
Hey Startups, It’s Your Duty to Fight for Net Neutrality - amberj
https://www.wired.com/2017/05/hey-startups-duty-fight-net-neutrality/
======
arca_vorago
It's all our duties as hackers. Startups are simply made of hackers. It's us,
not the startup, that needs to take action against these kinds of things...
primarily by using technology to leave policy behind to catch up later, but
the peice we missed doing that since the 90's was that technology is
inherently political-affecting, and we need to start getting hackers into
office to make up for this technocratic knowledge-deficit.

First step for anyone serious about this is to stop using as many proprietary
software systems as possible. (Windows/OSX)

~~~
lilei
Yes, because "duty" is such a technocratic argument? Maybe the reason people
don't listen isn't because they don't have knowledge, but because hackers as a
group, label or viewpoint are no longer necessarily that relevant?

I'm generally for net neutrality as stated in the article, but that's still
mostly a political view. I've had it quite good in terms of Internet
connection living in different parts of Europe. It's generally been fast and
uncapped. But it's still been around 40€ per month or more. That's a lot of
money for many people. And most people want to communicate with their friends,
manage their bank accounts and read the news without having things break, get
their data stolen or pay a lot of money for the pleasure.

Some esoteric ideas about freedom doesn't do it for many people. Heck, it
doesn't even do it for me anymore and I largely understand the issues. What
are you going to tell people when Microsoft, Netflix or other companies offer
to pay for the bandwidth when you use their services so you can download
updates and watch movies for a cheaper price? That they are missing out on
setting up their own Linux server to run a bitcoin market via tor?

At some point these freedom has to boil down to something tangible for normal
people, otherwise I'm not sure what the point of having them or if we even
deserve them.

------
maxharris
Duty? You have to be kidding me.

Startups live on a knife's edge. Nothing is more important than staying alive!

Try making the case that it's in a startup's actual interest to care about
this. Why should I bother clicking on a thing that's just going to try to lay
unearned guilt on me?

This is just plain offensive.

EDIT: that's it - vote me down, shoot the messenger because you don't like
what I have to say. _That 's_ the way to convince us of whatever your point
is.

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Isamu
Well, unless your startup is to provide vigorous and efficient means for
throttling your victims/customers/peers. And deep packet inspection to find
the ones trying to sneak through the barbed wire. If so, then happy days.

------
whitef0x
Why should it be the duty of startups to fight for net neutrality when it's
the gatekeepers who control the flow of information and have the resources to
actually keep the net open and free.

~~~
geogra4
Should be the responsibility of those with the most to gain from startups (ie
VC firms)

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moomin
Of course, the firms with the most to gain from net neutrality are those with
the least clout. After that you're left with some enlightened self-interest
second order folks and... startup incubators.

If there's a single company on the planet with lots to lose if net neutrality
fails, it's YC.

------
codelitt
Semi-related, Twitter seems to be okay with taking lobbyist money from those
against net neutrality:
[http://i.imgur.com/Ad2LMxZ.png](http://i.imgur.com/Ad2LMxZ.png)

Weren't they part of the SOPA/PIPA blackout?

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MrZongle2
Shouldn't the duty of startups be to survive and grow, rather than devote any
time and energy to the _cause du jour_?

Net Neutrality is incredibly important. I think it should be up to
_individuals_ to fight for it, rather than expect fledgling organizations to
throw themselves unto the breach.

~~~
codelitt
Normally I would agree, except this particular issue is quite different.
Startups and small companies are who net neutrality benefits the most. It is
in their own self-interest. Whether they do it because it's good business or
whether it's a good cause, there is enough reason.

------
frik
Sam Altman sounds like a politician.

Oh right, he want to get a politician really really soon. But don't tell it
anyone, it's a secrete, pst.

    
    
      [dupe] Y Combinator head who pushes basic income is reportedly running for office (arstechnica.com)
      39 points by calvin_c 3 days ago | 4 comments

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14342198](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14342198)

    
    
      [flagged] [dead] Sam Altman for governor? (recode.net)
      18 points by tareqak 3 days ago | 5 comments

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14337211](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14337211)

    
    
      [flagged] Sam Altman Considering Run for CA Governor (sfchronicle.com)
      112 points by rkaplan 3 days ago | 40 comments

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14337507](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14337507)

    
    
      [flagged] Ask HN: Has the HN entry about Sam Altman running for office just been removed?
      98 points by camillomiller 3 days ago | 29 comments 

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14342474](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14342474)

    
    
      I'm sure it topped the home page ten minutes ago. I came back two 
      minutes ago to see if there were any comments, and the entry is 
      nowhere to be found. What happened?
      This was the story: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/05/y-combinator-head-who-pushes-basic-income-is-reportedly-running-for-office/

