John Oliver attacks Net Neutrality proposal

The Federal Communications Commission is trying to change how Americans use the Internet, and not for the better. New Net Neutrality regulations would allow individual Internet service providers to charge websites a premium in order for more reliable connections to consumers.

Now, I’m not going to get into every detail regarding Net Neutrality, but you can read about it via our previous coverage. However, just because I’m not going to talk about it right now, doesn’t mean there isn’t someone else who will talk about the problems.

Enter John Oliver.

The host of  “Last Week Tonight” on HBO, and former “Daily Show” talent, devoted a 13-minute segment to Net Neutrality. While managing to add humor to a very serious issue, Oliver issued a rallying cry to all the commenters (or Monsters) on the internet to visit the FCC’s website, and voice their thoughts on the new proposals.

The video has been viewed nearly 2-million times since Sunday, and continues to reach thousands by the minute.This segment reached so many people that the FCC’s comment section of their website actually crashed because of the amount of people logging on.

If you want to voice your own thoughts on the matter of Net Neutrality — I encourage you to do so — visit the FCC’s official website.

Mike’s Musings: Good on Oliver! It’s a shame that so many people don’t really know what is going on with the FCC and the Internet. These new rule changes can make what should be a public utility nearly unaffordable for the average person, and make websites that are currently free a pay-to-view service. I implore you all to voice your opinions on the matter during the 120 public comment period. I could say more on Net Neutrality, but I leave that for a column on another day.