The internet as you know it is about to change for the worse forever. Net Neutrality.

[EYES WIDE OPEN]

We’re About to Lose Net Neutrality — And the Internet as We Know It


http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/11/so-the-internets-about-to-lose-its-net-neutrality/



Net neutrality is a dead man walking. The execution date isn’t set, but it could be days, or months (at best). And since net neutrality is the principle forbidding huge telecommunications companies from treating users, websites, or apps differently — say, by letting some work better than others over their pipes — the dead man walking isn’t some abstract or far-removed principle just for wonks: It affects the internet as we all know it.

Once upon a time, companies like AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, and others declared a war on the internet’s foundational principle: that its networks should be “neutral” and users don’t need anyone’s permission to invent, create, communicate, broadcast, or share online. The neutral and level playing field provided by permissionless innovation has empowered all of us with the freedom to express ourselves and innovate online without having to seek the permission of a remote telecom executive.

But today, that freedom won’t survive much longer if a federal court — the second most powerful court in the nation behind the Supreme Court, the DC Circuit — is set to strike down the nation’s net neutrality law, a rule adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in 2010. Some will claim the new solution “splits the baby” in a way that somehow doesn’t kill net neutrality and so we should be grateful. But make no mistake: Despite eight years of public and political activism by multitudes fighting for freedom on the internet, a court decision may soon take it away.

The implications of such a decision would be profound. Web and mobile companies will live or die not on the merits of their technology and design, but on the deals they can strike with AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, and others. This means large phone and cable companies will be able to “shakedown” startups and established companies in every sector, requiring payment for reliable service. In fact, during the oral argument in the current case, Verizon’s lawyer said, “I’m authorized to state from my client today that but for these [FCC] rules we would be exploring those types of arrangements.”

Wait, it gets even worse. Pricing isn’t even a necessary forcing factor. Once the court voids the nondiscrimination rule, AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast will be able to deliver some sites and services more quickly and reliably than others for any reason. Whim. Envy. Ignorance. Competition. Vengeance. Whatever. Or, no reason at all.


So what if you’ve got a great new company, an amazing group of founders, a seat in a reputable accelerator program, great investors and mentors. With the permission-based innovation over “our pipes” desired from the likes of Comcast, Verizon and AT&T… there’s no meritocracy here.

Of course, despite everything the judges suggested during the two-hour argument, it’s possible that they offer net neutrality a reprieve. Given how sticky this morass is, there’s one simple way for you to judge the opinion: If the court throws out the non-discrimination rule, permission-less innovation on the internet as we know it is done. If the nondiscrimination rule miraculously survives, then, for now at least, so too will freedom on the internet.

[sheme]

The monopolies commission (now called something else) would eventually step in if it became too noticeable wouldn't it?

Perhaps this is just a wake up call from the judge and his warning of a loophole large that should be filled pronto.

[GK76]

The legal juris-fiction strikes again. The government/corporations/legal system only has power over you if you claim the legal name... we should only ever work within common law, and constantly set the jurisdiction to common law. It's about time the internet is reinvented as non-profit, non-corporate... then the whore of babylon (commerce) will lose this battle. The trouble is the world is so caught up in commerce that people constantly ask the question - Where will the money come from? The vast majority of people in this world are so very lost. :(

[Joe Akulis]

Are all of these communications companies headquartered in the U.S.? I was thinking that if they decided to strangle the bandwidth on say, Project Avalon, then it seems like there would open up a market for telecoms outside the U.S. to provide that non-discriminatory bandwidth instead... Seems like this decision in a U.S. court wouldn't be able to affect more than U.S.-based websites for very long. Kind of like a lot of other things going on here at the moment. Those in the U.S. might have it the hardest for a while.

[ThePythonicCow]

Are all of these communications companies headquartered in the U.S.? I was thinking that if they decided to strangle the bandwidth on say, Project Avalon, then it seems like there would open up a market for telecoms outside the U.S. to provide that non-discriminatory bandwidth instead...
Huh?

If my cable company, which provides my Internet service to me, decides to choke Avalon, then short of moving, I'm stuck. I don't care how wonderful all the telecoms are in all the rest of the world ... all the bits I look at arrive over the cable connecting me to my local Internet Service Provider. The alternatives are all slower or more expensive. They include DSL over the phone line (from the phone company, another telecom giant), or dial-up over the phone line, which is a thousand times slower, or satellite, which is slower and more expensive.

I might get away with a proxy server, but only if at least one of the two giants competing for my Internet service (the cable company and the phone company) don't both choke that too, and that would still be more expensive and slower.

[Joe Akulis]

I was more thinking about the internet connection that the avalon servers use to connect to the internet with. If a telecom decided to restrict the connection to the avalon servers to a certain more limited data rate,I mean at the hosting site, then anyone around the globe would be affected, wouldn't they? But if the hosting site itself was outside the US, (and I have no idea if it is, Avalon was just a hypothetical, so lets say they are) then hopefully some other Russian company or Brazillian company would be glad to take over as provider. And similarly, if your site was located and hosted inside the U.S., a lot of hosting companies outside the U.S. would be glad to help you migrate your site and content to someplace outside the U.S. to get back to a network that is unrestricted. (Gee, this sounds a lot like I'm talking about prescious metals ownership here now. heh heh )



If my cable company, which provides my Internet service to me, decides to choke Avalon, then short of moving, I'm stuck. I don't care how wonderful all the telecoms are in all the rest of the world ... all the bits I look at arrive over the cable connecting me to my local Internet Service Provider. The alternatives are all slower or more expensive. They include DSL over the phone line (from the phone company, another telecom giant), or dial-up over the phone line, which is a thousand times slower, or satellite, which is slower and more expensive.

Yes, this illustrates what I mean about these companies being able to make it stinky for us here in the US, because they could choose to filter traffic from certain sites and give transmission priorities to the folks on their "white" list.

[RMorgan]

What if you start using a VPN (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/vpn7.htm) to encrypt your traffic?

Would your ISP be able to shape your bandwidth if they didn't know what website you're actually visiting? Probably not.

The problem is that you would have to pay an average additional U$10,00 a month for a good VPN service (https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/4931/best-encrypted-vpn/).

Anyway, some people, like the guys from The Pirate Bay, have plans to develop a free P2P tool to encrypt the whole web (http://gigaom.com/2008/07/09/the-pirate-bay-wants-to-encrypt-the-entire-internet-2/). Such measures would only motivate people to develop such kinds of solutions ever faster.

Raf.

[Crazy Louie]

I would think they would go for the christian youtube channels that have bigger followings first - the ones that are for real and filling in a lot of blanks regarding politics in the middle east - the gov already deems them a big problem along with so many that have been posted here in the past. I won't name them - after all there are probably 100 google spiders on here right now - and countless others from different sources. at this point in time it already seems the quest for private information comes at the price of our privacy. (regarding YT - some channels have already mentioned glitches starting to happen to them.) you will know them by their works - I would not be to keen on heeding those that remain if others are disappearing - make sense?)

I think things are going to move really fast - just up ahead. - we could say at such a time we would stop using - but remember our old friend the grey man - I think it would be wise to keep tethered to the system as a means to stay grey - read between the lines - when we talk about survival we usually talk about physical things - no one really gets into the being spiritually and mentally prepared for the wicked that this way comes. for you non bible folks I want to bring you attention to
Ephesians 6:13-17 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

I noticed something about that early on - it does not have anything to protect your back. I took this to mean your not to run - I don't mean like bugging out I mean in our convictions. If we have been getting ready for everything they are going to do - why would there be surprise now? were we preparing for something make believe? I said in another post - this is not a movie - we do not get to be scared and then get up and leave and go on with life - in this case the movie is our life -
I include the bible passage for the philosophy content - it just makes sense that if you NOW see and now believe what ever you believe - are they the mental/spiritual tools that you want - when the internet is no longer real - and your mind and spirit has to fend for itself - was part of their plan to let us suck in all the free internet thought we wanted to so we became addicted to it in different ways so that when they decided to change things - they could then use it as a tool because so many will continue to nurse from it - I mean look what they done with communication and the internet - everything is centered around the masses staying in contact with each other through the computer - where ever you are there is now a device to connect you - sure there are some dead spots in the world still but are they densely populated?

I just think survival needs to include a deep study of our own mind - clif high talks a lot of stuff - but what he said when he was waiting for the global coastal event the part about people being knocked off their couches and ending up 30 miles away in a swamp butt naked and not having a clue what to do. - I think its an easy enough statement to understand. so ya - should we be NOW be surprised as things everyone has mention one way or another on here start to come to pass?

I ask - are there others that when they sit quiet and just think slowly that everything kind of feels like a twilight zone existence - its not depression - its not enlightenment - its just kind of wondering what it is that we now live in at this time - I mean if we have busted through some type of illusion that was held in place for so long - and even if we don't agree on why or how - is that feeling of grey sky thick air feel there for others? Its hard to put into words - are the dead men walking now? - one foot in front of the other - the mouth moves to others that don't know - but we don't feel like we are really here.

It helps in a way to know that even if this all goes down - later I can think others saw it coming too - how are they doing -

[Joe Akulis]

I would think they would go for the christian youtube channels that have bigger followings first - the ones that are for real and filling in a lot of blanks regarding politics in the middle east - the gov already deems them a big problem along with so many that have been posted here in the past. I won't name them - after all there are probably 100 google spiders on here right now - and countless others from different sources. at this point in time it already seems the quest for private information comes at the price of our privacy. (regarding YT - some channels have already mentioned glitches starting to happen to them.) you will know them by their works - I would not be to keen on heeding those that remain if others are disappearing - make sense?)

I think things are going to move really fast - just up ahead. - we could say at such a time we would stop using - but remember our old friend the grey man - I think it would be wise to keep tethered to the system as a means to stay grey - read between the lines - when we talk about survival we usually talk about physical things - no one really gets into the being spiritually and mentally prepared for the wicked that this way comes. for you non bible folks I want to bring you attention to
Ephesians 6:13-17 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

I noticed something about that early on - it does not have anything to protect your back. I took this to mean your not to run - I don't mean like bugging out I mean in our convictions. If we have been getting ready for everything they are going to do - why would there be surprise now? were we preparing for something make believe? I said in another post - this is not a movie - we do not get to be scared and then get up and leave and go on with life - in this case the movie is our life -
I include the bible passage for the philosophy content - it just makes sense that if you NOW see and now believe what ever you believe - are they the mental/spiritual tools that you want - when the internet is no longer real - and your mind and spirit has to fend for itself - was part of their plan to let us suck in all the free internet thought we wanted to so we became addicted to it in different ways so that when they decided to change things - they could then use it as a tool because so many will continue to nurse from it - I mean look what they done with communication and the internet - everything is centered around the masses staying in contact with each other through the computer - where ever you are there is now a device to connect you - sure there are some dead spots in the world still but are they densely populated?

I just think survival needs to include a deep study of our own mind - clif high talks a lot of stuff - but what he said when he was waiting for the global coastal event the part about people being knocked off their couches and ending up 30 miles away in a swamp butt naked and not having a clue what to do. - I think its an easy enough statement to understand. so ya - should we be NOW be surprised as things everyone has mention one way or another on here start to come to pass?

I ask - are there others that when they sit quiet and just think slowly that everything kind of feels like a twilight zone existence - its not depression - its not enlightenment - its just kind of wondering what it is that we now live in at this time - I mean if we have busted through some type of illusion that was held in place for so long - and even if we don't agree on why or how - is that feeling of grey sky thick air feel there for others? Its hard to put into words - are the dead men walking now? - one foot in front of the other - the mouth moves to others that don't know - but we don't feel like we are really here.

It helps in a way to know that even if this all goes down - later I can think others saw it coming too - how are they doing -

When the Nazis collected all the bibles and burned 'em, did it stamp out Christianity?

[EYES WIDE OPEN]

What if you start using a VPN (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/vpn7.htm) to encrypt your traffic?

Would your ISP be able to shape your bandwidth if they didn't know what website you're actually visiting? Probably not.

The problem is that you would have to pay an average additional U$10,00 a month for a good VPN service (https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/4931/best-encrypted-vpn/).

Anyway, some people, like the guys from The Pirate Bay, have plans to develop a free P2P tool to encrypt the whole web (http://gigaom.com/2008/07/09/the-pirate-bay-wants-to-encrypt-the-entire-internet-2/). Such measures would only motivate people to develop such kinds of solutions ever faster.

Raf.

I use spotflux as my VPN. Its free!

[Patrikas]

Hi .
because data security has has been a real issue recently with the all the NSA hype i started to try to look into it a little deeper over the last few months just to try to get a better understanding of all thats been happening ....

i have ben a regular reader over at jimstone freelance website and hes been writing about security issues for well over a year i went back through all the stuff he has written and if its all true for joe average there isnt any such thing as security or encryption pretty much at all he also speaks of back doors in "all operating systems " i personally canot verify it myself because its way beyond my expertise but my feelings on it are hes pretty much on the money

http://jimstonefreelance.com/thehack.html

http://jimstonefreelance.com/sandybridge.html

http://jimstonefreelance.com/corevpro.html

[Bubu]

It's about time the internet is reinvented as non-profit, non-corporate... then the whore of babylon (commerce) will lose this battle. The trouble is the world is so caught up in commerce that people constantly ask the question - Where will the money come from? The vast majority of people in this world are so very lost. :(

so true same reason why free energy is not out there yet.

My intuition in this regard is that some genius out there will find a way to neutralize this move.

[Bubu]

Raf.

I use spotflux as my VPN. Its free!

But spotflux had to make some gain too. so watch the catch?

[giovonni]

pay heed ...

How the Corporatocracy is Killing the Internet | Interview with Tim Karr


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEFklwQtN3Q

[ThePythonicCow]

What if you start using a VPN (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/vpn7.htm) to encrypt your traffic?

Would your ISP be able to shape your bandwidth if they didn't know what website you're actually visiting? Probably not.
Well, they could shape it with a blunt instrument ... all VPN traffic taking lower priority than the main stream news, entertainment and sports channels that were paying money to get traffic through :).

[EYES WIDE OPEN]

Raf.

I use spotflux as my VPN. Its free!

But spotflux had to make some gain too. so watch the catch?

No catch.



With Spotflux, I found it very hard to understand what the company would do for revenue. To help things along, I spoke with Chris Naegelin, co-founder of the service. Naegelin said that Spotflux is currently only free on the desktop; if you’re using a mobile device, the service is paid. “We also monetize during the install process if a user opts-in to one of our bundle partners such as Dashlane,” he noted.
Thankfully, the co-founder said that the company “[plans] to always have an unlimited free tier”. There will be a “premium” version available on the desktop later this year, but currently the free option is all that’s offered as a sort of starting point.
I asked Naegelin what the company’s plans for the future are and, while he said that most of them are confidential, he made it a point for users to know that there will be much more focus on safe and private browsing.

http://mac.appstorm.net/reviews/internet-reviews/spotflux-finally-a-free-vpn/

It really is free.

[TargeT]

What if you start using a VPN (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/vpn7.htm) to encrypt your traffic?

Would your ISP be able to shape your bandwidth if they didn't know what website you're actually visiting? Probably not.

The problem is that you would have to pay an average additional U$10,00 a month for a good VPN service (https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/4931/best-encrypted-vpn/).

Anyway, some people, like the guys from The Pirate Bay, have plans to develop a free P2P tool to encrypt the whole web (http://gigaom.com/2008/07/09/the-pirate-bay-wants-to-encrypt-the-entire-internet-2/). Such measures would only motivate people to develop such kinds of solutions ever faster.

Raf.

I use spotflux as my VPN. Its free!

I pay 6.95 for a VPN that lets me act like I'm anywhere in the world, I get a good connection through it. right now I'm "in" atlanta georgia when I use it.

[panopticon]

I don't often use it but there's the free VPN service that's part of a Japanese University academic project (VPNGate).
It works just dandy and has servers volunteered from around the world.
Only drawback is you need to install a bit of software:
http://www.vpngate.net/en/
http://www.vpngate.net/en/about_overview.aspx

One of their motto's seems quite relevant:

http://www.vpngate.net/images/ap.jpg

'We Need No Internet Berlin Wall on the Internet'.
-- Pan

[sigma6]

Ok, here's the catch, I did one of those blur overs when reading this thread... if they wanted to do something this diabolical why are the touting the horns in advance? why are they telegraphing their move so loud? Is this like a freemason, gather the troops call out or something??? Why isn't this being done in secrecy behind our backs?....

I want to talk about Bandwidth in general... because this is more insidious and more subtle... employing marketing and 'customer service' people increasingly in their scam...

All I know is this I don't care how crappy the customer service is... (because I MANAGE my own customer service and any corporate 'customer service agent' that deals with me knows it... (oh my and the success stories I could tell...) I don't care how I have to educate them, the fundamental principle remains the same... complaint by complaint...

that said... I will take the Aggregate Reseller of Bell's networks that offer UNLIMITED INTERNET BANDWIDTH over Bell's bandwidth usage service, any day, and save about a minimum of $500 a year... that's enough to buy yourself a 'Christmas' whatever... They guarantee bandwidth to the box and guarantee the box... and when it comes to internet you don't need more then that...

EVERYONE should stop bundling all your services into one provider, it's stupid, it's dangerous, and it makes you vulnerable as a customer... And it is very OFTEN, NOT cheaper... NEVER EVER, EVER pay for bandwidth usage if you have the choice for unlimited bandwidth, this is such a no brainer, that I literally cannot comprehend how someone would actually CHOOSE to pay for bandwidth and PAY MORE.....

WAKE UP!!! it's just electricity running through a wire... your "favourite phone company" didn't invent and hand bake it in their Keibler Elf Magical Cookie Oven!!!
Selling by bandwidth usage is a "stupid" test... run by marketing companies... ...it wasn't easy to contact Bell... they make it incredibly difficult for the Aggregate Resellers, (who ironically, also kind of make it difficult on themselves as well) Anyhow Bell will fill you with subtle fear, and stories of 'sub performance' etc... then offer juicy little carrots and sweet talkin' kind lovin' words... ie. they even upped my bandwidth in the last minute and reduced the overall bill by $10 (which was still way too high) beware the "customer retention" customer service agent, they are a specially trained breed... sweet and deadly...

I now pay $40 a month (all in) for unlimited internet and it works flawlessly 99% of the time... you can't calculate what bandwidth usage is going to be... but it's a savings of at least $60 a month if you factor in one "bad" month... it seems right now aimed at techies, but it is really just like any service and I don't even use half the stuff they are offering including 100GB of online storage, email, and yep even VPN!

[EYES WIDE OPEN]

Bumpety bump with this....

EU privacy watchdog opposes EC net neutrality proposal

http://www.telecompaper.com/news/eu-privacy-watchdog-opposes-ec-net-neutrality-proposal--980075

and this:

[Camilo]

We've been hearing this for the last 10 years.