Hacker News Reader

I believe that there are a lot of fake comments(possibly threads) appearing on Hacker News. I'm sure on Reddit and everywhere on the Internet that influences peoples' oomph to stand up for something like Net Neutrality.

I mean why in the world in 2017 are we so apathetic about something so important? We were up in arms about in 2013 and stopped SOPA then!!!

We need some type of identifying online tool like that blockchain ID tool to proliferate.

It would ensure who you say you are on the Internet. YOu could still comment anonymously, but what you say anonymously wouldn't hold as much weight vs. when you use your real verified identity!

Apathetic? Have you seen Reddit today or yesterday? The top post in 90% of subreddits are pro-net-neutrality posts, even where it makes no sense. I can't think of a time when that much of a stink was made, including SOPA.

The reason it's not working this time around is because you have an FCC chair whose not really interested in what the public thinks - you're not his constituents, and you're not the constituents of the people who put him in power.

Note that the constituents of Republicans are honestly mostly wealthy donors by this point - I doubt they care too much what their voters think beyond ensuring that they don't screw them over directly (e.g. via increased taxes or decreased entitlements)

Well there was a ton more action happening on Hacker News in 2013 then present day.

Glad to hear Reddit isnt being passive!

I’ve seen reddit, but ultimately that means nothing. Posting a comment on a forum (even reddit or hn) is in itself meaningless. It’s oretty much the definitio or apathetic.

How so when there’s a hired army of people or bots to create fake comments that are pro Net Neutrality. There’s so many such comments.. threads even that all real members of a community see the flood of pro Neutrality comments and become apathetic. They think the flood of comments are what the majority of members feel leaving them to think a) It must not be that bad & then b) do not speak up against a majority.

This effectively drowns out the opposition. Proponents of Net Neutrality already flooded the FCC with fake comments as the guy above noted they stole his identity. What makes you think they don’t have an army of an army fake social media commenters to shape the conversation in their favor? Especially on influential tech sites like this!

While there's a good amount of outrage in some online niches, I don't think Net Neutrality has been on the radar of the general public. A lot of friends and family I've spoken to over the past few weeks don't understand the power that repealing net neutrality will give to ISPs.

Also, I think people are so emotionally worn out by the mass distraction machine that is the Trump presidency, the over-saturation of outrage in the media, and the fact that so many democratic and political institutions are under attack that people either can't keep track of each one, feel hopeless, or have just tuned it all out for their own sanity.

>why in the world in 2017 are we so apathetic about something so important?

it is not that people do not care; it is that they do not understand how to use force to achieve their goals. they do not understand how to contest the government's exclusive claim to rights like management of the internet, etc.

or they must show up for work and don't have the time to make physical appearances in places that create inconvenience-- fundamentally refusing to accept that their duty as citizens to contest government overreach is more important than their own personal life running smoothly.

Like my father always used to say - being apathetic on any important issue makes you; a pathetic! (:

I'm not sure if you're claiming that my comment is fake, but I can assure you it's not. I'm also not apathetic as I've done everything possible including reminding everyone I know (yet again) to follow my steps in trying to stop this. If I do come off as apathetic, it's probably because I'm just worn down mentally and emotionally from the days/weeks I've spent investigating my situation only for it to lead to this.

You say we should be up in arms, but realistically, what can we do? I'm pretty sure I've literally done everything I can do given my personal and financial situation. I've read through all the comments and while potentially helpful for my situation, none actually address what can be done for Net Neutrality. So I'm just going to repeat, what can I/we even do anymore?

No not your comment. Other pro Net Neutrality comments and threads here.

Is it worth contacting your local news station?

May be a long shot but the more people know about what's actually happening then the more pressure they can put on their congress critter to do something.

Only if it isn't a Sinclair Media station...

If you have the time and money for something unlikely to get results for you specifically you could always try suing the person or persons impersonating you in filling documents with the federal government, then subpoena the only known party (FCC) to have information capable of helping to identify that party.

Not sure how much good it would do though.

>when they try to do everything in their power and play by the rules

Playing by the rules is not always the best way to serve the public interest.

One thing we could do is have everyone go in on a lobbyist. haha

Donate the the EFF, it's basically the same thing as you're suggesting except that the organizational structure is already in place.

The FCC has effectively ignored the rules and stalled their way to victory.

Nawh, they are following the power delegation given to them by congress. They dont have to do fuck all for public comments, other then recieve them, document them, and say "we got feedback but fuck yall we going forward"

> They dont have to do fuck all for public comments

That's not true. As a nonpartisan federal agency, the must show how they accounted for public comment and why the choice they made is either in line with the public comments or why it is justified to not be in line.

They have to do more than just accept the comments.

But by allowing all the fake comments, they were able to say "see everyone wants this, what we are doing is in line with the public comments".

> They have to do more than just accept the comments.

Or what?

There's no one enforcing rules in this administration.

That's what the judicial branch is for.

They have to pass the crappy rules first so that someone who was harmed can sue them.

Congress can stop them now, and the judicial can stop them after the fact. Congress is corrupt, but thus far the judicial is not.

The corruption of the judicial branch is more obvious to its victims than it is to the average citizen, but it does quite a bit more direct harm than Congress does. For example, the courts that fund their municipalities on the backs of the poor, all the shady arrangements with the incarceration industry, the seemingly deliberate destruction of families and children perpetrated by the divorce courts, the horrific excess of the Drug War, etc.

Still, the courts might help in this case.

Pretty sure the most of what you're talking about is the executive branch. They're in charge of enforcing the rules - e.g. deciding who to prosecute for drug crimes and which prisons to put them in to serve their term.

Likewise, the executive branch is the one that decides to go after offenders based on profitability over public good (although you could also lay that on the legislative branch for allowing the executive to fund itself using fines in the first place).

Nothing I mentioned happens without the eager cooperation of judges and other officers of the court. The ongoing disaster of the divorce or "family" courts has nothing at all to do with the executive. Anyway we weren't comparing the judicial with the executive but rather with the legislative.

Actually, it appears that many of the fake comments are in favor of net neutrality. Or at least the comments originating from overseas. (Russian domains are top of the list.)

http://www.emprata.com/reports/fcc-restoring-internet-freedo...