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WE WON! Net Neutrality and Re-Thinking Cynicism

2015-03-06 · letter vlog · Hank, John, Katherine Green · 3:58 · watch on YouTube

Topic: US politics & society (also: Internet & YouTube) · mode: News analysis · tags: timely hook, guest or collab

Hank explains net neutrality, why its defenders seemed sure to lose against cable companies and lobbyists, and celebrates the FCC's party-line reclassification of the internet as a public utility as a rare win for ordinary people, thanking those who fought for it.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — What net neutrality is, why the internet's diversity depends on it, and the companies that want paid fast lanes

  • ★★ Hank says the internet is pretty great: weird, economically and culturally diverse, his hobby, job, passion and friend. — 00:00:01
  • ★★ Hank says much of the internet's marvelous weirdness and diversity was and is due to net neutrality. — 00:00:09
  • ★★★ Hank defines net neutrality as the rule that all information flowing through the internet's pipes is treated the same, which is kind of new. (hedged) — 00:00:16
  • ★★ Hank says other information distribution systems never had that rule, which let people with money come in and control everything. — 00:00:24
  • ★★ Hank says many moneyed companies oppose net neutrality and would rather take payment to deliver some content faster and slow everyone else down. — 00:00:43
  • ★★ Hank says some companies want to pay to speed up their content, which competitors can't afford, to maintain their stranglehold on the American psyche. — 00:00:54 · United States

00:01:02 — Why it looked unwinnable: ordinary people's little influence, complexity, 'big government' framing, Tom Wheeler, public apathy, lobbyist money

  • ★★ Hank says net neutrality's supporters are mostly ordinary people, who often feel they have little influence on how the American government is run. — 00:01:02 · United States
  • ★★ Hank says net neutrality is technologically and legally complicated and easily framed as big government regulating the internet, but the regulation is of the companies that deliver the internet. — 00:01:13
  • ★★ Hank says he honestly didn't have much hope of a big win, at most forcing a middle course. — 00:01:43
  • ★★ Hank notes that Tom Wheeler of the FCC used to work for the cable industry, which hates net neutrality. — 00:01:49
  • ★★ Hank says most individual people don't care about net neutrality and don't even know what it is. — 00:01:54
  • ★★ Hank says practically all the money spent by lobbyists went to lobbying for the destruction of net neutrality. — 00:01:57
  • ★★★ Hank reports that the internet in the US has been reclassified as a public utility, giving the government the power to keep it neutral, and new FCC rules guarantee it will. — 00:02:03 · United States

00:02:04 — We won: reclassification as a public utility, a win against lobbyists, the party-line FCC vote, why it was not exciting

  • ★★★ Hank says 'we won', a win against lobbyists and corporate interests where the government had no reason to do the right thing except that it was right. — 00:02:21
  • ★★ Hank says the decision came down to party lines: three Democrats and two Republicans voted on the FCC, and the Republicans voted against net neutrality. — 00:02:30 · Republican Party
  • ★★★ Hank says that against claims that both parties are the same, this huge decision would have gone the other way under a different administration. — 00:02:37
  • ★★ Hank says the decision is hugely important for the future of the internet and for his own future. — 00:02:47
  • ★★ Hank says the win was dragged out, complicated and uncertain in timing, so not very exciting, but that's how these things happen. — 00:02:52

00:03:01 — Thanks to the campaigners and the officials, and taking a moment to celebrate

  • ★★ Hank thanks all the people who fought and worked hard to make the government realize it needed to keep the internet neutral. — 00:03:01
  • ★★ Hank also thanks the people in government who did this despite angering powerful corporations. — 00:03:12
  • ★★ Hank takes a moment to celebrate the win after a long time of work: 'thank you, everyone! This is awesome!'. — 00:03:21

00:03:33 — Sign-off and outtakes of Hank, Katherine and John playing a Mario game

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says political wins are drawn out, incremental and surprising, so they rarely feel good, but it is important to take time to enjoy them. (hedged) — video description

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Federal Communications Commission · Internet · Net neutrality

Also: People: Bill Clinton · Jimmy Carter · Katherine Green · Tom Wheeler

Organizations: Democratic Party · Federal government of the United States · Republican Party · White House · Wikipedia

Concepts: Lobbying · regulation

Places: United States

Characters: Mario · Toad

Only in the description or credits: cynicism

Also centred on Federal Communications Commission: Hank vs. Hank: The Net Neutrality Debate in 3 Minutes

Also centred on Internet: Watermelon Internet Trolls · 19 Ways to Not Suck on the Internet · Is YouTube Good for Humanity? · Logging Off · History Is Happening · LEAVE IT IN 2017

Also centred on Net neutrality: Net Neutrality in the Shower · Hank vs. Hank: The Net Neutrality Debate in 3 Minutes · Trump, Guns, and Net Neutrality...With Governor Steve Bullock?!

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