{"id":27287,"date":"2018-01-09T16:35:00","date_gmt":"2018-01-09T21:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/?p=27287"},"modified":"2018-01-09T16:35:00","modified_gmt":"2018-01-09T21:35:00","slug":"welcome-to-the-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/2018\/01\/welcome-to-the-line\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to the Line"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took up and reversed net neutrality.\u00a0 If you are unfamiliar with net neutrality, it is the principle that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are not allowed to discriminate against certain users, websites, content, or whatever else.\u00a0 For example, Spectrum (formerly Time Warner) is not allowed to block its users from or charge them for accessing Facebook.\u00a0 Or, for a real-life example, Madison River Communications was fined $15,000 by the FCC for restricting their costumers\u2019 access to a rival service. John Oliver explains net neutrality\u00a0here<\/a>. (Language warning.)\u00a0 In a way, you could think of net neutrality as an equal opportunity law for the internet.\u00a0 Or, at least you could have.\u00a0 On December 14, 2017, FCC chairman Ajit Pai and the FCC voted to repeal net neutrality, which leaves the internet in the United States in a fairly bad spot.<\/p>\n

Luckily, in my opinion, the FCC has a gauntlet of lawsuits to go through now that it repealed net neutrality.\u00a0 It also seems there is a fair number of people who share my viewpoint.\u00a0 As it stands, the FCC had something around 22 million complaints filed against its ruling.\u00a0 FCC Chairman Pai canceled his scheduled appearance at the to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas due to death threats.\u00a0 On top of this, the Internet Association is bringing together powerhouse companies to join the fight against the unpopular ruling.\u00a0 Companies like Google, Amazon, Etsy, and Alphabet have stated they are joining the lawsuit.\u00a0 The Internet Association\u2019s President and CEO Michael Beckerman stated<\/a>, \u201cThe final version of Chairman Pai\u2019s rule . . . dismantles popular net neutrality protections for consumers.\u00a0 This rule defies the will of a bipartisan majority of Americans and fails to preserve a free and open internet.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Netflix even took to Twitter and sent the message<\/a>, \u201cIn 2018, the Internet is united in defense of #NetNeutrality.\u00a0 As for the FCC, we will see you in court.\u201d\u00a0 Furthermore, a number of states have come forward stating their opposition to the repeal and have indicated that they, too, will join the fight.<\/p>\n

Seeing this net neutrality issue unfold has solidified my choice to attend law school.\u00a0 Being a first-year law student fresh out of my first set of finals, I have yet to shake off the sticker shock of the loans I had to take out to subject myself to the grueling task at hand, and all that is still to come.\u00a0 Seeing such a massive outcry against a government act, though, has tossed those thoughts out of my head.\u00a0 How else could one truly pick a fight with the government?\u00a0 I mean, yes, a person can protest, camp out in front of some building, or join a march somewhere. But really, how can a person truly stand up and push back against something I go as far as calling an almost tyrannical act? My answer: the courtroom.<\/p>\n

Now, many of you may have probably heard the phrase \u201cHold the Line\u201d before.\u00a0 It is said in movies and video games, written in books, and found generally anywhere you could find a leader of a fight trying to create some inspiration.\u00a0 The frequency of its use, however, does not take away from the power of the statement.\u00a0 As you may have read in the guest blogger introduction, I was a soldier.\u00a0 More specifically, I was a Cavalry Scout in the U.S. Army, a scout who had a Commanding Officer who loved finishing up his speeches with \u201cHold the Line,\u201d\u00a0 He always stated this because modern battlefields don\u2019t really have battle lines like the wars of the past, so, being scouts, we had to make them.\u00a0 Searching out pockets of enemies and poking the hornets\u2019 nest, so to speak, was pretty much the entirety of our existence.\u00a0 It is what we trained for, and it is what we did.<\/p>\n

The life of a scout has left an imprint on me.\u00a0 Seeing a fight to be had, a shift in thought process goes to tactical maneuvering.\u00a0 Would I fight here? If not, where? Who is the adversary?\u00a0 What are their strengths and weaknesses? Where is there a pressure point?\u00a0 What are their possible contingencies?\u00a0 All questions the lawyers in the net neutrality fight are probably thinking of right now.\u00a0 It dawned on me that setting up lines and drawing in an entity to a fight is an act that is practiced everyday in the court system.\u00a0 I have found a new sense of excitement going into the next semester because of this.\u00a0 I have replaced one battlefield for the next.\u00a0 I have found that being a lawyer would be pretty similar to being a scout (except the food and pay is much<\/em> better).\u00a0 As I am sitting here making my first attempt at writing a blog, lawyers who are fighting for net neutrality are gearing up for a fight that will have lasting effects on our nation, but, more importantly, we the people of that nation.<\/p>\n

It is my hope that in a few short years I, too, can stand in a position to fight for people who can\u2019t fight for themselves, just as the lawyers are who are fighting for net neutrality are.\u00a0 Those lawyers are holding the line.\u00a0 While people may have different reasons for going to law school, all who graduate are in the position to hold a line.\u00a0 Whatever your politics and beliefs are, being a lawyer will give you the ability to fight for those who are unable to fight themselves.\u00a0 And though I am not a lawyer yet, I am a veteran of the line, and so I want to be the first to tell you, \u201cHold the Line.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took up and reversed net neutrality.\u00a0 If you are unfamiliar with net neutrality, it is the principle that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are not allowed to discriminate against certain users, websites, content, or whatever else.\u00a0 For example, Spectrum (formerly Time Warner) is not allowed to block its users from 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