Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/12/10/not-even-wrong.html
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The german authorities are no better. They like to impose old style national rules to the net. E.g. “broadcasting time restrictions” to certain contents like in classic TV. Or, some month ago a discussion showed up, if you need to extend the shop opening times regulation to internet shops. The net community jokes about it under #neuland (“unexplored country”), which is a quote of chancellor Merkel excusing the strange net politics 
Alas, it’s not really funny but an big loop hole for enterprise lobbyists and state surveillance…
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It would be nice if ignorance about a thing prevented government types from fucking with it…but it only appears to encourage it.
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I’m fairly certain this is just Dunning Kruger writ large. If you are in the FCC that must mean you are a pre-eminent expert but in fact you don’t know enough to even understand what you don’t know.
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Of course, it’s also an example of how poorly tech people understand politics.
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+100 likes
The FCC literally doesn’t know how the internet works
If only we could teach them! We just have to explain it better! We just need more science to back it up!
The FCC literally doesn’t care how the internet works
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I regret that I have but one like to give for this comment.
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The linked EFF article fails to point out that the one thing the FCC does understand is politics and money (two things that in this instance, corruptly equal one thing). The FCC has no interest in a sound understanding of the technology. They have no interest in even making sense. How digital information is “transmitted” or “accessed” or “flows” is completely irrelevant to the commission. They have an interest in how money flows, and they understand it. They are attempting to maximize it for their clients. The input of electrical engineers and computer scientists is unwanted by the commission.
I do think the article is right that there is a last hope in Congress and in the mid-terms, but not much-- even if Democrats took back both houses.
If the Pai plan goes through I will be interested to see the technological response.
This is another instance of a true tragedy of the commons, in that any well-functioning commons is looted by bullies in the name of the market.
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eer what about those children of the future thing 
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The Internet should begin every day at 6 a.m. with the national anthem, with time slots during the day for news reports and entertainment, and conclude the day’s broadcast with the national anthem and an announcement the Internet was closed and you should all go to bed. That it all.
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As much as we laugh at the late Senator Ted Stevens, at least he got it.
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“Doesn’t know what it is, doesn’t care” is the motto of everyone in power in Trump’s federal government, concerning their departments and what they regulate. True of tRump and everyone he appointed. It’s kind of amazing that this applies to even people that Trump didn’t appoint, but I suppose they keep their jobs because that’s true.
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Similar to how the internet isn’t a separate thing that ISPs open a portal to, the FCC isn’t a single living entity that understands things in any sort of uniform way. The FCC is a collection of people, some of whom are lobbyist or owned by the corporations trying to gut Net Neutrality, some of whom are not.
I personally find it a bit ironic to do the exact same thing in the the very sentence describing it, but whatever… 
I’m sure their individual understandings differs wildly and for many it isn’t a lack of understanding at all rather a conflicted interest and an intentional sidestep to serve private interests for personal gain.
One thing for certain, they aren’t gutting Net Neutrality out of a lack of understanding.
This is a greed move, not an ignorance move.
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The FCC had some engineers at one point, but now they’re the Deep State and we’re supposed to be afraid.
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Remember when the FCC were the good guys?
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Yeah, who knew these were the good 'ol days:
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I’m not saying the FCC was perfect or without fault but for much of their existence what they did was non partisan and for the greater good of citizens, not corporations.
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The question is mostly about what the breakdown is between “believes that the internet is just a new flavor of TV that you can also get from the phone company” and “people who know it isn’t, yet, that but plan to fix that.”
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I know. The FCC’s policing of dirty words seems like such an innocent, better time.
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