GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 40- February 2018

sites they disagree with. And for affiliates in other countries? U.S. players could be barred from visiting your sites – or gaming sites in general – even without direct government action. And then there’s the chilling thought that other countries’ ISPs could take a page from the U.S.’s book. The end of the world isn’t quite here yet – this issue will likely go to court. But regardless of the outcome, we get the feeling that the FCC will continue to ignore the whims of the people, seeing as how the issue of repealing net neutrality has already been hashed out a couple times over the last few years. Bless their hearts; they just keep trying. Pai remarked that the in- ternet has been “a stunning success.” It has been. And that’s no thanks to the com- modification of something integral to our daily lives – so integral, in fact, that the right to internet access has been a universal human right since 2003, as decided at the United Nations-spon- sored World Summit on the Information Society. Not to mention, on 19 De- cember U.S. Senate Minori- ty Leader Chuck Schumer announced a Senate vote to reinstate net neutrality by invoking the Congressional Review Act. This vote would undo the FCC vote, effectively embarrassing the hell out of them and saving the internet in one fell swoop. There is hope yet — but not for the FCC, apparently. People have long been living their lives by those wise words. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission and its chairman, Ajit Pai, however, don’t give a damn about what ain’t broke – they still feel the need to go ahead and try and fix it. Back in December, the FCC voted to repeal net neutrality by a vote of 3-2, beginning the process that will effectively end the fair and just internet as Americans know it. The Obama-era net neutrality reg- ulations prevent internet ser- vice providers from charging customers more to access certain websites or blocking websites outright. During a two-hour meeting, Pai ranted on and on about the future of the internet, saying it will remain as always and that ISPs won’t try anything underhanded, like throttling your connection when you try to visit a site they don’t like, or charging more for the ability to visit certain websites. Of course, ISPs say they won’t do this… but if so, why did they lobby so hard for the ability to do it? In a stunning bout of men- tal gymnastics, Pai remarked that ISPs have long been fudging loading speeds and blocking websites behind the scenes and, with this repeal, they’ll have to be more transparent if – when – they do it. But the repeal only gives them carte blanche to continue their nefarious activities under the guise of honesty. It doesn’t actually fix the problem – it’s like saying, “Hello, WALL OF SHAME “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” for the sake of transparency, I’m here to rob this bank,” before robbing a bank. Of course, consumers – and affiliates – could be the ones that get screwed most of all. If you’re in the U.S., prepare for the possibility that your favorite sites will be blocked. You might have to pay more to access Twitter. Or Facebook. Or maybe you’ll need to shell out even more cash in order to access internet “fast lanes.” And who knows whether certain ISPs will decide to block news FCC Ajit Pai and W W W . G P W A T I M E S . O R G 72