Letter to the Poughkeepsie Journal - Sent Dec. 16

By Bill Kriebel

On occasion, I’ve surmised that if Donald Trump cured cancer, Democrats would be screaming that he’s destroying Social Security by making people live longer. That’s the kind of knee-jerk negativity they’re expressing regarding the GOP-controlled FCC repealing Obama’s “net neutrality” diktat.

It’s also what obviously inspired Rob Miraldi to type out his hysterical diatribe condemning the repeal, claiming it “would rip at rights of users”. Before sitting down at his computer, he should have done some basic research. Instead, he revealed an appalling ignorance when he stated, ‘Skype and Netflix would have met an early death without “net neutrality” protections.’ Basic research would have revealed that “net neutrality” rules were only initiated in 2015 and have not yet been fully implemented. Netflix has been streaming media for a decade, and Skype since 2003. Both escaped “early death” without “net neutrality protections”.

The question we need to ask is, is “net neutrality” about “protections” or is it about control? Sadly, demagogues like Rob Miraldi aren’t going to be any help to us in answering that question.