Rachel Maddow, Boing Boing Editor On McCain And Net Neutrality (VIDEO)

Senator John McCain has apparently decided to take up the issue of "net neutrality," and, in a piece of legislation that's been bought and paid for by the telecom industry, the former presidential candidate has fashioned the "Internet Freedom Act." This legislation keeps alive the recent tradition of ironically named laws. What the "Internet Freedom Act" would do is to allow Internet service providers to privilege their own content over competitors by slowing or blocking access to other web content.

The whole issue of "net neutrality" can be hard to wrap one's head around. In the first place, the term is as vague as the issue is voguish, but more importantly, those best equipped to explain it tend to be the geeky-wonk types who speak a language that causes most peoples' eyes to glaze over. It was a shrewd move on Rachel Maddow's part to engage the services of Xeni Jardin, co-editor of Boing Boing and contributor to Wired magazine to put the issue into an understandable and interesting light.

JARDIN: The funny thing about net neutrality is that nobody cares how the internet works, we just want to know that it works. Kind of like picking up the phone to call your mom. The idea behind net neutrality is that we should all have equal access to whatever website, whatever funny video, whatever animated .GIF of a kitten dancing. It doesn't matter what the content is, no cable company, no telecoms should be able to slow that down because what you want access to is against their competitive interest. So, one example of that might be, Time Warner. Time Warner is a cable company that provides broadband internet services here in L.A. If I want to watch a Rachel Maddow clip, a Daily Show clip, and a clip from CNN, Time Warner shouldn't be able to slow the Maddow Show clip and the Daily Show clip and make the CNN clip go faster because they have a commercial interest in CNN. The idea is...that all packets are created equal.

It's too bad that Senator McCain doesn't have a famous blogger daughter that could explain just how dumb the Internet Freedom Act is to him.

[WATCH]

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

[Would you like to follow me on Twitter? Because why not? Also, please send tips to [e-mail] -- learn more about our media monitoring project here.]

Comments

[Braveny]

I think anyone submitting a bill about a subject like the net should be very versed in using it. McCain is not from what I have read. His wife had to help him figure out how to get his email. This to me is all about trying to determine who has access to what. Internet Freedom Act it is not.

[mergina]

McCain...you old MotherPaliner. Don't you dare you bought and paid for rat.

[Mach8]

Companies that would NOT exist WITHOUT net neutrality:

Google
Yahoo
HotMail
Amazon
Overstock
Priceline
HuffPo
damn near any interesting information website (Engadget, Gizmodo, Ars Technica, etc.)
Ebay

I could keep going but you should get the point. It is unlikely that ANY of these sites would have reached critical mass without net neutrality. What would have prevented entrenched competitors from paying ISPs to throttle their traffic?

[popfolly]

The use of Orwellian language has completely metastasized in the brains of the screeching nitwits and their criminal brothers who all have the same brain malfuctions displayed by such as the Cheney gang. No amelioration or change in the ecology of the planet is possible until the language factor in the craziness of the tribe of nihilistic biophobes is examined and shown to be the underlying cause of the ongoing destruction of the environment. The fundamental problem is the identification of the word with the thing.See Susan Langer, Philosophy in a New Key.

[Epiphany2b]

Wouldn't it be fun if the vast majority of Americans, should this pass, were to disconnect from big ISPs and go back to little local dial-up services who have no vested interest in content? I love high speed wireless, but heck, in the interest of standing up for what is right . . . well, maybe.

[DavidDial]

This is a text book example of how successful lobbyists work when dealing with our elected representatives. They write a piece of legislation that is as favorable to them as they can make it then find the most ignorant and/or dishonest members of the legislative body involved and throw money at them so they will champion their cause. The only way to change this is to change campaign finance laws and make it illegal for any entity... corporate, political or otherwise... to contribute more to any political campaign than any individual citizen can contribute to the same campaign. There is absolutely nothing wrong with lobbyists trying to educate politicians but it is criminal to allow them to buy their votes.

[chrisreadabook]

I used to have grudging respect for Senator McCain. I never thought anything he could do could negate the sacrifices he made for us in Vietnam. But, boy! It's hard to maintain respect for him these days. It hurts to see David (above) characterize him as 'ignorant and/or dishonest' but i guess I've got to agree.

[LMPE]

Who in their right mind would trust John McCain with anything?

[jimme]

They rant about Government intervention until it suit their own agenda.

[bajed]

Who rants? Net neutrality is government intervention. The internet freedom act is against government intervention.

[Hopster1]

The hilarity is that they would call this bill the Internet Freedom Act like it in someway will Free the general public of something other than their money. Government intervention from COMPANIES exploiting the public is something I would support. A byte is a byte is a byte and that is the way it should be.

[ranndino]

A much more accurate name would have been "The Freedom of Corporations to Control Your Internet Act". The name of the act McCain introduced as the same as The Ministry of Peace in "1984", which of course started and ran wars.

[Epiphany2b]

Oh, I get it!!! The premise is that the corporations that connect you to the internet SHOULD be allow to pick and choose the speed by which you send/receive data, and the Net Neutrality act would be the government not allowing them that right. Conversely, the Internet Freedom Act is not the freedom of the little guy sitting at his computer having the freedom to decide what he wants to watch, but the freedom of the corporations to manage data. Funny . . . I bet they've been trying to figure out how to do that with TV reception all these years!!

[Mach8]

Considering the government CREATED the Internet, I'm willing to give it a pass on this.

The "Internet Freedom" Act would completely shut down innovation on the Internet. Companies like Google or Amazon would not have happened if this type of law were in place.

[chrisreadabook]

It's like crafting legislation allowing the government to tap the phones and emails of American citizens and then calling it the PATRIOT Act.

[mjwilstein]

Jon Stewart went after McCain for his stance on net neutrality last night:
http://www.gotchamediablog.com/2009/10/daily-show-john-mccain-and-net.html

[bajed]

Well Jon Stewart must be over his head on this topic because he got it wrong. He turned it into a politicized class warfare issue when it is not. I could care less if McCain supports the internet freedom act, the important thing is to understand is the dynamics of this issue.

[ranndino]

That's the whole point. It's not a political issue. Anyone with a brain who actually does understand the dynamics of the issue would be against it. Ironically, you obviously do not understand the dynamics of the issue so you're for it.

[ranndino]

The reason the Internet has advanced and spread so quickly (all of the innovation) is precisely because it's free from ISP's being able to give preferential treatment to websites that they like. There are only two ways you can possibly be for McCain's act. 1. You understand what this is about, but work for said corporations. 2. You don't have the slightest clue what this is about and buy the bullcrap packaging the Republicans have gotten so good at selling.

[ranndino]

Last thing. If you removed the completely dishonest packaging some conservative think thank came up with for this and asked most people, "Are you for the ability of your ISP (say Comcast) to control what you can see online", the overwhelming response would be a resounding "no". In fact, most people would be incensed by the notion. As usual, the conservatives are trying to mislead gullible people by turning the whole thing upside down and reversing the meaning 180 degrees.

[mmgbizgirl]

He hates it because Obama used the internet with significant success to win the presidency over him. His ignorance of the internet worked against him in a big way.

[Angrygrrl]

I totally agree with these last 3 entries....McCain is dead set upon leaving some named mark on something. He needs to be stopped.

[Earl Brown]

also because McCain is the largest recipient of corporate telecom contributions since 2007. You can follow the money on nearly every issue in the congress right back to the corporation that stands to gain from it. They dont serve us. This is one thing the fore-fathers could never have predicted.

[bajed]

If this issue were primarily about contributions from the telecom industry it sure wouldnt be a Republican sponsored bill. While the Telecom industry is McCain's 17th largest industry donor they telecom dollars are heavily skewed in favor of the Democratic party.

http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cycle=2010&cid=N00006424&type=I

In 2008 telecom contributions were skewed to 66% democrat and 33 percent republican, and so far for 2010 it is 72% democrat to 28% republican.

http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=B12

[spandautoseattle]

Internet Freedom Act? By Sen McCain? As in: "Do not press inadequate and/or clueless politicians onto the American public when choosing a running mate-for-the VP-spot-act?"
If this is his brainchild then ALERT!

[Earl Brown]

I think it should be illegal for people older than 55 to be members of congress. Anything older than that is just too out of touch and old-fashioned. I'll be able to accept it when I'm that old, why cant they? The brain is a degenerative organ. It atrophedes and dies with age, why cant old-timers accept it and move aside.

[Funky Discharge]

Ha ha, hopefully your comment is tongue-in-cheek, since I'm at the cutoff age in your plan.

I remember making the decision to try to put my mother in a nursing home because I felt she was too old to function. Trouble was, I was about 15 at the time, and she would have been 35. Sharing my plan with her didn't work out well for me...

It's not the physical age of these politicians that worrys me - it's a lifetime of being out-of-touch.

[nicholasfromWA]

fanned...that's funny!

[Earl Brown]

It was, but come on.. you have to agree that there is a certain point that its complete lunacy that most of congress *and the senate in particular, consists of old wealthy white men who were left in realities dust possibly as early as the 60's. This is a very progressive country and while there are certainly many older folks with reliable, genuine, experienced opinions... there seem to be far more of the exact opposite. And if we should be mired to keep all the old timers, then we should have as many if not more young people 20-30 to balance the pot.

I dont know how to say what Im feeling here without sounding biased or "ageist" as McCain put it but hopefully somebody knows what I mean.

[mockley]

Another "C" student with all the right answers. How'd that run for the WH work out for you a year ago John? Oh, right...Spectacular Failure!

[Tunghoy]

Country Last. Americans are nothing more than chumps to be squeezed by giant corporations. That's what McCain and the GOP are all about.

[supertim]

here is a completely hilarious sketch from the now defunct fox series, mad tv which showed bobby lee as johnny mac trying to get on facebook, absolutely hilarious, i wish that show was still on, much funnier than SNL

http://tiny.cc/QmVDA

[BambooHarvester]

Mr. M a G o o ?
~