
Don't Call it a Fast Lane - xwowsersx
http://dontcallitafastlane.com/
======
panarky
For those who don't click through, can you explain the essence of the issue?

Something like, "Your cable company already charges you the world's highest
price[1] to deliver data. Now they want to get paid twice for the same data,
or they'll put you in the slow lane. Stop the monopoly toll collectors."

[1]
[http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24528383](http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24528383)

~~~
rjbwork
Yes, as I alluded to in my comment, tolls and extortion are the talking
points/buzzwords the pro-net neutrality side needs to be getting out there.
The best part is that they are accurate (toll more so than extortion,
possibly, but my point stands).

~~~
danielweber
_tolls and extortion are the talking points /buzzwords the pro-net neutrality
side needs to be getting out there_

It might seem that way at first, but the most effective way of winning people
to your side is usually _not_ to come up with the most inflammatory language
you can possibly justify.

~~~
lclarkmichalek
Been working pretty well for the republican party so far

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rjbwork
I think "Fast Lanes" is terrible, "Slow Lanes" is better, and "Toll Roads" is
most accurate. The end of any pretense of net neutrality opens the doors for
all manner of censorship, or more likely, extortion.

"Sure is a mighty nice website you got there, be a shame if our 50 million
subscribers couldn't access it...."

~~~
tzs
> "Sure is a mighty nice website you got there, be a shame if our 50 million
> subscribers couldn't access it...."

The FCC explicitly said that kind of thing would not be allowed under their
proposed regulatory plans. Do you have a reason to believe otherwise?

~~~
rjbwork
Netflix is essentially unwatchable for many comcast subscribers due to high
congestion during peak hours. If the peering connections are sufficiently
overloaded/congested, there isn't too much appreciable difference.

On the other hand, give an inch, give a mile. The ISPs want toll roads, and if
they get the ability to charge other peering services and content providers to
carry their traffic over non-congested pipes, I don't see why they won't get
toll roads from some other patsy they buy off later.

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danielweber
I don't think saying "nuh uh, it's a _slow_ lane" is going to be a real
winning argument. Simply accusing the other side of doing the complete
opposite of what they claim to do needs a lot more political savvy.

Maybe try pointing out how manufacturers sell the same printer to homes and
businesses at different price points, except that the home version is
_deliberately slowed down_ instead of the business version being any more
advanced. I think that's the (legitimate) fear you are trying to express.

~~~
api_or_ipa
can you source a reference to the printer reference? I'm interested in reading
more about such phenomena.

~~~
akiselev
I can't speak to the printer case but silicon manufacturers do this to an
absurd degree with their SKUs. See the GTX 690 to Quadro conversion hack [1].

[1] [http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Nvidia-
GTX-690-Quadro-K5000...](http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Nvidia-
GTX-690-Quadro-K5000,21656.html)

~~~
TTPrograms
There are a few cases of this, but mostly this is done as a way to deal with
variations in manufacturing as explained above. Furthermore, from that
article:

> We do know if the system sees the card as a Quadro K5000 card, but we cannot
> be sure about whether it actually performs like one or if it is entirely
> bug-free.

You change the Device ID and the OS thinks it's something else, sure, but you
could do that with anything with comparable specification.

------
junto
I've just talked about this in another thread so I'll summarise it here.

Cloudflare should implement this for their clients to opt in to protest.

They identify IP ranges that are related to people who can threaten or
influence net neutrality. E.g. Comcast, congress, any backers of this new
bill, even Comcast customers, etc

When a user from one of these blacklisted IP ranges visits your site they get
presented with the 'protest page'. It explains why they are about to be
throttled and how they can join the protest (contact congress rep, etc). It
also shows participating protest sites as a leaderboard - total throttled
users (featuring Cloudflares biggest customers).

I don't even mind if they inject a banner onto the top if my website that
announces me as a proud supporter of net neutrality.

------
xwowsersx
I threw this up real quick. Was inspired by a comment on reddit: "Are we
really still fucking calling these "Fast lanes?" Fast lanes sound good! We
should be talking about "Slow lanes" since that is what you will be on if you
don't pay up."

Also inspired by Brad Feld's suggestion (I think it was) that we all just
throttle our servers so we can give people a taste of what the slow lane feels
like.

~~~
mortenjorck
I think this is a great tactic to raise awareness, but what you're presenting
right now doesn't really make the case.

You're not giving the viewer any sort of meaningful reference point. Indeed,
what you're showing them _shouldn 't_ feel like a fast lane, since you're not
one of the established players paying for one!

A more effective narrative should throw into relief the gradual transformation
of a non-neutral net. Visualize how when the big players can pay to get to you
faster, everyone else gets (relatively) slower.

------
randomfool
It's Extortion.

I see no reason why Comcast should need more money to deliver a 5mb HD video
stream over my 50mb connection. Now if Comcast wants to charge extra to stream
5mb video over a 1mb subscriber line (increasing the BW for that video), then
go for it.

------
lemma
I think a better tactic/branding would be to call it "double billing" or
"double charging". Fast/slow lanes do sound like something you should have to
pay for.

------
dreamdu5t
What does "open internet" even mean? Like, what is the actual _law_ proposed
and what does it _say_.

"Net neutrality" and "open internet" sound as meaningless and confusing as
"healthcare reform."

------
johnvschmitt
Has anyone A/B tested the different language choices around Net Neutrality? Or
focus groups?

For example, Frank Luntz did lots of focus group studies to figure out how to
persuade people, simply by choosing the right words. "Estate Tax" became
"Death Tax" for example.

Rather than just "be creative", we should put those different creatives
through the data-driven approaches (A/B tests & focus groups) to find what
will resonate & persuade the audiences outside of the HN-insider / reddit-
insider cohorts.

------
EEGuy
Perhaps it's been on HN already, but this video [1] uses a books-from-
different-vendors, one-shipping-company analogy.

Plain-speaking and clear IMO.

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAxMyTwmu_M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAxMyTwmu_M)

------
Freestyler_3
While we are at it, dont make websites like dontcallitafastlane.com

I opened it in a new tab, and when I got to it it showed the text which made
no sense at all. The subject is worth discussion, but this doesnt start
discussion.

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xwowsersx
I've updated the copy on the site. It's better than it was before, but still
not great. Open to any suggestions.

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arm55
What is the loading time based on? I have a hard time making anything of this
without a reference.

~~~
oscilloscope
The time is intentionally long to simulate a throttled connection loading
content.

~~~
arm55
I'm quite aware. But was it just a random time meant to be annoying? Or is
based on a predicted loading time for some particular type of site based on
estimated bandwidth?

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MRSallee
Was really hoping this was commentary on freeway lane choices and people
instinctively moving left into the "fast lane" even when they have no one to
pass. It's a passing lane, not a fast lane.

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mjcohen
This just kept loading, so I killed it without looking.

What is wrong with text????

