• RedWizard [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    12 days ago

    There was a push to regulate the internet as a public utility almost a decade ago: https://theconversation.com/will-the-next-u-s-president-close-the-digital-divide-for-americans-without-broadband-access-55477

    Burnie had a huge push for the Internet as a Utility like Power and Water. This was riding on the back of the Net Neutrality rules coming under threat, and websites “blacking out” in protest of the proposed rules change, which would potentially allow ISPs to offer tiered access to the internet, where you would need to pay a premium to access sites like Reddit or YouTube.

    I distinctly remember seeing offers from places like T-Mobile that eventually made it, so things like Netflix wouldn’t count against your data usage if you had a specific plan. I’m not sure that cellular providers are regulated in the same way that ISPs are, since I don’t believe cellular providers are considered “Internet Service Providers”.

    But I feel like it was even earlier than that. There were the internet blackouts of 2012 against things like SOPA and PIPA. Though, those were less about ISPs and more about weakening protections against websites for the content posted by users on their site.

    • mrfugu [he/him, any]@hexbear.net
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      12 days ago

      yup all that for them to just do away with net neutrality anyway. Another right stripped away that the democrats can pretend to care about. Bidens bs attempt to restore neutrality was shot down earlier this year.