Tech Dirt nicely summarizes how John Oliver on his CNN show, "Last Week Tonight," analyzes the important Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision regarding Net Neutrality.
Tech Dirt:
John Oliver: Stop Calling It Net Neutrality; It's 'Preventing Cable Company F**kery' --
Not surprisingly, it's both insightful and hilariously funny. He mocks how the FCC has made the issue sound incredibly boring. He mocks telco industry lawyers claiming it's "not about fast lanes and slow lanes" but "fast lanes and hyperspeed lines." Oliver summarized that quote simply as "bullshit." He shows this graphic of Netflix's speed on Comcast before and after it agreed to pay up, and directly compares it to a mafia shakedown. He highlights how the broadband companies (though he unfortunately lumps telco companies in as "cable companies") have basically bought off Washington DC, amusingly comparing an FCC run by a former lobbyist regulating the cable industry to an Australian couple hiring a dingo to babysit.
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related:PC Magazine:
John Oliver's Net Neutrality Plea Crashes FCC Website --
Boing Boing:
The Federal Communications Commission last month launched a 120-day public comment period regarding proposed net neutrality regulations. Now, thanks in large part to comedian John Oliver's call to arms, the agency is drowning in public opinion.
On Monday, the FCC twice tweeted about technical difficulties with its online comment system "due to heavy traffic."
Perhaps because, during Sunday's episode of Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (below), the host suggested that Internet trolls turn their attention from YouTube videos of dancing 3-year-olds to the fight against a changing Web.
Those still struggling to understand net neutrality and the FCC's proposed changes can watch Oliver's 10-minute refresher course below. "The point is, the Internet in its current form is not broken," he said. "And the FCC is currently taking steps to fix that."
It's not Net Neutrality that's at stake, it's Cable Company F**kery --
John Oliver was incandescent on the subject of Net Neutrality, Time Warner and Comcast on Saturday...
