[ftoo]

To the people upset with CloudFlare: please explain why it is better for random startups and multinational corporations to set and enforce policy, than for elected officials and governments and courts. Because that’s basically what you’re saying...

[larkeith]

While I'm fine with CloudFlare's actions here, the reason one might hold independent companies to a higher standard than governmental entities is the fact that the U.S. government has, consistently and repeatedly, proven itself almost entirely invested in corporate interests with regards to the Internet. The government cannot be expected to work in favour of Internet users' interests in any situation except those where they coincide with corporate interests.

This will remain the case, because the impact of tech-interested voters to whom elected officials' support of this status quo matters is trivialized by the apathetic majority. Therefore, the tech community's only recourse is to pressure the middlemen, such as CloudFlare, who can interfere with this type of corporate action.

[CamperBob2]

To the people upset with CloudFlare: please explain why it is better for random startups and multinational corporations to set and enforce policy, than for elected officials and governments and courts

Lately, I'm not impressed with our government or the people who elected it. I think both groups -- meaning corrupt people in the first instance and stupid people in the second -- have far too much power over the rest of us.

Subversion and disobedience on the part of everyone from multinational corporations to individual Internet users may, unfortunately, be the only remaining way forward. I don't pretend that this state of affairs is good for society, but it is what it is.

[kinkrtyavimoodh]

People upset with CloudFlare are not asking CloudFlare to set up policy instead.

They are saying CloudFlare should behave like a common carrier and NOT have any policy to begin with.

But Cloudflare already lost that privilege. And now the Common Carrier Chickens are coming home to roost.

[matt4077]

"Common Carrier" status is granted by the FCC to certain communication companies. It is not something acquired by (not) acting in a certain way. Example: You can't just run the mafia's books and "I'm a common-carrier accountant; I don't get involved in my customers' business".

[dogma1138]

Common carrier is a legal concept which goes way beyond Title 2.

Public transport is a common carrier in the US oil and gas pipelines are also common carriers they don’t ask the FCC to classify them as such.