If this reminds you of the scene in the Harry Potter books when the coward Peter Pettigrew, who had immense power as James Potter’s secret-keeper, makes a deal with Voldemort and betrays the wizarding world, it should.
“The Net Neutrality Battle Has Been Lost”
A U.S. court of appeals has ruled that the government cannot enforce net neutrality, or internet freedom. This means that internet service providers (like Comcast, Verizon, etc.) are legally allowed to block sites from their customers or offer better deals to certain sites.
So, let’s say the only internet service provider in your area is Time Warner Cable, but they decided to block Tumblr from their customers while also deciding to cut a deal with Facebook that makes it run faster. Without any say in the matter, you no longer have access to your blog and have to start spending your time on Facebook, the land without gifs.
And because the internet is a global community, this is not just a U.S. issue. This decision has implications for the entire future of the internet.
If you want to save the internet and keep it a place of equal information for everyone, get the facts, tell your friends, and sign this petition.
(via thehpalliance)
This one’s not a drill, guys. This one means that Comcast, which has a deal with Redbox, is legally in the clear to keep you from using Netflix on their service.
Considering Comcast is already in hot water with its subscribers for doing that, I’d say we’ve got a lot to worry about.