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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsVerizon Says It Wants to Kill Net Neutrality to Help Blind, Deaf, and Disabled People
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/verizon-comcast-net-neutrality-blind-deaf-disabledThe odd pitch comes as the Obama administration is mulling a plan to scrap net neutralitythe idea that Internet service providers should treat all websites equallyand instead allow ISPs to create Internet "fast lanes" for companies that can afford to pay for speedier service. The proposal, which is under consideration by the Federal Communications Commission, has sparked a massive public outcry, including an "Occupy the FCC" protest and a letter signed by 150 tech companies, including Google, Amazon, and Netflix, opposing the plan.
Three Hill sources tell Mother Jones that Verizon lobbyists have cited the needs of blind, deaf, and disabled people to try to convince congressional staffers and their bosses to get on board with the fast lane idea. But groups representing disabled Americans, including the National Association of the Deaf, the National Federation of the Blind, and the American Association of People with Disabilities are not advocating for this plan. Mark Perriello, the president and CEO of the AAPD, says that this is the "first time" he has heard "these specific talking points."
There's no doubt that blind and deaf people, who use special online services to communicate, need access to zippy Internet. Similarly, smartphone-based medical devices that are popular with disabled people require fast Internet service. Telecom industry lobbyists have argued that, without a fast lane, disabled Americans could get stuck with subpar service as Internet traffic increases. AAPD's Perriello says this rationale could be genuine but seems "convenient."
Huh? How low can they sink?
randome
(34,845 posts)[hr][font color="blue"][center]The truth doesnt always set you free.
Sometimes it builds a bigger cage around the one youre already in.[/center][/font][hr]
daleanime
(17,796 posts)they can go lower.
Agnosticsherbet
(11,619 posts)in a landfill?
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Agnosticsherbet
(11,619 posts)octoberlib
(14,971 posts)redqueen
(115,103 posts)underpants
(182,769 posts)and it does compared to the service in other countries - you know the ones that make ISP's not suck ( regulation).
So the disabled will have to pay MORE? That is what they are saying, right?
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)edit: From the mighty 7th District of Virginia, the Fightin' 7th, we have a winner!
underpants
(182,769 posts)The elderly have to pay more too?? With what?
I had my blind friends on my mind.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101695397
underpants
(182,769 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)"Better Know A District"?
underpants
(182,769 posts)I got the reference immediately
GeorgeGist
(25,319 posts)Yeah, but you're still a douchebag!
Initech
(100,063 posts)New wormholes are opened up.
liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)to try and make more money. Do they really think for one second anyone buys that they are trying to help disabled people and not trying to make a quick buck? Oh, wait. The politicians in DC who are bought off will.
stillwaiting
(3,795 posts)They just need an excuse, a reason, any reason, to give the wealthy and their major corporations what they want.
But, I don't think they are naive to what's going on. Most of them understand fully what's happening in this country, and they are profiting handsomely from it.
underpants
(182,769 posts)Verizon has no voice description built into their TV programming. A huge issue in the blind community.
Comcast (which also sucks) has a blind executive engineer who is integrating voice description into their programming.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)It was during a disability conference in Honolulu. I happened to be sitting next to her. "Okay, now one of them's on the floor twirling a scarf..."
lpbk2713
(42,753 posts)OMFG
They don't care how effen ridiculous they make
themselves look, they just keep chipping away.