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Ajit Pai calls California’s net neutrality rules “illegal”

arstechnica.com

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Re: Ajit Pai calls California’s net neutrality rules “illegal”

#21

Post by dopamean »

Fede_V wrote: post #8

I've said it in the past, but I'm going to repeat myself: if anyone is willing to defend Pai's actions, would you like to do a friendly bet (proceeds to to a GiveWell charity) that as soon as he is legally allowed too he will be given a sinecure at Verizon/Comcast or an RNC friendly lobby shop?

This is not an interesting bet at all. Isn't that exactly what many people leaving government do?

Re: Ajit Pai calls California’s net neutrality rules “illegal”

#22

Post by samuelg123 »

khazhou wrote: post #13

I would be interested to learn how Indian and Indian-American HN members regard him. Is he considered a source of pride within the community due to his accomplishments? Or is he an embarrassment due to decisions like Net Neutrality? Or, is it a complete no-op and the Indian/Indian-American community basically doesn't think about him either way? Edit: I'm not sure why the downvotes. There are very few (if any?) Indian…

I don’t think his actions are representative of what Indian people think; they’re just proof of his own greed.

Re: Ajit Pai calls California’s net neutrality rules “illegal”

#24

Post by genericone »

Fede_V wrote: post #8

I've said it in the past, but I'm going to repeat myself: if anyone is willing to defend Pai's actions, would you like to do a friendly bet (proceeds to to a GiveWell charity) that as soon as he is legally allowed too he will be given a sinecure at Verizon/Comcast or an RNC friendly lobby shop?

Your bet will prove correct because he will be blacklisted, in a political sense, by other small businesses in that sector. Those small/medium sized businesses could not survive the shitstorm that would follow him. Only a company the size of verizon and comcast could absorb that kind of publicity without suffering from the social media outrage that would predictably ensue.

After his time in the FCC, if he doesn't continue working in government, he needs to work in the private sector, the only private sector business that he could even possibly work in after this, is Verizon/Comcast/ATT/GenericBigCorp, companies which would have some need/desire for his experiences and contacts in the government.

Whether or not you defend his actions, working anywhere else is untenable now...

Re: Ajit Pai calls California’s net neutrality rules “illegal”

#26

Post by tlb »

GW150914 wrote: post #2

This guy will just say anything, won’t he? I already knew he wasn’t a constitutional scholar, but this is rich even coming from a shill with as little self respect as Pai. The broader problem is that California's micromanagement poses a risk to the rest of the country. After all, broadband is an interstate service; Internet traffic doesn't recognize state lines. It follows that only the federal government can set reg…

I think the country needs net neutrality. But the specific point he's making here is valid: it'll suck if there are 50 different sets of laws that ISPs have to conform to. From a technical point of view, routers everywhere in the country will have to know to treat traffic going to to California customers differently from Nevada customers.

We could hope to repeat the history of vehicle emissions controls, where CA introduced regulations and auto makers eventually found it cheaper to make one kind of vehicle than two. But the incentives for non-net-neutral policies are so large that if major states have different rules, we'll end up with a huge mess. And regulatory messes tend to favor large incumbents, because they can devote the resources to them. That's why, for example, we have no new banks (which are regulated by states.)

Re: Ajit Pai calls California’s net neutrality rules “illegal”

#27

Post by presscast »

dopamean wrote: post #21
Fede_V wrote: post #8

I've said it in the past, but I'm going to repeat myself: if anyone is willing to defend Pai's actions, would you like to do a friendly bet (proceeds to to a GiveWell charity) that as soon as he is legally allowed too he will be given a sinecure at Verizon/Comcast or an RNC friendly lobby shop?

This is not an interesting bet at all. Isn't that exactly what many people leaving government do?

This makes it worse, not better.

Re: Ajit Pai calls California’s net neutrality rules “illegal”

#29

Post by jedberg »

I believe the entire purpose of passing that law was for California to say "come at me bro" to the Federal government, and force a showdown on the issue. I doubt the California lawmakers ever expected it to actually go into effect, and not get blocked by lawsuits the moment the ink is dry.

Re: Ajit Pai calls California’s net neutrality rules “illegal”

#30

Post by grandmczeb »

Fede_V wrote: post #8

I've said it in the past, but I'm going to repeat myself: if anyone is willing to defend Pai's actions, would you like to do a friendly bet (proceeds to to a GiveWell charity) that as soon as he is legally allowed too he will be given a sinecure at Verizon/Comcast or an RNC friendly lobby shop?

How do you define sinecure? I’m not a fan of Pai, but it’s hard for me to tell what you’re trying to prove.
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