Frame from Net Neutrality: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) Plays with YouTube's privacy-enhanced embed

Net Neutrality: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Open on YouTube First HN thread

7 HN users recommended this commentary in 6 different months between 2014 and 2017.

2007–2026
3 strong recommendations 4 recommendations 2 citations HackerTube score 7.5

HN commenters use it as the go-to funny, accessible explanation of net neutrality and credit it with driving public comments to the FCC.

John Oliver's 13-minute Last Week Tonight segment explains the 2014 net neutrality fight over cable companies creating unequal internet speeds. It uses comedy to make a dull regulatory topic engaging and tells viewers how to comment to the FCC.

Pull quote: “John Oliver did a much better job (and funnier, btw)” (HN, 2014)

Also tagged: net neutrality, fcc, isp competition, john oliver, telecom policy

What Hacker News said

9 labeled comments from the HN archive; up to 20 are kept per video, favoring different commenters. Each one links back to the original thread.

Strongly recommends felipesabino September 2014 under There Are Only Two Weeks Left to Comment on Net Neutrality
Better and funnier mainstream explanation of net neutrality
What was that? I am so disappointed to see that they featured a video showing net neutrality being ONLY about facebook, youtube and more video streaming... If they wanted to go mainstream, John Oliver did a much better job (and funnier, btw) [this video]
Strongly recommends e0m January 2015 under The Net Neutrality Bait and Switch
13 minutes explaining net neutrality, including the FCC chair as a dingo
In case you haven't seen John Oliver's take on Net Neutrality, this video is 13 minutes well spent: [this video] "Tom Wheeler is [like] a dingo"
Strongly recommends musha68k November 2016 under European Union dedicated questionnaire on the Encryption of Data
Drove stronger net neutrality policy and drew 12 million views
What can a "hacker" possibly have against John Oliver? He and his team were the most effective drivers for stronger Net Neutrality policies in the US. The man is a living legend. Edit: 12 million views on the abstract topic of Net Neutrality. That's what I would call a feat indeed: [this video]
Recommends danesparza June 2014 under Netflix responds to Verizon
Sums up the competition problem behind US bandwidth pricing
I agree that our bandwidth to price ratio is shitty in this country. But until we have viable competition in THIS country, our rates won't come down. John Oliver's rant on Net Neutrality (ironically on HBO) sums this up pretty nicely: [this video]
Recommends spuiszis July 2014 under Verizon's accidental mea culpa
John Oliver explains the issue eloquently
I have Comcast as well and it's gotten because of the deal Netflix struck with them... [link] EDIT: John Oliver also talks quite eloquently about this as well: [this video]
Recommends sunnykgupta November 2017 under Join the Battle for Net Neutrality
Shows how government is tied to those who benefit from no net neutrality
While we are on the topic, may I bring up John Oliver's June 1 2014 episode. [this video] tl;dw - For those who want to understand how closely the government is related to those who benefit from NO net-neutrality.

Citations, criticism and jokes

Cites it cookiecaper December 2017 under F.C.C. Repeals Net Neutrality Rules
Cited for jokes about Obama and the FCC during net neutrality debate
Read the full comment
>Nothing but damn lies. Please review the civility guidelines. If nothing else, mischaracterizing a clearly-labeled presumptive statement as a "damn lie" reveals your malice and discredits your POV. As I alluded to in the grandparent, it was not at all obvious that the FCC or other elements of the Obama administration were working toward net neutrality when the jokes about Obama leaving the baby to the dingos were getting flung around. [0] > What burden of net neutrality repeal? There was no burden because there was no requirement to repeal NN. It was clear that ISPs did not fit the legal definition of Title II carriers which is why they weren't just classified as such at the beginning. It was clear that it was not likely that they would retain this classification, whether a Democrat won the next cycle and a successful lawsuit overturned the rulings or whether the FCC undid it as is the case now with Ajit Pai (whose primary contention, by the way, is not that net neutrality shouldn't exist, just that Title II is not an appropriate regulatory framework in which to cast it). Of course, in politics, all that really matters is brownie points, so as long as the public sees you as the good guy, then you win and it doesn't matter if a judge overturns everything you've done. Obama made liberal use of this principle, and in some cases his staff would openly discuss the expectation that some executive action would not survive judicial review. Obama was pretty bad about his respect for

Keyboard shortcuts

/
Search
j k
Next / previous video in a list
Enter
Open the focused video
l
Like (on a video page)
w
Watch later (on a video page)
?
This help
Esc
Close