Linden Lab is So Damn Serious About Defending Net Neutrality the Company Put a Congress Contact Form Right in Second Life's Log-In Screen

Linden Lab founder Philip Rosedale recently registered his support for defending net neutrality, which Trump's FCC appointee proposes to soon end. Now Linden Lab the company itself has gone a step further, putting a Congress contact form in the log-in screen of Second Life itself:

We at Linden Lab believe that net neutrality is extremely important. Lifting the FCC’s Open Internet Rules would not only jeopardize the experience of Residents using Second Life, but can also negatively impact all aspects of our online lives. Later this week, Congress will vote on this issue, and we encourage Second Life residents to join us in calling on our representatives to preserve net neutrality. To that end, we have joined the “Break the Internet” initiative, and if you visit SecondLife.com or login to Second Life today, you’ll notice a pop-up tool that makes it easy to send a message in support of net neutrality. Of course, if you’d prefer not to use this, you can simply close the pop-up and login as usual, but we hope you’ll consider adding your voice to this important issue.

"Net neutrality" is a somewhat confusing term, but it's basically a regulation which preserves an affordable Internet for American consumers by prohibiting ISPs from charging extra for different Internet sites and services. As Rosedale explained, the end of net neutrality will likely lead to users of social VR/virtual worlds/MMOs like Second Life, Sansar, and High Fidelity paying higher fees to use these broadband-intensive platforms:

"The end of net neutrality would be especially negative for high bandwidth services like SL and High Fidelity that are delivered by less powerful companies," he tells me. "I would not be surprised to see providers with no competition simply re-introduce by-the-megabyte billing for 'non-premium' services, taking us all the way back to the stone age of AOL and other early online services." The "no competition" part is key, because a majority of Americans do not have a meaningful choice between competing broadband services.

If you don't believe Philip about the no competition part, just take a look at this map of the US to see how few ISP options most US consumers have. And having seen that, consider contacting your Congressperson.

Comments

[Han Held]

So serious that they waited until almost the absolutely last minute to do anything.

[Panguine Sharpshire]

A good read on why ending net neutrality isn't a big deal and keeping it in place only stands to benefit 'big fish' like Google Amazon and Netflix.

https://www.neowin.net/news/editorial-the-net-neutrality-myth-and-why-its-reversal-will-be-no-big-deal

My opinion, it needs to be rolled back for the reasons stated in that article.

[Wagner J Au]

That article makes some questionable claims -- for instance:

"First, it's important to look at which companies are lobbying public support in favor of keeping the new net neutrality rules: Alphabet (Google), Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, and more. Why would these multi-billion dollar companies be in favor of net neutrality? To keep their costs down. Even though these organizations use the majority of the Internet bandwidth, they want everyone to subsidize their usage. Six years ago, for example, Netflix, was using roughly 33% of the Internet's capacity in the United States."

In 2017, however, Netflix has 52.77 million U.S. subscribers - that's nearly half of all the households in the America! It's not an exaggeration to estimate 99% of all Americans online are using one or more of those companies' services every day. Also, net neutrality is being pushed much more avidly by smaller companies like Linden Lab, while these majors have been relatively mute on the subject. Why? In part because they're big enough to define terms to the ISPs. It's the little guys who can't. Read this NYT article online right now:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/12/technology/net-neutrality-fcc-tech.html

Netflix Turns Down the Volume

Netflix, once among the most vocal of net neutrality boosters, is perhaps the most conspicuous in its relative silence. In recent months, the company’s chief executive, Reed Hastings, has said net neutrality is no longer the company’s “primary battle,” partly because Netflix is now large enough that it can secure the deals it needs with internet access providers to ensure its service is delivered smoothly to customers.

[Rin]

The big players on the internet know, that without net neutrality their power increases and both the providers and the big content companies will have it easier to create monopolies and build access barriers for any newcomer.
And since radical-free-market fans never understand that capitalism only works when there are rules and a level playing field for everyone (at least as far as possible) they will still apploud and cheer their own downfall. And since the current sort of republicans ruoing the US are frauds, hypocrates and don't even try to hide their corruption anymore .. they will happily vote their country into destruction as long as their pockets are filled.

Canada should start to market itself to all the start up tech companies. They will soon like to look for a place that does not favor monopolies. It is just sad for all the consumers who are smart enough not to shoot their own foot while stroking their favorite gun. But I think Canada still has lots of room.

[Dirk]

Not a whole lot useful to us that don't have a USA postal code.

[Clara Seller]

Chattanooga Tennessee's super-fast publicly owned Internet.

Another way to do it, but not something we hear about much in mainstream media which is owned by...

http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/20/technology/innovation/chattanooga-internet/index.html

[Jacklyn Peace]

As usual from prior experience with LL just another way to take no responsibility for their users actions. Or anything they say verbally or any one if their well touted terms and conditions. This company only cares about is money.

They have no understanding social responsibility in anything they do.

I'm not concerned about this new act. As 99% of the terms and condition LL will not be enforced. Or if so a short time, for appearance then it will be slowly descreetly ignored. As one rep told me "We just don't have the manpower."

[Canoro Philipp]

The only reason Net Neutrality was repealed is because Trump want to appear as a hero, "just reverse anything that has the name Obama in it, I don't know what it is, or if it benefits the people, haven't read it, just eliminate it".
he didn't reverse it because he had a better replacement that would benefit society, if it's from Obama, just turn it around.
Ajit Pei knew that he had the support of Trump, he had the orders of trump to reverse Obama stuff, like Trump, if people protest, just go deaf to them, and do whatever you like, for Trump, making money for the rich is better than helping people.
that's what happens when you put a millionaire that loves to fire people as President.