If you've ever wondered what the internet looked like in 1934, you'll love ObamaNet

Obama's FCC really did it. They really voted to regulate the internet. They dusted off a 1934 law used to rein in Ma Bell and said those rules need to apply to your home broadband connection in 2015.

Forward, into the past!

Forget visions of "half fast" internet. Those days are gone now.

Henceforth the internet will run at the speed of government.

And the government will decide who can connect.

The government will decide how you'll connect.

A bureaucrat will determine if your internet usage is in "the public interest." And fine you if it isn't.

How many of you are old enough to remember when the FCC regulated telephone service? I am.

We could have any kind of telephone we wanted, so long as we wanted a black rotary dial desk phone.

We could call anywhere in the world we wanted, so long as we scheduled all "long distance" calls in advance and paid upwards of $20 per minute.

And we could connect anything we wanted to our telephone line, so long as we submitted it to the FCC first so they could "certify" it, a process that typically took dozens of years.

In 1982 Judge Harold Greene nuked the FCC's control over the telephone system. He ordered the breakup of AT&T, and he initiated a technological open season which in a few short years brought us the iPhone, FiOS, Wi-Fi, Google, Amazon, and yes, the internet as we knew it.

Yes, knew, past tense.

Because today Barack Obama's lackeys on the FCC turned back the clock. The internet will henceforth be classified as a "telecommunications service" as defined in Title II of the Communications Act of 1934.

Back in 1934 telegrams were what passed for email. Back in 1934 the computer hadn't been invented yet. Back in 1934 a Sears Catalog was as close as anyone got to online shopping.

By invoking that archaic law, the FCC gave itself broad power to control every aspect of your internet experience. To pick the websites you're allowed to visit. To restrict which devices can be attached to your home network. To block "harmful" protocols like bittorrent. And of course to restrict anonymonity via internet drivers licenses.

My friends, this is tyranny, pure and simple. And it came at the direct orders of Barack Hussein Obama.

Oh, and one more thing today's action gives the FCC — the power to tax the internet. Ever notice the lines on your landline phone bill for "Universal Service Fund" and "FCC Subscriber Line Charge"? Go look for them. Look at how much of your bill they represent. Then get ready to see the same charges on your internet bill, because the main thrust of Title II isn't regulation. Oh sure, Title II gives the FCC the authority to regulate. But it also gives the FCC the ability to impose fees on regulated "telecommunications services."

Fees, just another name for "taxes."

Barack Obama loves taxes.

Once the government imposes a fee it takes an Act Of God to rescind it. Did you know that until 2006 you were paying a 3% surcharge on your phone bill? And you'd been paying that 3% surcharge since 1898 when it was imposed "temporarily" to help pay for the Spanish-American War? That was one of thse "tax the rich" chimeras by the way. Back in 1898 only "rich people" had telephones.

It took 108 years to get rid of that "temporary" tax.

Wanna bet FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has a similar plan to tax your broadband service so he can give internet access to everybody who signed up for an Obamaphone?

Welcome to ObamaNet. Where your home page defaults to MSNBC, and no, you can't change it.

Posted at 14:50 by Chris Wysocki   [/tech]   Comments | Perm Link |
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