companies.
When you sign up to an ISP, they require that you sign a consent as part of their initial ts&cs so now I suppose they just won't require that clause.
But as it stands not a fuck of a lot will change, since every new customer has signed away their privacy anyway!
Why overturning this was good: https://www.americanactionforum.org/insight/proposed-fcc-privacy-rules-harm-innovation/
>>126677
HAHAHAHAno. There's a good fucking reason the Sherman Anti-Trust got written up in the first place. Companies form monopolies with the assistance of cronies within government, doubly so in autocratic regimes. China is a prime example of corrupt government and laissez faire business at its worst.
Is this the part Trump was talking about where we beg him to stop letting us win so much
>>126681
I read that. It basically boils down to the rules making it harder for companies to advertise to customers due to new hurdles.
>>126684
Limiting government down to the minimum would fix the crony problem. A government that can't do anything, can't form a monopoly.
https://mises.org/library/myth-natural-monopoly
>China
>communist
>free markets
>>126717
China is the end goal of what the US is working towards. Because of its communist background, the introduction of "capitalism" went off without a hitch. They are an example of why neither system will work at either extreme.
>>126661
bullshit
>>126717
>he thinks this is the governments fault
>he doesn't know the industry was deregulated under Clinton in the 90s
>he thinks the free market is capable of supervising itself
>>126717
or prevent one
>>126664
They don't really care. They passed their bills and received their cut under the table already.
That is why the system is fundamentally broken, because of how easy it is to exert influence over a senator or representative of congress. There's no way to hold someone accountable once they enter office through legal means, only bribes and insider trading.
>>126673
In specific regions, ISPs have a de facto monopoly on internet. I believe in large cities, some of this is finally changing, but locally, we're not allowed to get landline internet service through anyone but our local telcom. This is because they received a contract from the city to install the lines on public dime, and because additional utility work requires city approval, no new lines will be installed by any other company. It's not like switching electricity providers where any provider can use the lines of other companies when paying rent -- you simply can't use anyone but AT&T if there's AT&T lines here.
With the advent of wireless technology, this is being lessened somewhat, as if one's provider is truly bad, you can opt for wireless communication or satellite. Both of these services come with heavy drawbacks in latency, data caps, and low bandwidth however, either greatly increasing their costs to match landline packages or providing a much inferior service.
Telcom in general needs a revamp on how customers can receive data. I had to put up a WISP backhaul link to connect to a town 30 miles down the road just because it was cheaper to buy the equipment, rent tower space, and hire an installer to put it up (twice, for each side!) than it was to buy an internet package from my local ISP.
>Representing the people
Members who own AT&T Inc shares: 42
Ashford, Brad (D-NE)
Barton, Joe (R-TX)
Brownley, Julia (D-CA)
Burgess, Michael (R-TX)
Capito, Shelley Moore (R-WV)
Cassidy, Bill (R-LA)
Castor, Kathy (D-FL)
Cohen, Steve (D-TN)
Cole, Tom (R-OK)
Collins, Susan M (R-ME)
Conaway, Mike (R-TX)
Dingell, Debbie (D-MI)
Flores, Bill (R-TX)
Foxx, Virginia (R-NC)
Frelinghuysen, Rodney (R-NJ)
Gibbs, Bob (R-OH)
Hanna, Richard (R-NY)
Hill, French (R-AR)
Hoeven, John (R-ND)
Holding, George (R-NC)
Inhofe, James M (R-OK)
Kaine, Tim (D-VA)
Lance, Leonard (R-NJ)
LoBiondo, Frank A (R-NJ)
MacArthur, Thomas (R-NJ)
Marchant, Kenny (R-TX)
McCaul, Michael (R-TX)
O'Rourke, Beto (D-TX)
Palmer, Gary (R-AL)
Peters, Gary (D-MI)
Renacci, Jim (R-OH)
Rogers, Hal (R-KY)
Rothfus, Keith J (R-PA)
Rouzer, David (R-NC)
Sensenbrenner, F James Jr (R-WI)
Sessions, Pete (R-TX)
Tipton, Scott (R-CO)
Trott, Dave (R-MI)
Upton, Fred (R-MI)
Westerman, Bruce (R-AR)
Whitehouse, Sheldon (D-RI)
Yarmuth, John A (D-KY)
>https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=d000000076
>>126870
posted at 15:45:38
Other threads bumped/created at:
15:51:43
15:56:59
16:08:47
16:10:54
16:15:47
16:16:28
16:30:28
16:31:54
16:46:35
Wow, slow /news/ sure has picked up.
Members who own Comcast Corp shares: 30
Ashford, Brad (D-NE)
Black, Diane (R-TN)
Brownley, Julia (D-CA)
Carter, Buddy (R-GA)
Clawson, Curt (R-FL)
Cohen, Steve (D-TN)
Collins, Susan M (R-ME)
Conaway, Mike (R-TX)
Cooper, Jim (D-TN)
Curbelo, Carlos (R-FL)
Dingell, Debbie (D-MI)
Frankel, Lois J (D-FL)
Frelinghuysen, Rodney (R-NJ)
Hanna, Richard (R-NY)
Heck, Dennis (D-WA)
Holding, George (R-NC)
Kelly, Mike (R-PA)
Lance, Leonard (R-NJ)
MacArthur, Thomas (R-NJ)
Marchant, Kenny (R-TX)
McCaul, Michael (R-TX)
Pelosi, Nancy (D-CA)
Perdue, David (R-GA)
Renacci, Jim (R-OH)
Rogers, Hal (R-KY)
Sensenbrenner, F James Jr (R-WI)
Speier, Jackie (D-CA)
Trott, Dave (R-MI)
Upton, Fred (R-MI)
Westerman, Bruce (R-AR)
>https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000461
Members who own Verizon Communications shares: 40
Ashford, Brad (D-NE)
Barletta, Lou (R-PA)
Burgess, Michael (R-TX)
Bustos, Cheri (D-IL)
Capito, Shelley Moore (R-WV)
Carper, Tom (D-DE)
Carter, Buddy (R-GA)
Castor, Kathy (D-FL)
Collins, Susan M (R-ME)
Comstock, Barbara (R-VA)
Conaway, Mike (R-TX)
Duckworth, Tammy (D-IL)
Fitzpatrick, Michael G (R-PA)
Flores, Bill (R-TX)
Frankel, Lois J (D-FL)
Gibbs, Bob (R-OH)
Graves, Garret (R-LA)
Hanna, Richard (R-NY)
Hinojosa, Ruben (D-TX)
Hoeven, John (R-ND)
Kelly, Mike (R-PA)
King, Steven A (R-IA)
Lance, Leonard (R-NJ)
MacArthur, Thomas (R-NJ)
Marchant, Kenny (R-TX)
O'Rourke, Beto (D-TX)
Pallone, Frank Jr (D-NJ)
Perdue, David (R-GA)
Peters, Gary (D-MI)
Renacci, Jim (R-OH)
Rothfus, Keith J (R-PA)
Sensenbrenner, F James Jr (R-WI)
Sessions, Pete (R-TX)
Stivers, Steve (R-OH)
Titus, Dina (D-NV)
Trott, Dave (R-MI)
Upton, Fred (R-MI)
Westerman, Bruce (R-AR)
Whitehouse, Sheldon (D-RI)
Wittman, Rob (R-VA)
>https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000079