The FCC Repeals Net Neutrality

AnthonyDaBest

Floating Shopping List
Joined
Jan 18, 2015
Messages
80
Likes
68
Location
Staten Island, NY
WHOOPS! It looks like the website www.sbmania.net has been blocked by your ISP. To gain access to this website, upgrade your plan or add a new website for $10.

Well, keep in mind, it isn't over just yet. The vote still has to go through the court, and it's all up to them to decide whether we should have free internet or not.
 

SpongeBobfan1987

"I'm so spice!"
Joined
Sep 22, 2008
Messages
3,836
Likes
990
Location
Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
spacepirate said:
I’m glad. The government shouldn’t be controlling the flow of data.
You do not get it.

Net neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers must treat all data on the Internet the same, and not discriminate or charge differently by user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or method of communication. For instance, under these principles, internet service providers are unable to intentionally block, slow down or charge money for specific websites and online content.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqXKEgTYZBQ
 

Mavaxis Starburner

I love SBM
Joined
May 14, 2011
Messages
1,925
Likes
3,448
I’m glad. The government shouldn’t be controlling the flow of data.

Yeah...that has literally nothing to do with the topic at hand. In fact, it's the exact opposite.

Killing net neutrality openly allows ISPs to control the flow of data, all at the consumer's expense. So if you want to pay an extra $20 a month to load SBM at a normal speed, by all means, you could at least be open about it like GreatServer, and admit you're complicit with blatant cash-grabbing.
 

RtU - Renegade the Unicorn

Flying Dutchman's Sock
Joined
Aug 21, 2016
Messages
232
Likes
247
Location
Bucketheadland, California
Wedge Hawkins said:
Yeah...that has literally nothing to do with the topic at hand. In fact, it's the exact opposite.

Killing net neutrality openly allows ISPs to control the flow of data, all at the consumer's expense. So if you want to pay an extra $20 a month to load SBM at a normal speed, by all means, you could at least be open about it like GreatServer, and admit you're complacent with blatant cash-grabbing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAD6Obi7Cag

:sbface:

In all seriousness, though: I have no opinion on net neutrality.
 

Pugs4Thugs

#1 SpongeBob Reviewer
Joined
Apr 23, 2016
Messages
2,081
Likes
1,471
Everything is done for money, which is just disgusting. The Internet was created as a free flow of information. Giving these companies the power to mark up prices and censor things they don't like is almost authoritarian if you think about it. I'm surprised that the "patriots" of this country aren't going crazy, because this could (and would) lead to censorship. But I suppose these companies wouldn't censor their little hate websites, where they could be bigots all day long.
And also, what do companies really get out of this? I mean, if they keep charging people extra, then people are not going to be able to afford to pay the Internet bill, which will just end up hurting the company.
 

SpongeBobfan1987

"I'm so spice!"
Joined
Sep 22, 2008
Messages
3,836
Likes
990
Location
Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
TheGreatServer said:
This is what more people around here need to realize.
I'm reminded of these lyrics:

But when the night is falling
You cannot find the light
You feel your dreams are dying
Hold tight


You've got the music in you
Don't let go
You've got the music in you
One dance left
This world is gonna pull through
Don't give up
You've got a reason to live
Can't forget
We only get what we give...
 

spongedude

Wumbologist
Staff
Joined
Apr 6, 2004
Messages
4,108
Likes
945
Location
Under the Sea
Wedge Hawkins said:
You know, there's a reason I uploaded this. This current government of ours proves it right.

Honest Slug said:
But wait guys we should stop complaining. It's not like the government spitting in the direction of anyone who isn't a big corporation is a big deal or anything. We should just talk about overhated SpongeBob episodes.

SpongeBobfan1987 said:
Our country's leaders are so morally bankrupt right now. All they care about is greed.

MY CHOCOLATE LEG! said:
Everything is done for money, which is just disgusting. The Internet was created as a free flow of information. Giving these companies the power to mark up prices and censor things they don't like is almost authoritarian if you think about it.

Look, I know I might sound like a know-it-all sometimes, but a lot of you are taking a very black & white approach to this issue, which in the long run will be harmful to your own faculty of critical thinking.

For one, do not fool yourselves into thinking that it is only this current government that is driven by greed, or morally bankrupt, or what-have-you. The stalwart defenders of one political party always seem to overlook the ill that their own side does, while often exaggerating the badness of one's opponents. In order to survive in this crazy world (and to avoid being had, like so many people), you've got to learn to keep a [truly] open mind, and a level head. Power and greed have been the prime movers of civilization for millennia, for better and for worse. It probably appears that today's men and women of power are the most terrible, because you are just coming of age. That's fine, but hopefully that simplistic view will mature with time.

Power always sincerely, conscientiously, de très bon foi, believes itself right. Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views, beyond the comprehension of the weak.
- John Adams, to Thomas Jefferson (1816)​

My other beef is that you all are giving this government more power over you than it has a right to. (And I hear similar complaints IRL. I'm not just picking on members here.) You're giving them power over your own thoughts and feelings, which is always a no-no in my book. If you're worried beyond reason that the government, or big business, is going to cut off your access to YouTube or Netflix or SpongeBuddy Mania or Facebook... if that's the case, then they've already won half the battle. First, if you really think about it, you don't need access to any of those sites (or even the internet itself) to live a full and educated life. And moreover, it seems a lot of people (and not just here) are concerned about losing access to websites that, frankly, aren't really good for their mental or physical health, anyway.

As a matter of principle, I believe the internet should remain uncensored, but to take the Cassandra point of view, as many of you are (vs. Pollyanna; look it up): if your ISP wound up pricing Facebook and YouTube out of your means, you might conceivably be better off in the long run. How many hours are spent mindlessly surfing the net, that could be better utilized in honing some practical skill, or in focused reading on some interesting topic?
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2014
Messages
2,869
Likes
2,908
spongedude said:
Look, I know I might sound like a know-it-all sometimes, but a lot of you are taking a very black & white approach to this issue, which in the long run will be harmful to your own faculty of critical thinking.

For one, do not fool yourselves into thinking that it is only this current government that is driven by greed, or morally bankrupt, or what-have-you. The stalwart defenders of one political party always seem to overlook the ill that their own side does, while often exaggerating the badness of one's opponents. In order to survive in this crazy world (and to avoid being had, like so many people), you've got to learn to keep a [truly] open mind, and a level head. Power and greed have been the prime movers of civilization for millennia, for better and for worse. It probably appears that today's men and women of power are the most terrible, because you are just coming of age. That's fine, but hopefully that simplistic view will mature with time.

Power always sincerely, conscientiously, de très bon foi, believes itself right. Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views, beyond the comprehension of the weak.
- John Adams, to Thomas Jefferson (1816)​
I agree. The majority of administrations that have come and gone have been driven by greed, amoral, etc, to some extent. I do believe the Trump administration gets blamed for nearly every issue in the country nowadays, even when it's not their fault. Despite this, the administration has done many awful things and this is one of them. Also, pointing out that this administration is driven by greed does not mean that it's the only one that is such.

spongedude said:
My other beef is that you all are giving this government more power over you than it has a right to. (And I hear similar complaints IRL. I'm not just picking on members here.) You're giving them power over your own thoughts and feelings, which is always a no-no in my book. If you're worried beyond reason that the government, or big business, is going to cut off your access to YouTube or Netflix or SpongeBuddy Mania or Facebook... if that's the case, then they've already won half the battle.
I don't... I don't understand this. How does being worried over the government taking control of the internet mean that they already have taken it over? They could just be, you know, nervous over the future which I believe that EVERYONE is at some point in their life, whether over net neutrality or not. I don't see the issue with someone using the internet in its current state and hoping for it to stay in the future. And I certainly don't see how this is making the government "win".

spongedude said:
First, if you really think about it, you don't need access to any of those sites (or even the internet itself) to live a full and educated life. And moreover, it seems a lot of people (and not just here) are concerned about losing access to websites that, frankly, aren't really good for their mental or physical health, anyway.
Except... you kinda do need the internet in today's world. Nowadays the entire system and industry of media, news, and resources is published digitally. Newspapers are getting less support and going out of business, so where do you get informed about current issues? You could say TV, but that's collapsing too. Television ratings are getting worse and worse every year and less money is invested into it, therefore, eventually it'll just fade away. And radio is pretty much gone by now, so it's hard to even imagine what'll become of it in 20 years. And you could say "but who needs current events"? And yeah, you could spend your entire life living in a hole and avoiding current events. But then what will you do to contribute to society? It requires some sort of understanding of knowing of what's going on in this world to do something about said things. And the education system is dependent on the internet too, now. Not to mention people's spare time and what they do to for fun. If someone's way of deriving pleasure is through the internet, then why stop them? Unless it's unlawful actions, then I don't see what's wrong with it. Some people like reading books and some people like watching YouTube. Whatever makes people happy, shouldn't be deprived from them.

spongedude said:
As a matter of principle, I believe the internet should remain uncensored, but to take the Cassandra point of view, as many of you are (vs. Pollyanna; look it up): if your ISP wound up pricing Facebook and YouTube out of your means, you might conceivably be better off in the long run. How many hours are spent mindlessly surfing the net, that could be better utilized in honing some practical skill, or in focused reading on some interesting topic?
Why would you say "look it up" in a paragraph against using the internet? Unless you're assuming that the readers of this own an encyclopedia, which if you are, then you need to get more acquainted with the new generation. As for the topic at hand, this is a very narrow-minded perspective that implies all of the internet is just frivolous time wasting (which some of it is, to be fair). You could be utilizing a new skill... as in coding, or engineering, or video editing, or audio mastering. You can learn from the internet and many important skills are dependent on the internet, especially as time progressives and automation starts to take over the world (which is imminent, even if you want to deny that). And "reading on some interesting topic" isn't a very valid argument because you can bet that whatever topic you're thinking of has 200 articles about it online as well as in print. I know you don't see the internet as very important, but the ugly truth is that as we head towards the future more and more things will start to become digital, until it is mandatory to use the internet for certain things. I don't quite like it either, as there is a lot to be said about the importance of things physical as opposed to digital, but it's just the way that western civilization is built upon now. And looking at the future, it's not going to change anytime soon.

The repeal of net neutrality is an awful thing. I shall refrain from going on a half-page rant unless all the lawsuits fail and congress approves of the FCC's decision, but I'll just say that this is a major regression for the internet and country as we know it.
 
Joined
Sep 1, 2008
Messages
2,167
Likes
1,195
Location
Current Location
Yeah...that has literally nothing to do with the topic at hand. In fact, it's the exact opposite.

Killing net neutrality openly allows ISPs to control the flow of data, all at the consumer's expense. So if you want to pay an extra $20 a month to load SBM at a normal speed, by all means, you could at least be open about it like GreatServer, and admit you're complicit with blatant cash-grabbing.

The internet is not a right, it isn’t a thing people are entitled to. Also you misunderstood my post completely. I never said I was against the principle of net neutrality. I’m against unnecessary government regulation.
 

spongedude

Wumbologist
Staff
Joined
Apr 6, 2004
Messages
4,108
Likes
945
Location
Under the Sea
BagelsinEurope said:
The repeal of net neutrality is an awful thing. I shall refrain from going on a half-page rant unless all the lawsuits fail and congress approves of the FCC's decision, but I'll just say that this is a major regression for the internet and country as we know it.
That was only a quarter-page rant, then? :P

Look, you make some fair points. You seem so enamored of rebutting my words, however, that I wonder if you really tried to understand my point of view.

As spacepirate says above, the internet is not a right. It is a privlege, albeit one that we should try to protect as much as possible, for as many as possible. But let me put it this way: I am privileged to be able to afford to feed myself. As much as I would like it to be, I am not entitled to be fed merely because I am a human being. I should be fed, and I should help to feed others less fortunate, but both spring from the goodwill of other people. They are not inherent to life. Life is a wonderful gift, but it can also be a brutal thing; just ask the next homeless, hungry American citizen who has no access to the internet or a steady meal, what our rights really are.

In other words, stop pointing fingers at the big baddies in charge, and start taking action. (I do apologize, but ranting and raving on the internet is only a nominally constructive action. You're in an echo chamber here. Preaching to the choir.)

We cannot pretend that we do not see the armed policeman who marches up and down beneath our window to guarantee our security while we eat our luxurious dinner, or look at the new piece at the theater, or that we are unaware of the existence of the soldiers who will make their appearance with guns and cartridges directly our property is attacked. We know very well that we are only allowed to go on eating our dinner, to finish seeing the new play, or to enjoy to the end the ball, the Christmas fete, the promenade, the races or, the hunt, thanks to the policeman's revolver or the soldier's rifle, which will shoot down the famished outcast who has been robbed of his share, and who looks round the corner with covetous eyes at our pleasures, ready to interrupt them instantly, were not policeman and soldier there prepared to run up at our first call for help. And therefore just as a brigand caught in broad daylight in the act cannot persuade us that he did not lift his knife in order to rob his victim of his purse, and had no thought of killing him, we too, it would seem, cannot persuade ourselves or others that the soldiers and policemen around us are not to guard us, but only for defense against foreign foes, and to regulate traffic and fetes and reviews; we cannot persuade ourselves and others that we do not know that the men do not like dying of hunger, bereft of the right to gain their subsistence from the earth on which they live; that they do not like working underground, in the water, or in the stifling heat, for ten to fourteen hours a day, at night in factories to manufacture objects for our pleasure. One would imagine it impossible to deny what is so obvious. Yet it is denied.
-Leo Tolstoy, The Kingdom of God is Within You
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2014
Messages
2,869
Likes
2,908
spongedude said:
As spacepirate says above, the internet is not a right. It is a privlege, albeit one that we should try to protect as much as possible, for as many as possible. But let me put it this way: I am privileged to be able to afford to feed myself. As much as I would like it to be, I am not entitled to be fed merely because I am a human being. I should be fed, and I should help to feed others less fortunate, but both spring from the goodwill of other people. They are not inherent to life. Life is a wonderful gift, but it can also be a brutal thing; just ask the next homeless, hungry American citizen who has no access to the internet or a steady meal, what our rights really are.
I... can't argue against this. It's human nature to take things for granted (which I do quite regularly) so this is a important point I was ignoring.

But despite that...

spongedude said:
In other words, stop pointing fingers at the big baddies in charge, and start taking action. (I do apologize, but ranting and raving on the internet is only a nominally constructive action. You're in an echo chamber here. Preaching to the choir.)

We cannot pretend that we do not see the armed policeman who marches up and down beneath our window to guarantee our security while we eat our luxurious dinner, or look at the new piece at the theater, or that we are unaware of the existence of the soldiers who will make their appearance with guns and cartridges directly our property is attacked. We know very well that we are only allowed to go on eating our dinner, to finish seeing the new play, or to enjoy to the end the ball, the Christmas fete, the promenade, the races or, the hunt, thanks to the policeman's revolver or the soldier's rifle, which will shoot down the famished outcast who has been robbed of his share, and who looks round the corner with covetous eyes at our pleasures, ready to interrupt them instantly, were not policeman and soldier there prepared to run up at our first call for help. And therefore just as a brigand caught in broad daylight in the act cannot persuade us that he did not lift his knife in order to rob his victim of his purse, and had no thought of killing him, we too, it would seem, cannot persuade ourselves or others that the soldiers and policemen around us are not to guard us, but only for defense against foreign foes, and to regulate traffic and fetes and reviews; we cannot persuade ourselves and others that we do not know that the men do not like dying of hunger, bereft of the right to gain their subsistence from the earth on which they live; that they do not like working underground, in the water, or in the stifling heat, for ten to fourteen hours a day, at night in factories to manufacture objects for our pleasure. One would imagine it impossible to deny what is so obvious. Yet it is denied.
-Leo Tolstoy, The Kingdom of God is Within You
...I'm still butthurt over the repeal of net neutrality. We could "stop pointing fingers at the big baddies" but... it's their fault! And as for raging online, no, it doesn't get anything done. But it can be a way of relieving stress and anger; if people are mad at the government for this, then letting it out in an online rant can be a good way of taking care of their rage. It's certainly much better than taking it out on human people, so I don't see what's inherently bad about making angry rants online. Not to mention, lots of stuff IS being done about this and most of the talk that's been done in this thread has just been as I said earlier; release of anger and stress. The lawsuit attack on the FCC and hundreds of protests are significant action, as well as thousands of people who have contacted congress begging for a veto of the repeal. I see your point about how there are much more important things you could be doing as opposed to whining on the internet (and I do agree, to an extent) but there is a time and a place where people should be able to let out their frustrations. Such as this thread. And while I would rather have personal action be done, I shall defend it, because it has its importance.
 
Joined
Dec 12, 2010
Messages
3,046
Likes
1,068
Location
Canada
spongedude said:
That was only a quarter-page rant, then? :P

Look, you make some fair points. You seem so enamored of rebutting my words, however, that I wonder if you really tried to understand my point of view.

As spacepirate says above, the internet is not a right. It is a privlege, albeit one that we should try to protect as much as possible, for as many as possible. But let me put it this way: I am privileged to be able to afford to feed myself. As much as I would like it to be, I am not entitled to be fed merely because I am a human being. I should be fed, and I should help to feed others less fortunate, but both spring from the goodwill of other people. They are not inherent to life. Life is a wonderful gift, but it can also be a brutal thing; just ask the next homeless, hungry American citizen who has no access to the internet or a steady meal, what our rights really are.

In other words, stop pointing fingers at the big baddies in charge, and start taking action. (I do apologize, but ranting and raving on the internet is only a nominally constructive action. You're in an echo chamber here. Preaching to the choir.)

We cannot pretend that we do not see the armed policeman who marches up and down beneath our window to guarantee our security while we eat our luxurious dinner, or look at the new piece at the theater, or that we are unaware of the existence of the soldiers who will make their appearance with guns and cartridges directly our property is attacked. We know very well that we are only allowed to go on eating our dinner, to finish seeing the new play, or to enjoy to the end the ball, the Christmas fete, the promenade, the races or, the hunt, thanks to the policeman's revolver or the soldier's rifle, which will shoot down the famished outcast who has been robbed of his share, and who looks round the corner with covetous eyes at our pleasures, ready to interrupt them instantly, were not policeman and soldier there prepared to run up at our first call for help. And therefore just as a brigand caught in broad daylight in the act cannot persuade us that he did not lift his knife in order to rob his victim of his purse, and had no thought of killing him, we too, it would seem, cannot persuade ourselves or others that the soldiers and policemen around us are not to guard us, but only for defense against foreign foes, and to regulate traffic and fetes and reviews; we cannot persuade ourselves and others that we do not know that the men do not like dying of hunger, bereft of the right to gain their subsistence from the earth on which they live; that they do not like working underground, in the water, or in the stifling heat, for ten to fourteen hours a day, at night in factories to manufacture objects for our pleasure. One would imagine it impossible to deny what is so obvious. Yet it is denied.
-Leo Tolstoy, The Kingdom of God is Within You
you mad, bro :P
 
Joined
Feb 3, 2013
Messages
7,428
Likes
7,747
Location
Take A Step, Inside Your Mind! I'm Stalking you.
spacepirate said:
The internet is not a right, it isn’t a thing people are entitled to. Also you misunderstood my post completely. I never said I was against the principle of net neutrality. I’m against unnecessary government regulation.

Something not being a right does not mean that it is not a fundamental part of the world that has slowly been integrated into how we keep up the rest of the world and how this could potentially hurt any companies that oppose anything to the ISP's. The fact that the ISP's could do that is horrific enough even if they don't end up doing anything or raising the prices that badly. The principle should be that large companies should not have any power outside of themselves, and giving them the influence to do so is asinine. I for one don't want to live in a world where the easiest news source to access is more Fox News "conservative" propaganda while I'll be restricted from information I could've had before simply because I'm not rich enough to bend over for Comcast, who are certainly darling little angels who can do no wrong with a potential monopoly on information that hold the lower classes down!


spongedude said:
For one, do not fool yourselves into thinking that it is only this current government that is driven by greed, or morally bankrupt, or what-have-you. The stalwart defenders of one political party always seem to overlook the ill that their own side does, while often exaggerating the badness of one's opponents. In order to survive in this crazy world (and to avoid being had, like so many people), you've got to learn to keep a [truly] open mind, and a level head. Power and greed have been the prime movers of civilization for millennia, for better and for worse. It probably appears that today's men and women of power are the most terrible, because you are just coming of age. That's fine, but hopefully that simplistic view will mature with time.
Alrighty then, besides the fact that past corruptness does not have any relevancy to the FCC's complete disregard for over 75% of the country's population here, has the corruptness ever been this transparent before? They are openly admitting they do not care and do it in a downright insulting manner. I'm openminded enough to tell when someone is directly mocking me right in front of my face because they know they can like a sad pathetic middle school bully that actually has power in the real world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFhT6H6pRWg


spongedude said:
As a matter of principle, I believe the internet should remain uncensored, but to take the Cassandra point of view, as many of you are (vs. Pollyanna; look it up): if your ISP wound up pricing Facebook and YouTube out of your means, you might conceivably be better off in the long run. How many hours are spent mindlessly surfing the net, that could be better utilized in honing some practical skill, or in focused reading on some interesting topic?
As a matter of principle, I should have the rights to spend all the time I want doing anything. You know how many hours could simply be spent "moderating a forum for a silly kids show"? You can spend all the time in the world honing skills on anything and hearing that from a 10+ year tenured administrator of an internet forum is hilariously hypocritical given that you could spin that towards any recreational website. If it really drags down the user that much they should be trusted to get rid of it themselves as anyone else would because it is certainly possible and not realizing that severely underestimates human capability, even if the majority does fit the line of wasting their time that's grouping literally everyone in there and quite unfairly I must add as well. That literally includes everyone here as we certainly don't need to spend our time on a SpongeBob forum for anything!

And do you also know what this useful tool for researching skills can be? The Internet! Even if they don't target those kinds of websites, the principle that they can is more than enough to get in a giant fuss about!
 

spongedude

Wumbologist
Staff
Joined
Apr 6, 2004
Messages
4,108
Likes
945
Location
Under the Sea
:torch:


tumblr_om8b32BOzF1rrwrx4o1_500.gif
 
Back
Top