acheslog19ahsgov-blog

[acheslog19ahsgov-blog]

Cayley, Alex. “Menu.” Science in Our World Certainty and Controversy, sites.psu.edu/netneutrality/2018/02/28/the-internet-monopoly/.

Dictionary.com. “9 Quotes That Perfectly Explain Why Net Neutrality Is Important.” Dictionary.com, Dictionary.com, 21 Aug. 2018, www.dictionary.com/e/s/net-neutrality-quotes/#publishing.

Mattessert. “One Graph Shows Exactly Why We Need Net Neutrality.” Mic, Mic Network Inc., 7 Oct. 2015, mic.com/articles/88457/one-graph-shows-exactly-why-we-need-net-neutrality#.tJN3dIOb4.

“New Mozilla Poll: Americans from Both Political Parties Overwhelmingly Support Net Neutrality – The Mozilla Blog.” Internet Citizen, blog.mozilla.org/blog/2017/06/06/new-mozilla-poll-americans-political-parties-overwhelmingly-support-net-neutrality/.

[acheslog19ahsgov-blog]

CIVIC ACTION ASSESSMENT OF ISSUE

1. I see my own personal role as a citizen of this country as providing my ideas and help to others. I have helped many students with science and math, both informally and formally as a tutor. In the future, I plan on doing mathematical research that will hopefully have positive real-word impact.

2. Civic responsibility is necessary for our democratic government to function. The people affect the government, thus the people are responsible. The people must also foster cooperation. One entity should not control the government - a collaborative effort by all parties involved is required.

3. Yes. I feel it is my civic obligation to help address the problems that the absence of net neutrality has caused.

5. I will be attending the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which may be very influential in resolving the issue of net neutrality.

[acheslog19ahsgov-blog]

EXECUTIVE ACTION ASSESSMENT OF ISSUE

1. President Trump appointed Ajit Pai, who opposes net neutrality. President Trump’s administration is also against net neutrality. His administration also sued the state of California over the state reinstating net neutrality. Therefore, President Trump’s stance on net neutrality is that it should not exist federally or locally in states.

2. I disagree with his position because I believe that net neutrality should be reinstated federally.

3. Department of Justice

4. “To enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans”. It very loosely relates to net neutrality through ensuring public safety against domestic threats.

5. Matthew G. Whitaker. He’s worked as an adviser for a previous Attorney General. I believe that they are semi-qualified to lead the department. However, the department is very large, so I think that the uniqueness of net neutrality as an issue is a problem.

6. The Office of Public Affairs, which advises Department heads on communications issues, including net neutrality.

7. I am not satisfied. Trump’s administration repealed net neutrality and the Department of Justice sued the state of California for reinstating net neutrality. Both of these are against net neutrality, which goes against my views. President Trump has slightly cut funding from the Department of Justice compared to the other departments. I think that cutting funding will not resolve net neutrality, but I also think that adding funds would not resolve net neutrality. Decreasing funding will probably have little effect on net neutrality.

[acheslog19ahsgov-blog]

LEGISLATIVE ACTION

1. a. b.

Congressman Desaulnier supports net net neutrality. He cosponsored H.J.Res.129, which is a bill that would nullify the FCC’s “Restoring Internet Freedom” rule.

Both Senator Harris and Senator Feinstein support net neutrality: they voted to reverse the repeal of net neutrality under the Congressional Review Act.

2.

a. There is a single semi-recent senate bill.

b. s2510-115

c. Internet Service Providers can not block, throttle, or censor information. However, they can prioritize connections that pay more.

d. The bill would alleviate concern about censorship and throttling; however, smaller companies may still have trouble competing with larger companies on the Internet.

e. I would vote no because I want full net neutrality, which would include preventing paid prioritization. This bill would be nice to have in the meantime, but it might make it harder to pass a future net neutrality bill.

f. It originated in the Senate. The bill was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which has not reviewed it yet. Currently, the bill has only been proposed, which was about nine months ago.

g. I am not satisfied. There has been no real bills past the introduction stage.

3.

S: There were Russian comments during the FCC’s public comment period.

A: A Scottish male currently living in Canada.

C: The article was posted on Engadget, which is not a typical news site.

A: People that search “Net Neutrality” into google on December 7th.

P: There seems to be little bias - it merely reports what Ajit Pai has said.

S: Ajit Pai admitted that 500,000 comments were made by Russians, and that the comments were supportive of net neutrality. About 22 million comments were botted.

The article itself seems to have little bias, so I do not agree or disagree with the article. However, I disagree with what Ajit Pai has said: he did not account the many other inauthentic comments. Approximately 21.5 million comments remain. I think he just revealed what he wanted to reveal.

[acheslog19ahsgov-blog]

STATE ACTION

1. a.

Catherine Baker supports net neutrality.

Steve Glazer supports net neutrality.

b. I agree with both of their positions because I want an open and secure internet.

c. Yes, both voted yes for SB-822, which is a bill that reinstated net neutrality in California on 9/30/2018.

2.

a. SB-822 is fairly recent

b. SB-822 was introduced on January 3rd, 2018. 

c. It was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown on August 30th, 2018. The United States Department of Justice sued the state of California over SB-822 on the same date as well.

d. I like the bill because it reinstates net neutrality in California. Hopefully this is a step to reinstating net neutrality in the United States as well. I would encourage my representatives to support this bill because I want a free and open internet in California, without blocking or censoring.

[acheslog19ahsgov-blog]

THE 3 P‘S ASSESSMENT: PARTIES, POLITICAL INTEREST GROUPS, AND PACS

1.

a. Republican: Not explicitly stated on their platform, but they don’t support net neutrality because they believe in an open market.

Democrat: They support net neutrality - this is explicitly stated.

Libertarian: Not explicitly stated on their platform, but they don’t support net neutrality because they believe in a free market.

Green Party: Not explicitly stated on their platform, but they support net neutrality because they condemned the FCC’s decision.

Peace and Freedom: They support net neutrality - this is explicitly stated.

b. I agree with the democrats, the green party, and peace and freedom. I believe in keeping the internet free and open.

I disagree with the republicans and the libertarians. I don’t think repealing net neutrality will help competition too much. I fear monopolies on rural areas. Also, I don’t like the ability to censor or block data.

c. I identify with Peace and Freedom the most which doesn’t surprise me because they would be expected to be more radical. I would not vote for their presidential candidate because they have no real chance against the democrats and republicans, who are more moderate (and thus more popular).

2. https://votesmart.org/interest-group/83/communications-workers-of-america#.W9DK0GhKjIU

a. Communications Workers of America

b. They support a free and open Internet, so they support net neutrality.

c.

They dislike corporate money in politics (especially the super PACs from the Citizens United v. FEC decision).

They believe in collective bargaining rights.

They believe in giving all Americans affordable high speed Internet.

They want to protect quality health care and a secure retirement for American workers.

They want voting reform.

d. They desire the Voting Rights Advancement Act in order to prevent discrimination within voting.

e. 501 3rd Street, Northwest, Washington, DC 20001-2797. There’s no meetings for the national group in our local area anytime soon.

f. One of their “local” unions is in the middle of a 3-day strike right now (October 23-25) at many locations, including all nine UCs.

g. I found it interesting that they have a search for a local union so you can find local events.

3. https://votesmart.org/interest-group/1025/california-public-interest-research-group#.W9DMHWhKjIU

a. California Public Interest Research Group

b. They support a free and open Internet, so they support net neutrality.

c.

They want to stop the overuse of antibiotics (to prevent antibiotic-resistant infections).

They want to ban bee-killing pesticides.

They want to fix campaign finance.

They want to modernize the transportation system (to not use fossil fuels).

They want to stop using trash that can’t be recycled.

d. They are trying to push for an amendment to overturn Citizens United v. FEC.

e. 1314 H St., Ste. 100, Sacramento, CA 95814. I could not find any local meetings. On their job page they want more staff to get better grassroots lobbying, which may explain the lack of information.

f. The only thing I found was signing petitions related to their issues.

g. I find it interesting I couldn’t find any meetings after going through their site and using google. I thought that a state public interest group would have public meetings within the state. If they do have meetings then I find it interesting that the information was so hidden.

4. The Communications Workers of America interest group seems more organized (I could actually find events happening in my local area) and successful (more than 15,000 workers of their local sub-union were striking on October 23rd). Their main audience are workers because they are a union. The California Public Interest Research Group’s main audience are the consumers. Their respective audiences are also their main supporters.

5. http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/industry.php?txt=B09&cycle=2018

a. Comcast Corp

b. They would not support net neutrality as a telecom service’s PAC (the telecom service is benefiting from its repeal).

c. They have raised $4,593,765 so far in 2018. They have spent $4,397,517 so far in 2018. They currently (September 30, 2018 data) have $1,757,550 on hand.

d. They have given $717,000 to democrat federal candidates and $1,327,000 to republican federal candidates.

e. Many of the donors work at Comcast, and most of them have donated the maximum of $5,000 this year. The PAC represents Comcast’s interests.

[acheslog19ahsgov-blog]

CONSTITUTIONAL ASSESSMENT

Case URL: https://www.oyez.org/cases/2001/00-511

1. Verizon Communications, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission

2. 2001-2002

3. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 lets companies entering the local telephone service market to use existing companies’ networks and combine them with lease rates set by the FCC.

4. Should the Telecommunications Act of 1996 let the FCC set rates and force the existing companies to merge leased networks?

5. The 5th amendment, specifically taking property for public use with just compensation. However, that was not the main part of the case. This case is mainly about interpreting the Telecommunications Act of 1996 with respect to the question above.

6. The majority decision said yes to both questions in order to foster competition and because the way rates were “reasonably” determined.

7. It established that promoting competition is good and that the FCC, as long as they’re reasonable, will determine how to regulate that.

8. I agree because allowing competition to flourish will help the telephone service market. As it currently stands even today, there’s near monopolies and even true monopolies in some areas.

Article URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/16/technology/net-neutrality-inquiry-comments.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

S: Comments made to the FCC before the repeal decision.

A: Nicholas Confessore is a white male who grew up in New York City.

C: The article was posted on the New York Times, which has minimal partisan bias.

A: People following net neutrality and possibly some patriots of New York.

P: There seems to be no underlying bias, because it is just reporting on the findings of studies and the New York attorney general’s actions.

S: 99.7% of unique comments to the FCC opposed repealing net neutrality. Millions of comments made supporting repeal were from bots.

I agree with this because it’s a report: it is mainly facts and a description of the steps New York has and will take.

[acheslog19ahsgov-blog]

MEDIA ASSESSMENT OF ISSUE

Liberal source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-karr-net-neutrality-ajit-pai_us_5b1adc2de4b0adfb82691b9f

S: Net neutrality, which protects the rights of Americans and internet freedom, can still be saved.

A: Timothy Karr is a white male who is the senior director of strategy and communications of Free Press, an organization which fights to keep net neutrality.

C: The opinion piece was posted on the Huffington Post, which has a liberal bias.

A: Everyone, but people who care more about net neutrality are more likely to read.

P: Subjective idea for keeping net neutrality.

S: The senate voted 52-47 in may for keeping net neutrality. Multiple polls that reveal both democrats and republicans support keeping net neutrality.

I agree. There is a large bipartisan majority for keeping net neutrality, so because the FCC and the senate voted on or near party lines is unmindful of the American people.

Conservative source: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/03/04/activists-are-wrong-about-how-to-protect-open-internet.html

S: Net neutrality should be repealed because the rules are outdated and it hurts consumers.

A: Drew Johnson is an American white male.

C: The opinion piece was posted on Fox News, which has a conservative bias.

A: Everyone. People who agree will read to confirm their beliefs, and people who disagree point out flaws and attack the article and author in the comments section.

P: Subjective idea for repealing net neutrality.

S: Private investment in broadband infrastructure fell by more than $4 billion.

Disagree. The actual source used for falling more than $4 billion shows falling by $3.6 billion. They rounded $3.6 billion to $4 billion and than put the word “more” on it. The fall would affect unconnected rural areas, but that could be solved with net neutrality by having the government subsidize the development of broadband infrastructure in these areas.

Impartial source: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/02/22/587896608/fccs-repeal-of-net-neutrality-on-track-to-go-into-efffect

S: Senate democrats are trying to save net neutrality.

A: Alina Selyukh is a white female who is a business correspondent at National Public Radio.

C: The article was posted on National Public Radio, which has minimal partisan bias, after the FCC voted to repeal net neutrality.

A: People who want to read a report about net neutrality being repealed and attempts to overturn the decision.

P: Objective report on net neutrality’s status. It presents both broadband companies’ perspective and net neutrality supporters’ perspective.

S: The FCC voted to repeal net neutrality, which limits the power of Internet service providers. Broadband companies still have to disclose how they handle web traffic. Internet providers can block and throttle connections.

I agree with facts. There is not much about the different sides of net neutrality in the article. It simply reports what is happening.

3. All articles talk about net neutrality and the senate’s status when the article was posted on blocking the FCC’s decision. The Huffington Post and National Public Radio both assess that without net neutrality, internet service providers can block and throttle connections. Fox News dismisses this as simply “’Chicken Little’ rhetoric”. Only The Huffington Post talks about public opinion. Both The Huffington Post and Fox News discredit opponents. National Public Radio barely talks about opinions on the issue.

4. I identify with The Huffington Post’s article the most because it actually has an opinion (sorry National Public Radio) and because it involves public opinion. The internet is becoming a necessity for people, and it should not be able to be censored or restricted unless you give more money to your internet service provider.

[acheslog19ahsgov-blog]

CONCEPTUALIZING THE ISSUE AND ASSESSING TYPES OF ACTION

I chose net neutrality because it was an issue I’ve actually followed a little bit. Net neutrality has also been involved in many different areas of the government which will help with this project.

It is an issue because some people believe that net neutrality should be in place and some people believe that it should not be in place.

A large majority of people support net neutrality. However, that is not represented with the FCC’s decision. Perhaps adding more people as commissioners and allowing the public a direct choice in commissioners would address this issue.

I have followed the FCC, the 5 chairmen, and the ACLU. The FCC is what regulates the internet, therefore the FCC is currently very relevant to this issue. The 5 chairmen of the FCC were who made the decision on net neutrality. This comprises of different viewpoints because the vote was not unanimous. The ACLU is an active organization which fights for people’s rights, which is related to net neutrality. Something I found really interesting is that the commissioners that voted to keep net neutrality tweet about the issue much more than the commissioners that voted to repeal net neutrality.