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THE US AGENCY regulating internet policy said that its website was attacked this week after TV host John Oliver urged viewers to pressure the authority over plans to roll back on net neutrality.
The Federal Communications Commission, whose chairman last month promised to review a 2015 rule that requires broadband firms to treat all online traffic equally, said it was hit by a denial of service attack, which is a flood of traffic aimed at taking down a website.
“These were deliberate attempts by external actors to bombard the FCC’s comment system with a high amount of traffic to our commercial cloud host,” the FCC said in a statement.
“These actors were not attempting to file comments themselves; rather they made it difficult for legitimate commenters to access and file with the FCC.”
But there are doubts as to whether it was a cyber attack that temporarily prevented the public from commenting.
Democratic senators have demanded answers from the Federal Communications Commission about its reaction to the cyber attack.
Last Week Tonight
The action came after John Oliver, who hosts the widely watched satirical news programme Last Week Tonight, rebuked the FCC for its action and called on viewers to make their sentiments known to the regulator.
Oliver mocked FCC chairman Ajit Pai’s claim that voluntary measures would keep broadband firms from blocking out rivals as a pledge “as binding as a proposal on ‘The Bachelor.’”
The show even created a web link (gofccyourself.com) to make it easier for viewers to offer their comments, and also suggested in a tweet that they “urge the FCC to keep strong net neutrality rules.”
It’s the second time Oliver has used his platform to go after the FCC.
In 2014, at the height of the debate over the net neutrality rules, Oliver criticised cable companies like Verizon and Cox Communications, which he argued were using lobbying dollars to influence the debate against the public’s best interest.
He urged users to file their comments on the rules to the FCC during the 120-day open comment period.
The FCC did not respond to an AFP request for comment on whether Oliver’s comments had anything to do with the attacks.
Pai, appointed by President Donald Trump, said in April he will propose a reversal of the 2015 order and seek to return to “a light-touch regulatory framework,” which he argued has “enabled the internet to grow and evolve beyond almost anyone’s expectations.”
Net neutrality has been the subject of legal and political battles for over a decade, with both sides claiming to represent a “free and open” internet.
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The sight of British politicians trying to squeeze the direction of their nation into the 17th century politics of the DUP is a sight to behold as Brexit turns out to be a cult . These people are desperate to leave the EU so they can play out their fantasies they they are willing to wreck their nation and ours to get to that point.
@Gerald Kelleher: I think the majority of people who voted for brexit wanted to keep their sovereignty .
We appear to be losing ours , to this United States of Europe .
@Gerald Kelleher: serves them right maybe next time May will her homework before she makes a deal with the devil.
@Gerald Kelleher:
Brexit supporters were ridiculed for the claim that the EU would create a unified army and remove the last vestiges of sovereignty from its member states.
Now Ireland has signed up to Pesco which is a unified command, training and development organisation and the first step towards a homogeneous army.
@Thought for Food: nah they were ridiculed for the NHS claims and being taken for complete and utter mugs by Farage who walked off into the sunset and has done less than nothing to help since the vote.
@Ken Hayden: Simple question: Do you want sovereignty or prosperity?
We had lots of sovereignty before accession in 1973 but we didn’t make a very good go of it did we?
Do you trust our current political class, if we went it alone, to create a sustainable society?
@Ken Hayden: Any facts to support your loss if sovereignty thesis?
@Erich Butler: I want both. They are two different cakes.
@Erich it’s a simple question alright , but one with a not so simple answer perhaps .
I don’t see why sovereignty and prosperity have to be incompatible .
@Danny , merkels unilateral decision to allow a million unvetted migrants entry into Europe , and then allow them free movement .
There are many more , but I have to work now .
@Gerald Kelleher: I can see a general election in the making as the agreement today is basically a warmed over version of EU membership with different words. Maybe it is the best that can be had but the Brexiteers in the Conservatives are going to scream about it to the point that their Prime Minister is going to be called a traitor (no surprise there).
@Gerald Kelleher: stop with your anti British bile, you have Ireland in your previous eu superstars with its army and open borders globalist agenda. Lets move on now. Stop British bashing . Lots of us have family in the UK.
@Gerald Kelleher: well said, the fight for the independence of Ireland goes on…………..
@Ken Hayden: And how does that effect our sovereignty Ken?
@Gerald Kelleher: The real reason that Nigel Farage departed the scene is the fact that he is still suffering from severe pain after the plane crash that he was lucky to survive.
@Gerald Kelleher: from reading the changes it looks like it’s the same deal just wrapped up nicer for the sake of the DUP.
@Gerald Kelleher: I will actually in the UK this weekend visiting family. Seemingly the model adopted by the Conservatives is the economic British and Irish Lions model in their relationship with the EU at least economically.
@Gerald Kelleher: Damnest thing Jane, it looks like they used the Unionists to push through their future relationship with the EU in trade and that is fine. It explains why Davis admitted no future assessments and somebody in the Conservatives said enough is enough once they saw Scotland, London and others look for the same deal as Northern Ireland. Why they want to leave now is puzzling as they lose influence and gain nothing.
@Ken Hayden: that’s a nice little fantasy but it’s not 1960 anymore. Without a set of rules to follow we have shown over and over again that we are not capable of ruling our own nation in a manner fitting of a first world country. The EU is far from but i dread to think of how bad it would be here without the ever watching eye. The brexit vote by the British public was based on scare mongering and little more. Only this week the government admitted they had done no reports if how it might affect different aspects of British life. Aviation and medical research, the banking sector and tech companies have moved tens if thousands of jobs already.
@Dave O Keeffe: he was invited to help so what’s your point?
@Ken Hayden:
According to Leftist Martin Schultz, any EU nation that doesn’t comply to agreeing to a US of Europe, well they will be kicked out of the Union.
Check out @MartinSchulz’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/MartinSchulz/status/938748811375271936?s=09
-
Something tells me it won’t be very big.
@Cathal S Byrne: wasn’t
Check out @MartinSchulz’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/MartinSchulz/status/938748359720013824?s=09
@Danny foley: Why are you taking Britain’s side in this? Yes, many Irish people have relatives there or have British ancestry. That doesn’t mean that we have to think like them as you appear to be doing. The fact is that Britain started this whole mess and it must suffer the consequences.
@Ken Loughman: nobody needs to suffer….thought we were all friends in Europe?
@Ken Hayden: yes your taxes are needed to pay for merkels multicultural ireland/europe farse
@Gerald Kelleher: with the DUP Queen of Narnia Arlene foster me UK
@Dave O Keeffe: where’s Farage to negotiate a great deal for Brexit. Sunning himself on a fat pension and laughing at the British gullibility.
@Ken Hayden: ya , but I wonder how much the brittish would have given in to our demands had we not had the backing of Europe. Also in future relations we could probably get used to be told to put up or shut up if we hadn’t Europe’s backing. The attitude of their politicians this time should make that fairly obvious
@frank murphy: if it wasn’t for the Shinners Leo be gagging on borris
@Cathal S Byrne: Apparently so but it’s evident that Britain didn’t get the memo on that one.
No doubt the DUP will be insisting on full alignment with Great Britain with their Abortion and Gay Marriage rights.
I really hope Leo continues to play a stormer and vetoes any deal that is a backtrack and what was agreed earlier this week.
@Ruairi Gagarin: oh they’re totally the same as Britain, apart for all that yucky gay and women’s rights stuff. Hypocritical dinosaurs.
@Ruairi Gagarin: LOL
@Ruairi Gagarin:and corporation tax
Arlene got six substantive changes apparently!
1) Nicer quality paper.
2) Sans script font.
3) Font size increased.
4) Deleted “Alignment”
5) Deleted “Divergence”
6) Added “Equivalence”
Meanwhile, back at the ranch!
Leo is struggling to decide which novelty socks to wear!
@Jarlath Murphy: Ha Ha love that .
@Jarlath Murphy: velly guud
So basically it’s the same agreement as Monday with a paragraph added about ensuring NI is the same as the UK to satisfy the DUP.
@Ricky Spanish: It was a good distraction while Leo surrendered our neutrality without a fight.
Looks like the EU just threw us under a bus. The Tory line the whole time was “We don’t want a hard border and we’ll make sure there isn’t one but we need to sort it out in phase 2″
Ireland’s position was to clarify exactly how that would work before phase 2, I don’t see that here.
@Seán J. Troy: Theresa May says ‘we will guarantee’ there will be no hard border and ‘we will uphold the Belfast agreement
Her words, i think that’s fairly conclusive. As with all thing north of Ireland there’s a certain amount of fudge. We still have a veto at the end deal.
@Seán J. Troy: Read the text how were we thrown under the bus???
@Richard Cuddihy: They’ve been saying that for months Richard. They’ve always said they didn’t want a hard border and they wanted to uphold the Good Friday agreement but there’s no detail. They’re going to maintain regulatory alignment with the EU but also make their own trade deals with the US and China? These are not logically consistent, the EU has just let them promise something which their domestic political messaging doesn’t allow.
@Ricky Spanish: Because what they’ve said is either nonsense or a complete betrayal of their entire position to this point. You can’t promise regulatory alignment with Europe while also claiming you can swan around and make trade deals with other countries.
@Seán J. Troy: Yes but they’ve agreed in writing that “full alignment” will be maintained. There is no mention of swanning around making new trade deals. Can you not see this is an obvious win for the EU and Ireland in particular. The UK have basically given the EU everything we wanted.
@Seán J. Troy: let’s see Seàn. For now we have a written agreement for aligning North and south albeit with lots of fudge. We have commitments to the good Friday agreement. The British have backed down on brexit money, European citizens rights and have given assurances that they will keep the status quo in Ireland. That’s before any trade deal. I think lots more climbdowns will come. This indicates they have a very weak hand. We should see what is agreed now on trade and veto if it’s not sufficient with this agreement. Play the long ball.
@Seán J. Troy: If you’re a Brexiter you can promise anything, ignore the economics, ditch expert opinion and label people like you as traitors for not being patriotic enough.
This will be a piece of cake for them.
@Seán J. Troy: promise anything ? Like new politics, openness, transparency and accountability… like the burning of the quangos … like not another red cent … like standing firm behind McCabe… like sorting out the housing crisis ….like …
Funny how some people only mention other parties PROMISES … let them eat their cake, idiots.
@Seán J. Troy: that’s how FG got elected in 2011 !!!!!!!
So a deal is imminent because Arlene says NI will leave the single market and leave the customs union ?????
Leo really needs to hold firm if he’s worth anything and reject this.
@John kane: how the ongoing trade agreement goes between the UK and EU is for the second tranche of discussion which has not yet been reached. It would be improper for the EU to be setting constraints on the second stage when the first stage, which is required for the second stage to commence, is not complete.
@Damocles: It just did place constraints and they were accepted by the British government.
@Danny Rafferty: don’t talk to me. I’m anonymous and British.
@John kane: northern Ireland is I. The UK, do you not understand this??? The UK is leaving the European toxic superstate.
@Damocles: I don’t mind you being British and your anonymity only means I don’t take you seriously.
I like the British when they are realistic, pragmatic, organised, honest and competent.
I have missed that lately.
@Danny Rafferty: your comments make me not take you seriously.
Mute.
@Damocles: LOL. And I didn’t even mention Russians. Does this mean you won’t know when I am making fun of some baseless argument you are making?
@John kane: yep arlene has been told this leo however has been told we only need to say that whilst arlene is here and at some point before the end of the next phase of talks t g ere will be an election at which point they become an irrelevance again.
The DUP, the only group who are willing to bite their nose off despite their face!, every other remain area in the uk would die for s special deal on brexit but they and their cult would prefer to go down like the Titanic with the Looney brexiters for fear of Rome rule from Dublin!!!
@winston smith: Hasn’t Borris predicted this will be a Titanic success?
@winston smith: the DUP did nothing more then insist that NI is treated the same as other part of the UK . If they didn’t do that then they wouldn’t be doing the job they where elected to do .
@winston smith: the deal on Monday would effectively have put a customs border between NI and the rest of the UK. Considering the UK trade is worth 10 times more to them than trade with the republic, how did anyone expect the unionists to accept it? That was politically naive of May and Varadker.
@Tommy Whelan: Yeah. Effectively they’ve pulled the rest of the UK back within our market and standards.
That penny hasn’t really dropped in the UK yet. Many far-reaching implications.
NI already has special status, being an economic public sector basket case bailed out by the British tax payer each year, the derogation being asked of the DUP would only have benefited NI even more having the best of both worlds with the rest of the uk and the rep. of Ireland but they chose not to see that as political optics is all that matters to them at this stage.
This is phenomenally good news.
The fact that regardless there will be no hard border is brilliant news for everyone North and South.
It is actually guaranteed.
Well done to the Irish team for holding firm. Well done the EU for standing with us.
@Brinster: that u Leo?
EU 3 : UK 0
Next.
Wait for the fudge.
@tom McCormack: Can I have a big mug of coffee with it?
@Sean Marlow: lol! He’s gay! That’s so hilarious! Omg!
So it’s “equivalence” rather than “alignment”.
Expect reams of repetitious discussion as to why these two terms are not the same. Although they may appear to be at first sight. Gosh. What a fun Friday.
A real shame, I for one would be quite happy with a dirty big border to keep the shower of self entitled northerners at Bay. The continued arrogance of the DUP is breathtaking, in reality any notion of a united Ireland is nonsense, it would bankrupt the republic, the irony being the UK Government would love nothing better to rid itself of this cash cow.
@Joseph Dempsey:
You sound as petty as bigoted as the DUP with your calls for a hard border.
Nobody wants a hard border and everyone with any cop on realises its not good for the entire island
@Joseph Dempsey: I take it the meaning of the term ‘cash cow’ is lost on you..
Well done to Leo & Simon and their team. Maybe the UK will at last realise that we are an independent country and not a British Colony and the days of us Irish doffing our caps in deference to what the UK saw themselves as our British Lords & Masters are well and truly over. I wonder how much Theresa May has promised Arlene Foster & her cronies in return for them not to upset the applecart again – another couple of billion perhaps? After all these ardent Unionists & proud British citizens weren’t principled enough to support May without getting a kickback from Britain. Ash for cash mentality still reigns supreme.
Wow they have assessed that alignment and deviation are not actually equivalence, so what was the same thing last week is wholly different this week, glad we cleared that up!
Now shut the door on your way out!
Where’s Jezzer to tell us about our 100s of 1000s of job losses because we can’t manage shipping in the 21st Century?
Looks like we’ll be getting our way on that too.
Can someone remind me what Britain is getting out of this again?
Am I right in thinking that Britain has had a referendum, risked the dissolution of the union and has paid 50 billion to leave a single market only to be ‘fully aligned’ to it?
Its like paying the biggest divorce settlement ever, only to end up living in the spare room of the the family home and having to abide by the house rules.
No hard border alleged deal +Ireland to part of EU super state army , all within 24 hours? whats going on?
@raymond grehan: Progress
The DUP is really ensuring that the north is welcomed back into a unified Ireland with open arms.
Shower of lunatics.
So basically the UK started by saying “We’re leaving but we’ll endeavour to keep the border soft whatever happens. Even if the EU rejects our proposals we’ll keep the border soft.”
What this saying is that “We’re leaving but we’ll endeavour to keep the border soft. Even if no trade deal is possible with the EU we’ll keep the border soft.”
Thank God for that.
Including this extra constraint in the withdrawal agreement wasn’t a colossal waste of time.
Great news. But I wonder how much it’s going to cost us.
So does all this mean I can get on the ferry to Holyhead and avail of duty free goods again or what?
The DUP’s insisted that their sheer naked sectarianism is enshrined in the deal and thats what has happened.Galling and depressing to see the likes of Sammy Wilson,Dodds etc exerting this level of influence
I really can’t see how this will work legally or logistically.
Time to hit the Mattresses,?
Leo blinked.
@Aidan Haughey: Worst. Analysis. Ever.
Guarantee of no hard border is phenomenal for every single person on the island.
@Aidan Haughey: No HARD BORDER and Leo blinked??
@Aidan Haughey: As always FG caves in to British pressure. British Tories’ “guarantees” are useless. Look at their numerous breaches of the GFA and promises to release state papers on British-instigated massacres such as Miami, Dundalk and Dublin/Monaghan. Now they are planning an amnesty for the British Forces responsible for hundreds of murders of innocent Irish citizens in contravention of the GFA: https://www.irishnews.com/news/politicalnews/2017/11/21/news/british-government-proposes-troubles-prosecution-amnesty-for-security-force-members-1193265/
Cast iron deal, Leo?
Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.
Massive fudge this. Looks like the EU yet again threw Ireland under the bus. Varadkar has been made look weak and inept yet again.
@Horace: that’s a big bus you got there
To live in peace with no hard border
The DUP Queen of Narnia Arlene please Foster me UK will not be praised by her iron age cult
An English man, a Scotsman and an ulsterman walks into a bar in Dublin…
The Englishman and Scotsman get deported
FUDGE
The UK will now move on to negotiating, and getting, a favourable trade deal. They will basically end up with all the benefits of EU membership, while at the same time being able to ditch any EU rules they don’t like, and not having to contribute a penny to future EU budgets. The border issue is fraught with dangers for the Republic. What last night’s deal means is that the UK have washed their hands on border control, and there’s a point going to come in the not to distant future where the EU tells the republic that it is responsible for controlling its own border. People saying the Uk are handling Brexit badly ? They’re actually playing a blinder.
@Tommy Roche: if you think the eu will accept that you are dreaming. States like Norway pay a lot of money to trade with the eu and I suspect the uk will end up doing the same amd having to meet all the eu regulations to trade and it’s people having none of the benefits. UK playing a blinder . not from where I’m looking.
When all is said and done, and if the trade negotiations are successful, the outcome for Britain will be Brexit in name but not in substance.
Britain will be out of the EU but it will be an empty formula because for the purpose of trade, security cooperation, global diplomatic negotiations, Britain will adhere to most of the EU line.
The challenge in the next stage is to present the cosmetic appearance, in a superficial way, that Britain will be apart and independent of the EU but, in substance, still under its umbrella.
The more that things appear to change, the more that they remain the same.
As for their silliness of Varadkar and Coveney doing well in the negotiations, it is facile, gullible and simplistic to think that Irish poloitiocla leaders are in any way materially influeing this process. The dressing up and the verbiage is being done at a much lower and expert level. Real politik is not about about Varadkar and Coveney however much political party grunts and hacks want to pretend it is. Ireland is a light cork on a very choppy sea.
@Fiona deFreyne: Exactly. The divorce bill for the UK is actually an investment in their future. A future of the benefits of eu membership but without the contributions to the eu’s budget.
Apart from chlorinated Chicken (yum yum don’t you love the Americans) we can sleep easy (ier) that Leo is keeping our border a figment of our worst nightmares. But the devil is in the detail and a vaguely worded concoction which allows the Irish, DUP, UK all happy – surely is a work art – up there with Finnegans Wake. But this the brain child of politicians I have a feeling this will all come back to haunt us.
All our incompetent politicians congratulating themselves on their “great historic achievement”, but we haven’t actually see it work yet!
@Adrian: So you want Brexit to start immediately?
@Adrian: wow Adrian you are a sad little man , does everything you post have to be to negative, get a grip and cheer up its nearly Christmas and we got a good deal
Flash backs of Monday, they all seem very happy with themselves. Unfortunately, Ms. Foster has said “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.” I’ll wait a while before I get too excited.
And as expected Leo went and fudged it. From a firm deal to a “guarentee”.
I hoped this time FG would be different :(
@Damien Gill: you my friend are clutching at straws.
Line 4 “its commitment”
Are we talking about Ireland’s commitment OR UK’s commitment?
Big difference. Big fudge!
@Stephen Matthews: “Guarantee” of no hard border.
Even if there’s no deal.
You’re letting your extreme political prejudice blind you to what is simply fantastic news for the whole island.
It’s kinda pathetic.
@Stephen Matthews: it’s words.. Remember the seismic shift ???? Yet more words that meant nothing … the EU considers Ireland nothing more than an annoying itch. Yesterday’s news from Germany, which was barely reported, indicates what the Germans really think of this country.
There was never going to be a hard border. Was all just a willy measuring exercise.
I don’t see anything here which states there will be no border in Ireland. the only one stating this is Leo. all i can see here is the eventuality that there will be a border, unless ireland leaves the custom union.
According to BBC News, Britain & Northern Ireland are to stay in the Single Market and Customs Union for the foreseeable future or at least until all payments are completed beyond 2020.
Rubbish about “no hard border” who are these muppets trying to fool….. except themselves. Lanagans ball comes to mind, she stepped in and I stepped out!!!!!
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