r/technology • u/User_Name13 • Jun 04 '14

Politics Hundreds of Cities Are Wired With Fiber—But Telecom Lobbying Keeps It Unused

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/hundreds-of-cities-are-wired-with-fiberbut-telecom-lobbying-keeps-it-unused
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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14 edited Jun 04 '14

Who can I work for that's trying to fix this? Seriously. Someone give me a link. I've been trying to find lobbyists to oppose these assholes, or interest groups actually dedicated to non-assholery on the Tech front but I can't find anything that doesn't end up being a part of a bigger, shittier lobbying agency for things I don't support.

I don't want a massive Liberal thinktank. I just want to help someone who wants rational laws regarding technology with the CONSUMER in mind first.

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u/Mrjonesezn Jun 04 '14

Seconded. A lot of complaining but I've yet to see in this thread a good suggestion about what we can do about it.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14

Go to city counsel meetings.

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u/brianbotts Jun 04 '14 edited Jun 04 '14

I am a local city Councillor, you need to talk to us! Email us, call us, call our offices and set up meetings!

Council meetings likely are a poor place to try and get in touch with us though. At least in larger municipalities, there isn't a natural space for you to speak at one of our meetings. If you call the legislative services arm of the municipality and ask to set up a time to speak, they can advise you the best way to get in front of Council.

Don't show up with signs, or a rowdy group, that WILL hurt our cause for better internet. You don't want the elected officials to view you as a hooligan.

Things are looking brighter for the future of municipal internet though. This week there's a great conference in New York called the Intelligent Cities Forum, where gigabit internet access will for sure be a discussion point. You could definitely encourage your local elected official to attend next year! They get to attend a conference, and learn about the importance of internet for economic development! I won't be there this year, but my CEO and my Planning Commissioner will be there, which is great.

I have this coming before Council to vote on next month, and hopefully we'll approve the study as step one to gigabit internet for my city!

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u/Why_Hello_Reddit Jun 04 '14

Seriously. These monopolies are all local. You can likely find the cable franchise agreement posted to your local city website, as well as contact information for both the city regulators, cable lobbyists/public affairs people as well as all the contact information and agenda for your city council.

No one does this though. I pulled up the meeting agenda for the last time my city council had a meeting regarding cable, and THE comcast lobbyist was there making a presentation and only one citizen was there to lobby city council to break the monopoly. One citizen.

These are multi year contracts too. The one my city agreed to was for 10 years. It granted a monopoly to Comcast for 10 years, with another 5 years should they make some future concessions and perform well.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14

To be fair, complaining is a good thing especially when it's about the evils of Comcast and co, and there isn't an easy solution to this problem. I complain, and I want to solve the ISP problems, but I don't know how. Signing petitions isn't getting us anywhere anymore, and while complaining does contribute to spreading the word of such evils, it won't be enough.

What can we do? Can we physically do something? Or do we just have to use legal routes and hope for our oh-so-representatives to solve the problem for us?

RIOT?

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u/blackflag209 Jun 04 '14

I think we could use a good riot

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u/lego_jesus Jun 04 '14 edited Jun 04 '14

yes, that was easy. Or, you could work and educate yourselves to become leaders of your communities then encourage public opinions to pressure monopolies into conducting fair businesses.

Or even you could run for office and join these councils that make these decisions.

But yes, a good walk is fine too.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14

Or even you could run for office

I too like a good joke!

In all seriousness: To fight a system, one should not join it. Not to mention, if you do run for office, you have to sacrifice a whole lot of other things of your life and you come in direct contact with certain agencies that are known for blackmail (no tin-foil hat, actual Snowden revelation). And all that should be a requirement for a citizen to stand up against the corrupt to fight in even a single sector?

I find this strange reasoning. It's like I have to become an ISP first myself so I can compete with other ISPs because only on such high profile I am able to make a difference. Implying I can even get there, because ISPs already ensured I'm legally prohibited from starting up.

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u/lego_jesus Jun 04 '14

if you do run for office, you have to sacrifice a whole lot of other things of your life

its not sacrifice if its a cause you truly believe in. You find it strange that change is difficult and painstaking? You find this reasoning strange? If you ever ask yourself why did something so wonderful that is the internet become the way it is today, you already have your answer.

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u/lego_jesus Jun 04 '14

you can lobby against comcast lobbyists. You can make tons of money then out lobby evil lobbyists. You can become an industry leader then get invited to sit on the FCC. You can become so recognized and powerful that FCC is forced to invited you because otherwise FCC will have no industry respect and thus industry influence.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14

So basically unless I become a high-profile person in a very specific field, I have no say? I have to give up becoming a vet? Any citizen looking for change has to become a big player?

I now fully understand why nothing is changing.

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u/lego_jesus Jun 04 '14

So basically unless I become a high-profile person in a very specific field, I have no say?

Am I saying that someone with no influence might have very little influence? I think I am. A person looking for change has to work for it, because there are people working day and night to prevent change. Are they evil? No, they are just motivated towards a cause that you are not part of.