“Hi, I’m Agit Pai”

https://vimeo.com/414109081

Like all overly politicized issues in today’s hot take economy, I had heard about net neutrality from a series of memes in 2017. Thus, I had preconceived notions. Slowing down the internet service of some just to put more money in the pockets of Verizon felt outrageous.

In all seriousness, I did not pay much attention to the issue of net neutrality after 2017. I knew that as part of its vast deregulation of everything, the Trump administration had repealed it in 2019. People on the left scream about the issue, and while I acknowledge its importance one can definitely go either way.

I acknowledge that the people who provide internet service itself, ISPs like Verizon and AT&T, need investments in their infrastructure in order to grow and provide service to more people. However, issues of morality and safety underlie moves to deregulate the internet. With the power to persuade people’s watching or viewing habits could internet providers act responsibly?

I got curious about the issue once again and remembering a silly John Oliver report from 2018, I started to look at the issue from the standpoint of Agit Pai. The chairman of the FCC, Pai deployed maybe one of the weirdest public relations tactics in modern governmental history in relate himself to a younger audience. Beyond all of the shenanigans, advocates for a freer internet saw a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Based on preconceived notions, I wanted to stand for advocates of the internet. While one can look at net neutrality from a variety of perspectives, I had to keep in mind that any policy affecting underprivileged or vulnerable communities should not stand in a land of liberty and justice for all (under new net neutrality rules ISPs could provide tiered classes of services). Using the power of Premier Pro, I wanted to advocate against the greed of ISPs.

I found the project itself a little difficult. Gleaning government footage from the C-SPAN archive and other places required me to screen capture. Thankfully, I could download Agit Pai’s interesting PSAs from Youtube. Many websites advocate for net neutrality and will happily give information on how to support the cause. One of the last shots in my projects shows protesters holding signs advocating a “free and open internet”.

I do not blame Mr. Pai because he simply served as a figure head. However, I wanted to get my point across about the ridiculous nature of some anti net neutrality voices. In fact, much of what Mr. Pai had to say in many of the interviews made sense. However, he so brazenly tried to put himself where he did not belong. His bizarre behavior made some laugh but unnerved serious net neutrality advocates. Armed with the power of the internet these advocates attacked. However, Trump’s FCC won, and net neutrality fell by the wayside.