RUSH: Here’s Michael, Zephyr Hills, Florida. Great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Mr. Snerdley told me to make this short. All I can say to you is, “Petaflop dittos, my titular big brother.” I listened to you since I was in the Navy in Norfolk. My question is about your views on net neutrality. I think the Regime is throwing all these things out right now and trying to sneak in, quote/unquote, the oxymoronic phrase of “net neutrality.”
RUSH: I think, since you’ve asked, that there’s nothing wrong with the Internet that needs federal intervention.
CALLER: I agree.
RUSH: I don’t think there’s anything wrong that requires federal fixing, and I don’t think that net neutrality is net neutrality. All they want to do is, under Title Two, regulate the Internet the way they regulate the phone companies.
CALLER: Absolutely. They’re trying to use a 1930s FCC law. They did it with Ma Bell, and no technology ever came out until we broke up Ma Bell. Both sides are wrong. Now, the only thing I’ve seen that’s of any value is an article in Forbes Magazine last year. They updated it just recently. February 19th was the last day to put in your opinion. I’ve put in mine. But everything is secret. Everything is secret until the new rules come out.
RUSH: Here’s the thing. I don’t want to make this simplistic. I’m going to be accused of being simplistic. But who is it that wants to fix this? Who is it that wants to “reform” this? Who is it that’s running around saying it’s broken? Who is it that’s running around saying it’s broken so he can get his fingerprints on it? Who is doing this? Barack Hussein O. The One. That’s all you need to know. As far as I’m concerned, that’s all anybody needs to know.
Leave it alone. Obama does not intend to improve it, not in the way you and I would think the Internet needs to be improved. Obama wants to control it for a host of different reasons, not excluding money. The control over the Internet will result in less access for more people. It will result in more expensive access for more people. If you don’t believe this, let me take you back to the ’90s.
Each and every time there was a new bill that came out of Congress that was going to really fix the cable TV system — because they were ripping people off; they were overcharging everybody — Senator McCain, sitting on the commerce committee, would come out with legislation after legislation designed to lower cable rates and spread it more around equally. And what happened? Everybody’s rates went up. The federal government has no business in this. The Internet is the essence of openness now.
Now, there are people who don’t know any better who are all for Obama and net neutrality because, A: They’re young, impressionable, little liberals, and they believe the title of it. They believe “net neutrality.” They believe the word “neutrality.” What that means to them is, “It’s going to be equal! It’s going to be the same for everybody.” What they also believe… The most hated Internet provider in the world today, apparently (Not me; I’m just telling you based on what I read) is Comcast.
People hate them.
I even shared with you a story last year about some little blogger who was all upset about how much his minimum of 15 gigabytes-a-month coverage on Comcast cost, and how upset he was about it. I tried to explain to the guy that you’re not one of the big customers. People are paying Comcast a whole lot more money than you are, and they are going to expect higher speeds, faster speeds and more access. This guy’s response to that was, “Well, that’s not fair!
“Just because somebody has more money, it doesn’t mean they should get better speeds and better coverage!” But, of course it does. If you want to spend the money on 200-gigabytes down fiber coming into your house to have those kinds of speeds, you should be able to do it. Under net neutrality, you won’t be able to. Net neutrality, the people that are in favor of it, believe that Obama is going to punish all of these Internet service providers that are overcharging young millennials. They also believe…
I’ll tell you something else. If you love Netflix… I happen to know a lot of the young millennial liberals love Netflix. If you get net neutrality, you’re going to lose this open access to Netflix that you’ve got that you think is going to expand. There’s a thing… I don’t know quite how to use the terminology here. But some of these Internet service providers have been accused of throttling speeds and coverage based on the prices people are paying.
The more people pay, the less throttling and the more open and access the speed is. If you buy a Ferrari you get a Ferrari. If you buy a Prius you get a Prius. A Prius is not a Ferrari. Net neutrality wants to turn the Ferrari into the Prius on the Internet, is basically what it does, under the guise of fairness and equality. And more importantly, as far as these young millennials are concerned, they think Obama is really going to get even with all these cable providers that these young liberal millennials hate.
That’s not what’s going to be the case.
The problem is, there’s nothing wrong with it now. It’s as open and free as anything in this country is, and that’s the “problem.” That’s why they want their mitts on it. It’s as open and free… How many things on the Internet can you access for nothing? It’s incredible. If you look at an app that you buy for your smart phone or your iPad, it’s nothing. I can’t believe when I see people on these tech blogs I read complaining: “Don’t buy this app! It’s way over priced at $1.99.”
So $1.99 is overpriced is because so many are free? Only $1.99 is overpriced? It’s a testament to the relativity of things and how people end up being shaped not by reality but by perceptions. The Internet is as wide open as anything is, and that’s why Obama wants his hands on it. It’s a threat, the openness and the freedom that exists there. They also are trying to sell net neutrality on the basis of content.
“Yeah, well, we’re not going to allow all these conservative sites to have free access to people. We’re going to make sure the liberal sites get just as much access and have just as much access to high-speed delivery and all that!” It’s not going to happen. That’s what they’re using and telling people that they’ll make happen. That’s what the “neutrality” part means. Look it, all you need to know is Obama wants it; you should oppose it. It’s that simple.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: If you like your Internet provider, if you do, you ought to be able to keep it. You won’t be under net neutrality. Try music streaming. You have no idea how that’s going to be screwed up if they implement net neutrality. Yup, streaming music to your device is going to become an absolute mess. There’s no need for it. And it’s not neutral. And it’s not fair and it isn’t equal and it’s not going to punish anybody but the user.