[ NNSquad ] Re: Playing Hardball Against Net Neutrality

[Rahul Tongia <tongia@cmu.edu>]

Lauren,

There's also false dichotomies, another age old strategy.

Some colleagues have been portrayed as being against Net Neutrality, when
they are really against burdensome or overreaching regulations that may be
counterproductive or outweigh the benefits.

To use an analogy:

Q: Are you against juvenile naughty p1ctures ?

Ans: Yes, of course, I'm against such things.

Suggestion floated: We hereby regulate all images posted to public and
private websites to be subject to regulatory oversight to ensure compliance
with the anti-juvenile-smut directive/law.

Reaction: No, no, that's a horrible law. Burdensome, expensive, and still
leaves lots of holes.

Counter-reaction- So you're NOT in favor of stopping such smutt!

Etc.

Rahul

  [ And when did you stop beating your wife?  Another famous question
    in a similar vein.  There's no doubt that intense rhetoric in
    these arguments has escalated.  But I believe that any unbiased
    observer would be forced to admit that provocative statements and
    actions by the dominant ISPs started these battles and continue to
    fuel them, along with their attitude that is much closer to
    demanding "no regulation" -- as opposed to "reasonable
    regulation."  Given the increasing importance of the Internet to
    almost every aspect of our lives, and the role of large ISPs in
    controlling 100% of that access for most people, the current level
    of essentially non-regulation would appear to be unsustainable.

    Of course, in any "war" over land, ideas, or anything else,
    there's always the risk that we could end up like this:

    http://bit.ly/7IfMnl  (YouTube)

    -- Lauren Weinstein
       NNSquad Moderator ]