
Call for the Resignation of FCC Chairman Ajit Varadaraj Pai - DiabloD3
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/we-people-call-resignation-fcc-chairman-ajit-varadaraj-pai
======
afarrell
We're all aware that this is an action being taken by the executive branch,
not the legislative. However, Executive departments rely on the legislative
branch to get relevant legislation passed, to confirm appointees, and for
other forms of support for their actions. Administrative departments generally
try to avoid angering the relevant standing committees that regulate them.

The website for the US Senate subcomittee on Communications, Technology,
Innovation, and the Internet is here
[https://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/communicati...](https://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/communicationstechnologyandtheinternet)

There appear to be two relevant subcommittees of the US House of
Representatives:

[https://energycommerce.house.gov/subcommittee/communications...](https://energycommerce.house.gov/subcommittee/communications-
and-technology/)

and

[https://energycommerce.house.gov/subcommittee/digital-
commer...](https://energycommerce.house.gov/subcommittee/digital-commerce-and-
consumer-protection/)

From the looks of the twitter iframes* on both house subcomittee pages, the
FCC has significant legislative support for these rules changes.

~~~
awinder
That’s really not true, there was a bipartisan push to pull this power away
from the FCC specifically because members of both parties saw net neutrality
becoming a political football. And that the regulatory uncertainty of back-
and-forth, regulation and deregulation, on a 4 year basis, was going to
ultimately be more damaging than going one way or the other.

[http://thehill.com/policy/technology/341605-senate-
republica...](http://thehill.com/policy/technology/341605-senate-republican-
we-need-bipartisan-net-neutrality-legislation)

Which died primarily due to inaction caused by the republican members of
Congress chasing long shot bills and wasting productive time for unproductive
time.

~~~
libertyEQ
This is a great point. Congress is abdicating its responsibility to enact
proper legislation and allowing this issue to be decided by the whims of
whatever the executive branch wants (which is subject to change every 4
years). We need certainty with regards to this issue, and this is not the only
example of congress abdicating its responsibilities (war, healthcare,
immigration, etc.).

------
monday_
Where the hell are Google and Facebook on this? The idea that they'll profit
from the repeal is simply naive - without net neutrality Comcast et al will be
able to extort whatever they want from SV. I realize that this is unethical,
but Alphabet alone can match ISP donations and then some. Alphabet plus
Facebook can probably buy post Citizens United Congress fifty times over.

~~~
rz2k
I am surprised that they fought for net neutrality at all in the past. The
primary threats to their businesses are new companies, and barriers to entry
are their best protections. Having money skimmed by companies like Comcast is
far better than being replaced by a better search engine or a new social
network. Right now it is much easier to implement an idea and scale it than it
would be if you began also having to finance new extortion fees before you
even had a chance to validate your idea.

------
leetrout
Signed... thanks for the link.

I don’t think this administration has much interest in what “we the people”
really want, though.

Hopefully people call their reps to voice concerns about the repeal of NN too.

~~~
dmitrygr
s/this/any/g

~~~
awinder
If you haven’t been able to see the tangible ways that one party is way more
beholden to monied interests by this point, I don’t know what it will take.

Some people just want to watch the word burn.

~~~
indubitable
What you may not see is both parties playing people against one another.
They're both completely beholden to special interests. As perhaps the most
visible example, did you ever wonder why the TPP, which was going to be
arguably the single biggest corporate handout in US legislative history, was
being spearheaded by Obama? Or why he was going about it in such an absurdly
undemocratic fashion?

Keeping the people divided is the key to keeping the establishment powers
entrenched in office. So long as the people _hate_ the alternative
sufficiently, they need not worry about the quality of their own candidate.
Clinton won the popular vote, yet I think it's safe to say that most voted for
her not because she truly was the type of candidate that people wanted in
office -- but because the alternative was considered absolutely unacceptable
under any circumstance. And the same is no doubt true of much of Trump's
support.

I don't think another Ross Perot 1992 is ever likely to happen. If that's
before your political period, an independent individual ( _vastly more
eloquent and reasonable, but politically similar to Trump_ ) ended up making a
huge run. At one point he was actually ahead in the polls against candidates
from both parties. In the general he ran against Bush and Clinton, even then
some of the most powerful names in politics. He pulled 19% of the vote -
destroying Bush's incumbency and effectively giving the presidency to Clinton.

But far from just a spoiler, that's a single outsider independently
threatening to 'take over' Washington. The increasingly sensationalized and
divisive rhetoric with a focus on identity politics, really began to spike in
the elections to come. So long as both side of the political spectrum think
those on the other side are completely intolerable, it makes it much easier to
control people. You can even get them to do things like vote for people they
don't actually want in office -- they just need to be convinced that it's
better than the alternative.

------
tanto
Who seriously believes it would make a difference? As the Chairman is just a
puppet and will if resigned be replaced by another. The USA is not a
functioning democracy anymore and you should aim at replacing your complete
government and the rules how it's elected.

~~~
pcunite
_The USA is not a functioning democracy_

Thank goodness too! We are a Constitutional Republic. A pure democracy only
works when the majority is moral.

~~~
wutbrodo
Oh for Christ's sake, pedantry is even more annoying _when it's not even
correct_. Just Google the definition of "democracy" before the next time you
think it's a good idea to interject this trite, useless comment. Here, I'll
get you started:

""" noun

\- a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members
of a state, typically through elected representatives.

\- a state governed by a democracy.

\- control of an organization or group by the majority of its members. """

The term you're thinking of is "direct democracy".

~~~
backtoyoujim
how is it that you trust Google to define democracy for us ?

~~~
wutbrodo
A word doesn't have an inherent meaning that extends beyond how it's used.
Dictionaries don't dictate definitions, they describe them; at best, they
provide a Schelling point.

Google's definition in this case isn't out of sync with common usage or with
any other dictionary that I'm aware of. Think for a second about point you're
trying to make exactly, because it sounds to me like a vague soup of paranoid
anti-corporate gibberish.

------
dmritard96
Its probably worth noting that this site may be manipulated:

[http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/white-house-petition-
si...](http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/white-house-petition-site-
broken-1201977541/)

After the election, many petitions were not registering signatures. My
position is that this was deliberate. So if this somehow 'fails' or gets stuck
at some number, don't be surprised...

~~~
imustbeevil
I mean two of the top 3 petitions are calling for Trump to release his tax
returns (1.1 million) and put his assets in a blind trust (356,031).

Whether or not the site is being manipulated I can guarantee no one from the
White House is clamoring to respond.

------
chiefalchemist
I'm not so sure disagreeing is grounds for demanding resignation. And a couple
clicks for a digital signature hardly says, "I'm pissed odf." Pardon me but
I'm just not a believer in slack-tivism.

If ya wanna move the needle ya got to hit'em where it hurts. Boycot FB. Boycot
Twitter. Boycot Netflix. Boycot Amazon. Even if it's just for a day, those are
all actions that will be heard.

If Small Biz Saturday can be a thing, so can You Need Us More Than We Need You
Friday. Okay. Agreed. The name needs some work.

------
Alakagom
People are missing the point in this case. Ajit is not the problem at all, he
is a pawn in a larger game.

Only hope is fixing the system.

~~~
raverbashing
While it's ok to not shoot the messenger, this is not the case here.

"We were just following orders" didn't stick before and shouldn't stick in
this case. Whoever pull the trigger is guilty as well.

I'm actually against asking for his resignation, the appropriate action would
be his _demotion_ from position.

------
zeep
He should resign... for trying to rape the American people... Clinton resigned
for less than that.

------
sddfd
Is it just me or is the number of signed petitions not increasing?

~~~
convery
Guessing they do some basic verification and purge bad signatures over time.
If it's anything like Reddit where subreddits with <80 subscribers get 30,000
upvotes on posts about net neutrality; one can assume that there will be a lot
of bots on that site too.

------
kevin2r
Seriously, is this all the plan of one guy? Ajit Pai, if so, how could we give
such power to one person. I don't think it's his plan it never it's, his
resignation won't mean anything.

~~~
sddfd
His resignation will be a an important sign.

Suppose for the sake of my argument that this petition is successful and Ajit
Paid has to resign, and the newly put in place chairman the removes net
neutrality anyway.

It will then be obvious that there are powers in place that want net
neutrality to fall even at the cost of having to replace the chairman.

Given that it's unlikely that net neutrality can be upheld in the current
political climate, this would be a victory.

~~~
rdtsc
How would the "has to resign" part work? What binding power does this petition
have once it reaches the required number of votes?

------
febin
Why is HN pushing this post down? Considering the votes and comments the post
has got ,it should be in the top of the list?

~~~
craftyguy
Maybe because it won't amount to anything (these petitions _never_ do) and
it's wasting space on the front page?

~~~
febin
Or are they being lobbyed by the government?

~~~
craftyguy
Got any proof of that?

~~~
febin
[https://imgur.com/a/PydFk](https://imgur.com/a/PydFk)

------
VeronicaJJ123
As a member of tech community I support Ajit Pai and I think what he is doing
is good for the open-ness of the internet.

~~~
dijit
From what I understand he is standing in the way of an open internet. Maybe I
understood it wrong?

