Net Neutrality - the fight is not quite lost...

So the FCC commission voted to go ahead and put up toll lanes on the internet while pretending they aren't. So we need to go into round two. Ug.

Here's a link to what we need to do.

In short, the FCC is ignoring e-mails now. We have to call. We have to take a whole two minutes or so and CALL the FCC, talk with a live person, and let them know that the FCC needs to reclassify Internet Service Providers as Title Two Common Carriers.

The problem is that the FCC is going to try to ignore us. So we have to keep calling.

CALL the White House. The number for comments is 202-456-1111. The phone menu for this can be a bit of a pain, so skip and come back here if you're limited on time.

Write a letter. Yes, that means snail mail:

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Fill out an email form. Instead of aggregating 100,000+ people into a single, easily ignored petition, make them spend a little bit of effort ignoring you.

Done one (or all) of those? Good. Now hit the FCC:

1. Dial 888-225-5322
2. push 1, 4, 0
3. a person will answer.
4. they will ask for your name and address. you can just give them a zip code if you want.
5. "I'm calling to ask the FCC to reclassify Internet Service Providers as Title Two Common Carriers." Feel free to add more, if you have more to say!
6. They'll ask if there is anything else you would like to add.
7. "No, Thank you for your time."
8. hang up.

They'll probably have an automated message telling you to send an email when you call the FCC's number. Nope. Crash their phone system and keep their operators busy.

Now go submit Comments to the FCC's Proceeding...[slight bit removed] ...Try to express (that Tom Wheeler is corrupt) in terms of Proceeding 14-28 and why the FCC needs to reclassify ISPs as Common Carriers under Title II. Net Neutrality is only the beginning - as a data service provider, they're strikingly vulnerable to being grouped as an associate to any crime committed over their connections, just as Kim Dotcom was.

DO NOT use a form letter for the 14-28 comments! This will get your comments aggregated and considered a mass email along with everyone else who used that form letter. This makes your comment more or less ineffective! Take two minutes to type out a paragraph.

Potential talking points include:

• ISPs can charge extra fees to carry traffic from any online business they want. If a company depends heavily on Internet traffic, the ISP could refuse to allow web pages to load in under 30 seconds unless that business pays up. How much? Whatever the ISP thinks it can get you to pay.
• Consumers are already paying for Internet access. Online businesses pay their ISPs, just like consumers. Why should the regular people not get the Internet services like email, Facebook, or videos that they've already paid their ISP for? Why should an online business have to pay the customer's ISP, when the customer already paid that bill?
• The end result will be either destroying businesses that can't afford to pay up, or higher fees for customers. Some ISPs also own their own online businesses. Those ISPs can charge competitors high enough fees to drive them out of business, so customers only have one option.
• Fixing the problem is easy: The FCC reclassifies ISPs as Title II, just like a phone company. If you talk about Verizon on an AT&T phone, they're not allowed to cut off your call, or fill it with static. ISPs shouldn't be allowed to interfere with your Internet either.

Mix it up, add your own views.

Call your Congressperson. Yes, phone call again. Speak slowly and clearly, and keep your talking points simple. You're talking to an intern again. What do you want? Title II for ISPs. Why do you want it? Because as a sysadmin and subject matter expert, you are concerned about what this will mean for the industry, for customers, and for your job and those of others like you in their district.