Sam Altman is the Ycombinator version of Steven Anthony Ballmer you can see failure on the horizon. Its just a matter of time.
Keep the Internet Open
11–20 of 415 posts
Re: Keep the Internet Open
#12I'm afraid we can't do the SOPA/PIPA protests again :(
The enemies of the open internet only have to win once, but to fend them off we have to win every single time. SOPA/PIPA protests had a lot of momentum, and they "won", but within weeks the same intrusive, anti-consumer practices were injected into some other bill that just got pushed through anyways. I just don't see how we can win. Not without some seriously strong top-down consumer protection laws. Net neutrality…
> The enemies of the open internet only have to win once, but to fend them off we have to win every single time
I don't see why this is true. Why can't the competition go back and forth? And why must proponents of the open Internet play defense, instead of gaining ground and increasing openness and protections?
Re: Keep the Internet Open
#13I'm afraid we can't do the SOPA/PIPA protests again :(
The enemies of the open internet only have to win once, but to fend them off we have to win every single time. SOPA/PIPA protests had a lot of momentum, and they "won", but within weeks the same intrusive, anti-consumer practices were injected into some other bill that just got pushed through anyways. I just don't see how we can win. Not without some seriously strong top-down consumer protection laws. Net neutrality…
If you stop breathing, you die. If you stop fighting, you die.
Keep your head up my brother, and keep fighting the good fight. It's worth it.
Re: Keep the Internet Open
#14The internet is what makes Silicon Valley go round. Everyone, including Sam Altman, needs to be an activist. Asking for someone else to take point on something so fundamental is like asking Natives to take point on water prot-- wait.
Re: Keep the Internet Open
#15The problem is that the Big Four (or five, if you count Microsoft) just aren't that interested in it. There's a lot of benefit to them to end neutrality.
Re: Keep the Internet Open
#16The internet is what makes Silicon Valley go round. Everyone, including Sam Altman, needs to be an activist. Asking for someone else to take point on something so fundamental is like asking Natives to take point on water prot-- wait.
And when protesters who demand open internet start getting their access cut off, they'll start seeing the analogy. Too late then. :(
Re: Keep the Internet Open
#17I'm afraid we can't do the SOPA/PIPA protests again :(
The enemies of the open internet only have to win once, but to fend them off we have to win every single time. SOPA/PIPA protests had a lot of momentum, and they "won", but within weeks the same intrusive, anti-consumer practices were injected into some other bill that just got pushed through anyways. I just don't see how we can win. Not without some seriously strong top-down consumer protection laws. Net neutrality…
There is no "winning" the war as long as there is disagreement - of which there always will be.
That's why the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. To overturn this law, or to make consumer protection laws force neutrality you only have to win "once" where the other side has to keep defending.
The net result is that both sides are always constantly fighting for what they want and one side wins sometimes, and the other side wins other times.
Re: Keep the Internet Open
#18The problem is that the Big Four (or five, if you count Microsoft) just aren't that interested in it. There's a lot of benefit to them to end neutrality.
I don't think there's a net benefit to them (which is why they've been mostly pro-Open Internet); OTOH, they are better positioned than smaller players to deal with it, so they aren't that motivated.
Re: Keep the Internet Open
#19The internet is what makes Silicon Valley go round. Everyone, including Sam Altman, needs to be an activist. Asking for someone else to take point on something so fundamental is like asking Natives to take point on water prot-- wait.
I am happy to help, and honestly if I had more time right now I'd take this on directly--right now is an unusually busy time for me. I agree with you it's critical to Silicon Valley.
Re: Keep the Internet Open
#20> But this idea is under attack, and I'm surprised the tech community isn't speaking out more forcefully. Although many leading tech companies are now the incumbents, I hope we'll all remember that openness helped them achieve their great success. It could be disastrous for future startups if this were to change--openness is what made the recent wave of innovation happen.
Is it surprising? What organization is supposed to speak up? Tech workers don't have a union so nobody is lobbying for us in DC. We have to hope that enough huge companies and their leaders will act in the way we want and I don't exactly expect Zuckerberg and Thiel to represent me and my interests in Washington.