I pray the FCC stays away from the internet... (842 hits)
Category: Computers & InternetRating: 0 on 6 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Quari Smyt <daglassawasta.at.hotmail.com> (View user info) at 2003-06-25 00:32:06 EDT
I was thinking today about what would happen if the FCC took more control over the Internet, and this is what I realized - there would be both benefits and negative concequences.
I guess I'll start up with the benefits. First, there would probally be a reduction of advertising. This helps everyone. We all hate ads, there's only about two I've ever been interested in during my 7 years on the Internet, and that's throughout the thousands I've seen. The fact is though that the FCC would be able to control the number of advertisements on websites, especially pop-ups, and that would be a good thing. I've managed to learn to cope with pop-ups though, so that doesn't really make a difference to me.
Another positive result of the FCC take over would be a policing of the web that would reduce viri throughout it. You probally wouldn't need a virus scanner anymore, because all of the viri would be cleaned up.
Yet, these minor benefits really aren't that great compared to the tyranny that would result. Because the FCC controls television channels, they are also censored, especially against "anti-American" messages (ie, some of the truth about Bush), so the television is basically changed into a propaganda machine. Even if a news station was broadcasted something "anti-American," it would promplyly be shut down.
The same thing would happen on the Internet. It could be manipulated into a propaganda tool, and blogs that transmit "anti-American" messages would be crushed. The Internet is one of the few places the average guy has a chance to freely speak left, and if the FCC took it over, they could ruin that last opportunity to speak freely.
User Reviews
Submitted by GrawpNHagger (user info) at 2003-07-27 02:17:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
+2 for that demented picture of Bush.
Submitted by El_Guapo (user info) at 2003-06-25 09:38:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
"Submitted by bart (user info) at 2003-06-25 01:03:45 (#)
Ranking: 0
The FCC has no authority over the Internet.
The FCC doesn't even have authority over cable television."
hahahah, if i could count the times i've heard the phrase "I'm gonna report you [i.e. the company i work for, which is an ISP] to the FCC!!" GO AHEAD, IDIOT.
and clearchannel communications.......god i hate them. they bought every decent station around here and turned them into utter shit. but what do you expect from a viacom affiliate....
Submitted by PopNFresh (user info) at 2003-06-25 08:58:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Why would an american organisation take control of the internet?
The internet isn't owned by america you stupid fool
Submitted by drink_DDT (user info) at 2003-06-25 02:28:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
I pray you stay away from ubersite.
Submitted by bart (user info) at 2003-06-25 01:03:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
The FCC has no authority over the Internet.
The FCC doesn't even have authority over cable television.
Even if the FCC did have authority over the Internet, there's no way it would result in fewer advertisements. If anything, competition would decrease to the point where you wouldn't be able to find a site without ads. Just look at Clear Channel radio... never in history has the percentage of airtime dedicated to commercials been higher. I can't find any numbers, but I believe it's something like 20 minutes / hour of pure ads.
Now that they've loosened the ownership rules even more, expect competition to dwindle even more and that number of ads to go higher. By doing stupid things like this, the FCC is just proving how useless it really is. The whole point of having the government allocate the radio spectrum is to ensure that it is being used to provide a quality service to the public. So much for that theory.
So yeah, I hope the FCC stays away from the Internet, but moreso, I hope the FCC is abolished completely.
Submitted by hidden101 (user info) at 2003-06-25 00:36:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
i didn't read this because i need to go take a crap, but you get a plus two for the title and the picture alone.