
Biker Protestor 'Throttles' Traffic Around FCC Headquarters - betolink
https://gizmodo.com/biker-protestor-throttles-traffic-around-fcc-headquarte-1822561036
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mrguyorama
Many people have pointed out time and again that the only way to convince
politicians on this issue, or any issue where they receive substantial
funding, is to make them feel the pain points personally. I'm not making a
judgement call as to whether they simply do not understand the plight of those
affected, or don't care unless it hurts them personally.

However, this concept betrays the actual feelings of large companies like
Google and Netflix that claim to be Pro Net Neutrality. They've had over a
year to implement a "Congressional access slowdown" protest, and have done
nothing of the sort to demonstrate the issue to congress. People should
recognize that these companies will benefit from slow lanes in that they can
afford faster ones, while upstart competition cannot.

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ccozan
"Biker" doesn't sound right. I was expecting a bearded man on a Harley.

How about a "Cyclist"?

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Mithaldu
Bicycles were there before motorbicycles, and in many countries with robust
bicycle culture people think of bicycles first when they hear biker.

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btrettel
As a cyclist, I'm wary of "blocking" the lane as a form of protest. Many
drivers seem to believe that the only reason a cyclist would take the lane is
to annoy drivers, and this reinforces that thinking. This encourages thinking
that dangerously close passes ("punishment passes") are justified. To these
drivers it doesn't matter if a cyclist is avoiding an illegally parked car and
is leaving the bike lane only briefly, etc. I would have preferred that the
protester made some sort of checkpoint instead.

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oceanghost
As you wish.

In this post, you imply an adversarial relationship with drivers, declare them
to be bad, and yourself a victim of people who are just trying to get to work.

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btrettel
No general adversarial relationship was implied. That's why I said "many
drivers" not "drivers" or "all drivers". Fact is that only a relatively small
fraction of drivers are bad, but the ones who are cause a disproportionate
amount of harm.

For what it's worth I didn't have a problem with your other post aside from it
being vague. I dislike when people claim to have a problem with something I
said but don't explain what their problem is.

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tomcooks
Why not link the original article instead of this sad spamageddon?

Original article: [https://thenextweb.com/creative/2018/01/29/net-neutrality-
ac...](https://thenextweb.com/creative/2018/01/29/net-neutrality-activist-
throttles-street-outside-fcc-building/)

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hexane360
So, in conclusion, the government had to come in to prevent profiteering on a
shared public resource important to commerce and heavily subsidized by tax
dollars.

Wow, it's shocking how good of a metaphor this is.

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mkonecny
"Restoring your automotive freedom" \- I love this analogy. This is a great
way to explain the issue to the masses

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YeGoblynQueenne
Childish, silly and I enjoyed watching every minute of it.

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aestetix
Brilliant stunt. This is the correct way to use pranks/humor to make political
protest. Props to that guy.

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throw7
pretty funny. reminded me that burger king did an ad about net neutrality:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltzy5vRmN8Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltzy5vRmN8Q)

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unicornporn
This page is dead, if you're not from USA.

"I got Sorry, we couldn’t find that page" until I turned on my VPN and
tunneled via USA.

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debt
This is pretty damn funny.

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CodeWriter23
“Bikes may use whole lane for poetic protest”

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snowpanda
That thumbnail is priceless: A man with a goal!

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RcouF1uZ4gsC
So far, all of the gloom and doom scenarios from the repeal of net neutrality
have failed to emerge. More people have been inconvenienced by the pro net-
neutrality protesters than have been harmed or inconvenienced due to ISP
action post-repeal.

These net-neutrality protesters are akin to the anti-fur protesters running
around throwing blood on people. It may make them feel good about their virtue
and that they are doing something, but it is unlikely to change minds.

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pyre
> _So far, all of the gloom and doom scenarios from the repeal of net
> neutrality have failed to emerge_

How quickly do you expect these things to happen? Overnight?

This isn't Hollywood. The moment the decision is made storm clouds don't
appear overhead to signify the ominous direction that things have gone.

