In another attempt to educate the American people on what that vague-sounding term "net neutrality" means—and how people will be impacted if Trump's FCC gets its way by abolishing the vital standard which has governed the Internet since the beginning—an enterprising activist named Rob Bliss this week attempted to "liberate" drivers by forcing them to pay so that he would get hell out of the way of their cars.
"Sadly, due to a constant police presence, I could not longer restore freedom to the FCC." —Rob Bliss, net neutrality activistAs The Next Web reports, "Instead of allowing traffic to rely on government regulations and oversight, Bliss decided the street in front of the FCC building in Washington D.C. needed a fast lane. So he created one. Using his bicycle to 'throttle' a lane of traffic, he offered commuters the opportunity to pay a simple $5 fee to take advantage of the newly created 'fast lane.'"
Did the cops show up? Of course, they did. But they only helped prove his point. Watch:
"Sadly, due to a constant police presence," Bliss lamented after his third day of protest, "I could not longer restore freedom to the FCC."
In an interview with TNW, Bliss explained that "Net Neutrality is a huge issue, it has the ability to shape how we think and see the world. The fact that it hasn't really been well understood by the public is very concerning and what I was trying to address. By bringing internet traffic to real world traffic, a lot of the issues become immediately apparent. In the video I play the role of the ISP [Internet Service Provider], and everyone's response proves how society would never allow such behavior in the real world. So why should we allow it online?"
Last week, video of a similar stunt by fastfood giant Burger King—which told people who wanted a Whopper faster would have to pay upwards of $26 for speedier service—went viral as the reactions of customers revealed just how frustrated we will all be when corporate ISPs tell us what content we can have faster or what content we'll have to pay extra for.
Watch:
