Wednesday, 12 July 2017
On 04:04 by admin No comments
Technology giants like Amazon, Spotify, Reddit, Facebook, Google, Twitter and many others are rallying today in a so-called “day of action” in support of net neutrality, five days ahead of the first deadline for comments on the US Federal Communications Commission’s planned rollback of the rules.
In a move that’s equal parts infuriating and
exasperating, Ajit Pai, the FCC’s new chairman appointed by President
Trump, wants to scrap the open internet protections installed in 2015
under the Obama administration. Those consumer protections mean
providers such as AT&T, Charter, Comcast, and Verizon are prevented
from blocking or slowing down access to the web.
Sites across the web will display alerts on their
homepages showing “blocked,” “upgrade,” and “spinning wheel of death”
pop-ups to demonstrate what the internet would look like without net
neutrality, according to advocacy group Battle for the Net. But most of
the pop-ups The Verge has seen have been simple banners or static text with links offering more information.
Twitter in a blog post
on Tuesday said that internet service providers are obligated to treat
and transmit all bits equally, regardless of origin, content, or
destination. It’s encouraging users to use the hashtag #NetNeutrality on
its platform.
“Net Neutrality is foundational to competitive, free
enterprise, entrepreneurial market entry... anyone with a great idea, a
unique perspective to share, and a compelling vision can get in the
game,” wrote Lauren Culbertson, public policy manager at Twitter.

Reddit, as you'd expect, is engaging in the most creative
protest so far. A pixelated logo ploddingly loads in its upper left
corner before begging users to upgrade their monthly bandwidth
allowance. Meanwhile, a pop-up blocks the page with a message typed out
at a frustratingly slow pace: “The internet’s less fun when your
favourite sites load slowly isn’t it?” Meanwhile, trying to access
Reddit’s /r/technology subreddit tells you that it’s “not included in
your internet service package.”

Video game streaming site Twitch has a banner
announcement on its channel page, while also replacing its global emotes
with a spinning wheel for 24 hours.

Netflix, Spotify, and Airbnb have all placed banners at the top of their home pages, while Vimeo has an explainer video and graphics made available for download. Other websites, including Google and Facebook are participating, but haven’t yet disclosed what form their protests will take.


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