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Net Neutrality Complaints Rise Amid FCC Repeal (axios.com) 183

Posted by msmash from the tussle-continues dept.
An anonymous reader shares a report: Internet users are complaining more about net neutrality-related issues since the FCC voted to repeal the existing net neutrality rules earlier this month, according to the FCC's consumer complaint data. The FCC allows consumers to submit complaints about a variety of telecom-related problems, from receiving unwanted phone calls to billing fraud. After adopting net neutrality rules in 2015, the FCC added net neutrality to the list of possible gripes, such as slowed-down internet service or content being blocked. The FCC can use those complaints to spot trends or even launch investigations. According to the data (via the FCC's Consumer Complaint Center), people appear to file more net neutrality complaints when the topic is in the news and people are paying more attention to their internet performance.
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Net Neutrality Complaints Rise Amid FCC Repeal More

Net Neutrality Complaints Rise Amid FCC Repeal

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  • Oh, stop (Score:5, Funny)

    by PopeRatzo ( 965947 ) on Tuesday December 26, 2017 @02:07PM (#55810327) Journal

    You'll take what internet Comcast gives you, and you'll like it. Don't pretend you have a voice (or a choice) in these matters.

    • Re: (Score:2, Offtopic)

      by chispito ( 1870390 )

      You'll take what internet Comcast gives you, and you'll like it. Don't pretend you have a voice (or a choice) in these matters.

      What did Net Neutrality have to do with broadband competition?

      • What did Net Neutrality have to do with broadband competition?

        https://www.wired.com/story/he... [wired.com]

      • Everything. It stopped last mile isps from dictating which websites you could visit by giving fast lane for their services, while crippling the primary line with slow speeds.

        Wait until Comcast who owns nbc blocks Fox news and fox companies from all streaming services.

        Don't think that's possible? Comcast was doing that to Netflix and Republicans do nothing. When fox gets pushed off the internet they will scream.

        Their will be nothing the goverent can do as net neutrailtiy has been removed and Republicans

    • Well the FCC needs to be punished for making a stupid decision.
      If it was going to make a political decision based on support of big companies. Expect a lot of little people to flood their complaint department.
      Actions have consequences.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Altrag ( 195300 )

        Except that article was not this. It was extremely brief but it amounted to "people complain more about shit when its on their mind."

        That is, there isn't anything new being complained about (yet.) Just more people complaining about existing things. In particular that unfortunately means that the new complaints probably aren't specifically related to the rescinding of net neutrality, and therefore really don't have much bearing or indication on how screwed the US is now.

        I've said it on a few other posts..

    • you get it every 2 years. It's just most either choose not to speak up or if they do they speak up about different things.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hAckz0r ( 989977 )
      Yea, I see how they work. They blocked my non-Comcast voip outgoing calls and DNS blacklisted access to the FCC website. Anyway, all that shows is just how really desperate they are to get my business back. I've really got them over a barrel right now! They should be come crawling back to me any minute now. You'll see! Any minute now.

  • IOW (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26, 2017 @02:09PM (#55810357)

    Hypochondria for the internet. Same thing happens when there is a TV show talking about rare diseases.

    Color me shocked people associate a problem with a topic being discussed that they don't understand.

    • Well kinda, but before we had the law to assume that these companies are not abusing their powers. Now we don't so if there is a problem we can and should expect foul play. Being that these companies put a lot of time and money for a rule, just so they don't do anything with it.

    • Huh? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Tuesday December 26, 2017 @04:12PM (#55811199)
      Hypochondria is abnormal concern for one's health. If one has just been diagnosed with a terminal illness I hardly see a strong reaction as "Hypochondria". And I have no doubt that the change of administration has already impacted the internet negatively. Cox waited 8 years to impose bandwidth caps and just happen to do it this year. There's no way in hell you'll convince me that's a coincidence. Next thing you'll tell me they did it for traffic management instead of profit.
  • Bandwidth limit exception : to view this message, please upgrade to the Uber Platinum Unlimited Web package from your ISP.

  • Ajit Pai is blindingly obvious (Score:3)

    by Rick Schumann ( 4662797 ) on Tuesday December 26, 2017 @02:21PM (#55810443) Journal
    The more and more Ajit Pai and the FCC ignores what citizens are saying, the more obvious it becomes that Ajit Pai is in the hip pocket of corporations and does not care at all about what's good for U.S. Citizens. Ajit Pai needs to be removed and NN needs to be not just reinstated but expanded. The Internet isn't some Boutique 'service' that doesn't matter anymore, it's too important and too ubiquitos to be treated as such.

    • Speaking of obvious, captain.

      This joke is not on you though, itâ(TM)s on all of us, and the punchline is pain.

      Letâ(TM)s hope we can gather some political will and elect some decent representation moving forward. Hashtags: vote in the primary elections, vote in the state and local elections, not just federal.

      • Hashtags: vote in the primary elections, vote in the state and local elections, not just federal.

        This is a really good point. I live in a small mid-western town and it's well known in these small towns that it is really important to have good community leadership where even a small change like loosing a couple businesses could cause a town to fail.

        I lived in a small town (population 36k) that had a factory which supported the a good chunk of people in the town in one way or another but was closed almost 20 years ago they never managed to bring in any new business and the town has large sections of vaca

    • Re:Ajit Pai is blindingly obvious (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Altrag ( 195300 ) on Wednesday December 27, 2017 @04:46AM (#55814011)

      Uhh.. that was obvious from day one. He was installed as chairman specifically because he's in the hip pocket of corporations.

      Just like a guy who doesn't believe in science runs NASA, a guy who was suing the EPA now runs the EPA, a lobbyist for the drug industry now runs the FDA, a woman with a BA from a liberal arts college runs the department of education, a guy who wanted the department of energy shutdown -- because he didn't know what the hell it actually did! -- now runs the DOE. It just goes on and on.

      Basically Trump has appointed the fox to watch the hen house in almost every government agency. Its absolutely insane, and its going to do a lot of long-term damage to the US both economically and in the opinion of the rest of the world. The US is no longer going to be taken seriously when Trump does things like instructing the EPA to take down half their site because it deals with you know.. protecting the environment. Or when he tells the CDC and other science-based organizations that they shouldn't use phrases like "science-based." What the fuck is that? Does he expect the CDC to offer thoughts and prayers when there's an outbreak somewhere? I mean that's all we can be arsed to do when a shooter kills 50+ people so why put any more effort towards a disease doing the same?

      The US government is a joke right now. Its sad that many within the country can't (or just refuse) to see it.. especially those in government who have the power to do something about it. Americans are blinded by Trump's spectacle and big claims and the whole reality-TV aspect of it and completely ignore that all the shit Trump does, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes, will have long-lasting and potentially disastrous consequences for the country.. probably long after Trump's gone and it'll fall on someone else' shoulders to try and pick up the pieces and put the country together again in a world where China is racing full steam ahead to overtake the US as the #1 superpower, and India is probably only 2 or 3 decades behind if they can get their shit together. The US wasting a decade going backward will make it that much harder to stay ahead of the game.

  • This is only going to change (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Tuesday December 26, 2017 @02:30PM (#55810519)
    if the party in power changes. And yes, this is a partisan issue. The Republican party opposes Net Neutrality. The facts there speak for themselves. Ajit Pai is their appointee, they just proposed a law that doesn't restore NN but does prevent the States doing it, etc, etc. Meanwhile it was a Democrat appointee that protected it for 8 years under a Democratic president. Furthermore, the Republican party makes deregulation and laziee fair capitalism a central plank of it's party. To call this anything other than a partisan issue is disingenuous at best and an outright lie at worst.

    Here's the real question: How important is NN to you? Gun Control and Abortion are both powerful wedge issues that drive people to the polls. I don't see NN being one of those. Maybe if we could get this framed as a small business concern we'd have a chance, but I've yet to see anyone even mention that angle.

    • Yes, it is a partisan issue and that is why to properly solve it Congress has to act or else the rules will change with every new FCC chair with a different team color. I am not certain that Title 2 is the proper regulatory framework for ISPs. TBH, I don't think NN is as important as creating competition. You don't need NN if you have proper competition in the market. How do we create competition is the problem not how do get NN out of Title 2.

      • but it won't do any good if the Republicans pass a law blocks the States from any action while not restoring NN. Right now that looks like what's going to happen. We need to change who's running the country _before_ passing any laws. That means showing up for the Mid terms. And vote in your primary too. There's a lot of 'Blue Dog" Dems around that are just Republicans with a D next to their name. It won't do any good if we vote those jokers in.

        • We need to change who's running the country _before_ passing any laws.

          The point in passing a law is that it is hard and done in the open. It doesn't matter who does it right so long as it is done. Everyone will be able to see what the proposed law would do.

          To get the law passed you have to establish common ground. Work from that common ground to meet the goals. Voting along party lines will not do that because both parties are for and against it for different reasons.

          Everyone agrees monopolies are bad. Everyone agrees that more competition is needed. From there I think it sho

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Altrag ( 195300 )

            Done in the open? Have you not been following the news? The multiple health care bills were written by a very small group and even the rest of the republican party didn't get to see them until almost the day of the vote. The recently passed tax disaster was still being amended -- via handwritten notes in the margins -- right up until the vote. And again, few people got to see it before that. In both cases multiple congresspeople from both parties have said they didn't even read the thing before voting

      • You can count on a law that "we have to pass to see what's in it" if that happens. It'll be written by the lobbyists, like most important ones are. It won't solve anything, but will now be harder to change, as you point out.

        Yes, what we actually need is competition, particularly at the last mile. I have zero non-satellite options where I live, for example, just DSL and slow at that. This would all go away I'd bet if we hadn't already succumbed to total corruption and cableco influence. But trying to ma

    • if the party in power changes. And yes, this is a partisan issue.[...] Gun Control and Abortion are both powerful wedge issues that drive people to the polls. I don't see NN being one of those. Maybe if we could get this framed as a small business concern we'd have a chance, but I've yet to see anyone even mention that angle.

      Then why don't you add "right to own firearms" and "abortion is regulated at the state level" to your party's platform?

      Not every position your party takes needs to be the opposite from the other side.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Altrag ( 195300 )

        Not every position your party takes needs to be the opposite from the other side.

        In the Trump era it seems to. Even under Obama, once congress fell into republican control they flat out said, on the record, that they were going to vote down everything, good or bad, purely to spite the democrats. At that point, every issue becomes a partisan issue because they've completely cut off any potential lines of negotiation. If you want it I don't. If you want to get rid of it I'll make sure it stays. Doesn't matter if I personally believe you're right -- maintaining strict party lines is m

    • Corruption is NOT A PARTISAN ISSUE!!! Both sides are bought in fee simple by big outfits. Remember how we were all afraid that Wheeler, a former CableCo lobbyist, was going to do what Pai actually did do? But then he turncoated on his former employers, and probably the fellow who appointed him. There's no knowing - and that's my point. All you sure of yourself "it's partisan" people who don't know how stuff really works are powerless to affect what happens. Educate yourselves. Partisanship is a false

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by k6mfw ( 1182893 )
      What is with goals of making internet slower and more expensive? If throughput throttled to dial-up speeds then most webpages will not be viewable (I've seen more and more become hugh data hogs with scripts and ads). If make it too expensive then makes it more difficult to buy cheap crap from China? Not able to conveniently watch videos of useless stuff? (perhaps not such a bad thing after all).

  • Pissing in the wind? (Score:3)

    by grasshoppa ( 657393 ) on Tuesday December 26, 2017 @02:35PM (#55810541) Homepage

    So we're sending complaints to the organization that effectively ignored millions of complaints in overturning net neutrality rules.

    I don't mean to be the downer here, but what precisely are we hoping to accomplish that we haven't already accomplished? Wouldn't it make more sense to send your NN complaints directly to your senator and representatives?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jmccue ( 834797 )

      So we're sending complaints to the organization that effectively ignored millions of complaints in overturning net neutrality rules.

      True, but if the complaints keep going to the FCC and this issue remains in the press, maybe congress-critters will start to worry their gravy train will end in 2018 :)

  • Going with Title II for ISPs was a joke and should of never been implemented.
    Since the change from Title II does not go into effect until at least February that they are getting all these complains now shows that.

    • should of never been implemented.

      And that spelling of "should've" should've never been implemented either....

      Why is it that supposedly educated people can't spell as well as the average fifth grader?

    • What is really needed is a "Title IIX", since this is an entirely new "beast" that didn't exist in 1934; IIX is the next number available in the Act.

  • Simple solution (Score:3)

    by ChatHuant ( 801522 ) on Tuesday December 26, 2017 @02:47PM (#55810607)

    There is a simple solution which will both reduce or eliminate the complaints and align with FCC policies and culture. Remove net neutrality from the list of possible gripes.

  • How to report on this. (Score:3)

    by AlanObject ( 3603453 ) on Tuesday December 26, 2017 @02:54PM (#55810667)

    In case you haven't seen it I rather liked Huffington Post's editorial [huffingtonpost.com] on the subject. Basically it says "We're owned by Verizon so we win and you lose."

  • Hamburger Neutrality (Score:5, Informative)

    by MikeDataLink ( 536925 ) on Tuesday December 26, 2017 @04:47PM (#55811375) Homepage Journal

    This helped my non-technical friends:

    Hamburger Neutrality [thegeekpub.com]

  • Remember how the internet was an unending hell hole of bad service in 2015 before NN was passed?

    Remember how the internet suddenly changed in any noticeable way between 2015 and 2017 when the internet was perfect and good and amazing?

    Remember how when NN was struck down by the FCC it all went back to how it was before 2015?

    Have your opinions... we all have them... but when your argument rests upon the listener having the attention span of a gold fish... consider that it won't be taken seriously.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Altrag ( 195300 )

      Remember how the internet was an unending hell hole of bad service in 2015 before NN was passed?

      Yes. [lifehacker.com]

      Remember how the internet suddenly changed in any noticeable way between 2015 and 2017 when the internet was perfect and good and amazing?

      No, but I remember it not getting significantly worse. Other than the introduction of zero-rating systems (which also break NN but either the FCC didn't care, or just didn't get around to it when they had the chance and it doesn't matter now..)

      Remember how when NN was struck down by the FCC it all went back to how it was before 2015?

      No, but seeing as its been less than two weeks since the vote that's not exactly surprising. Come talk to me this time next year. If Slashdot isn't blocked by your ISP.

      • Your first point is about VPNs which were associated with commercial connections. I agree the move was shitty... though it was not throughout the whole industry. It was something a few ISPs did because they could because of the duopoly stuff.

        I hear you, but do consider that a big part of the NN fight was not the last mile people but what was going on with asymmetrical back end data contracts at the back bone level. There was shenanigans with Netflix etc that were a problem.

        We're also seeing that between the

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Altrag ( 195300 )

          it was not throughout the whole industry

          No, but if you read the rest of the page, there were things pretty much across the board.. not always the same things, and some certainly less good than others.. but still.

          a big part of the NN fight was not the last mile people

          No, that's a big part of what the ISPs wanted to (avoid) fighting about. From the users' perspective, all we care about is "will they make Netflix go faster than Hulu? Or block me from Skype because it competes with their super expensive telephone service?" Anything that doesn't specifically relate to those type of issues is not the pr

          • justifications for restriction to poles and thus reductions in competition is part of the problem. Open up the right of way with reasonable rules and fees. And if the poles get congested the fees should justify sub surface conduits. Regardless, this is the least of our current problems. I'll hazard this scenario and I think there is little justification at this point for not hazarding it.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Altrag ( 195300 )

              Subsurface conduits aren't a whole lot better. Sure they're not an ongoing ugliness but any time they need to be serviced, you have to dig up the entire street. Still not great, even if you can convince the companies to foot the bill (which of course means customers foot the bill -- company money doesn't appear out of thin air..)

              I agree its the least of our current problems, mostly because its irrelevant when competition is already restricted in so many other ways (legal, political, etc.)

              • They can be as large as you need them to be... the complaint doesn't matter. Currently you have an average of TWO service providers in an area... a phone and a cable tv provider... and should I suggest we have a third apparently this leads to chaos and ugliness...

                Listen, if you want to break the monopolies you have to have as many companies running cable as the MARKET will bear. You say but the AESTHETICS... this is your argument... aesthetics. Tsk tsk and tut tut, sir.

                if you have people running cable and p

  • The Net Neutrality rule change process had exposed the worst imaginable
    folly in our current body of law.

    The folly is the rule and regulation process that is not election based and
    is not identity trackable.

    Early reports disclosed an astounding number of stolen identities of US citizens were used
    to file statement in favor of the elimination of regulations. In the Russian meddling not
    a single vote was cast by a Russian cyber bot.

    This matters because in many cases current law is an enabling framework that est

    • This matters because in many cases current law is an enabling framework that establishes an agency and leaves the reality of the law to rule and regulation process. The ACA was short but the regulations behind it had a ten fold page count. i.e. the Regulations are ten times bigger.

      You consider something that is 906 pages of fairly dense text as Short

      The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [gpo.gov]

      I would hate to see what you consider substantial. I do agree with you that the following regulations are probably an order of magnitude longer and more complicated

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