The psych central bipolar forum is my biggest source of support online because many of you guys here “just get it”.

Well, if the net neutrality law is gone like U.S. senators want, then we’ll possibly have to pay a fee to use this site, and I just won’t pay it. And it won’t be psych central’s fault. It’ll be your internet service provider’s fault. They can charge you something like $4.99 a month just to use this site... on top of what you’re already paying for your internet... and it will be LEGAL for them to do that. (It might not be that much, but that’s not the point. You never know what it’ll cost.)

And even if you’re not in the U.S., you’ll be affected too. Companies like amazon, google, etc will lose money, and other countries may follow the U.S. with their own laws. So it’s not like these companies can just escape to another country.

I’d hate to have to leave this place, but the future ain’t looking so bright. Guess I’ll have to find lots of support groups like DBSA, NAMI, and others. I’ll be struggling for sure without this forum.

Please do take this opportunity to get your friends’ contact information.

Expect a stupid announcement before thanksgiving (around 22 November 2017). “Happy early thanksgiving”

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

The psych central bipolar forum is my biggest source of support online because many of you guys here “just get it”.

Well, if the net neutrality law is gone like U.S. senators want, then we’ll possibly have to pay a fee to use this site, and I just won’t pay it. And it won’t be psych central’s fault. It’ll be your internet service provider’s fault. They can charge you something like $4.99 a month just to use this site... on top of what you’re already paying for your internet... and it will be LEGAL for them to do that. (It might not be that much, but that’s not the point. You never know what it’ll cost.)

And even if you’re not in the U.S., you’ll be affected too. Companies like amazon, google, etc will lose money, and other countries may follow the U.S. with their own laws. So it’s not like these companies can just escape to another country.

I’d hate to have to leave this place, but the future ain’t looking so bright. Guess I’ll have to find lots of support groups like DBSA, NAMI, and others. I’ll be struggling for sure without this forum.

Please do take this opportunity to get your friends’ contact information.

Expect a stupid announcement before thanksgiving (around 22 November 2017). “Happy early thanksgiving”

This is a good heads up. I will try to read up on this in order to understand more. There is not that much recent stuff coming up when you google the topic. I did find this:

https://www.mediapost.com/publicatio...ty-repeal.html

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

The psych central bipolar forum is my biggest source of support online because many of you guys here “just get it”.

Well, if the net neutrality law is gone like U.S. senators want, then we’ll possibly have to pay a fee to use this site, and I just won’t pay it. And it won’t be psych central’s fault. It’ll be your internet service provider’s fault. They can charge you something like $4.99 a month just to use this site... on top of what you’re already paying for your internet... and it will be LEGAL for them to do that. (It might not be that much, but that’s not the point. You never know what it’ll cost.)

And even if you’re not in the U.S., you’ll be affected too. Companies like amazon, google, etc will lose money, and other countries may follow the U.S. with their own laws. So it’s not like these companies can just escape to another country.

I’d hate to have to leave this place, but the future ain’t looking so bright. Guess I’ll have to find lots of support groups like DBSA, NAMI, and others. I’ll be struggling for sure without this forum.

Please do take this opportunity to get your friends’ contact information.

Expect a stupid announcement before thanksgiving (around 22 November 2017). “Happy early thanksgiving”

I don't think I could pay to use the psych central site, even if I wanted to

it's bad enough at the moment having to pay for a new place, groceries, therapy, still on such a limited budget

this is worrying news, especially for me. I don't have anyone in the real world I can talk to on a daily bases about things, so this is like my only support

[scatterbrained04]

If that happens, it would really suck. I don't know if I could pay using this site. But I get a lot out of being here and would miss everyone.

Yes, it’s very unfortunate. I can imagine the UK will follow suit fairly soon if the U.S. government gets what it wants.

I found a real world example. Here is what Portugal looks like (since they don’t have net neutrality):
https://i.imgur.com/FwCIsF5.jpg

€4.99 for social media (Facebook, Snapchat, etc)
€4.99 for email (gmail, etc)

So if you want to use Facebook and gmail, for example, that’ll be €9.98 a month...

[Sunflower123]

Thanks for the heads up.

[Wild Coyote]

Thanks, Blue.

This is a Senate bill? Does anyone know the bill number/title?
Is there a House bill?

We can contact our representatives and voice our concerns.


WC

[fishin fool]

I love this site and many of the folks on here are wonderful people.
I would truly miss it but I would not pay to use it, life is far to expensive already.
We pay a small fortune just to watch tv now this, it's all gone to far.

Originally Posted by Wild Coyote

Thanks, Blue.

This is a Senate bill? Does anyone know the bill number/title?
Is there a House bill?

We can contact our representatives and voice our concerns.


WC

I’m not sure, but everyone online points to this site—

https://www.battleforthenet.com

Has more info there about what this means, how is congress involved, who to call, etc

[Wild Coyote]

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

I’m not sure, but everyone online points to this site—

https://www.battleforthenet.com

Has more info there about what this means, how is congress involved, who to call, etc

Thanks again, Blue.

WC

[emgreen]

I wouldn't take the threat too seriously. Mainstream news sources (NYT, WSJ, CNN, etc.) would certainly have had extensive coverage of this if it were true. My sense is that it's being blown out of proportion. If true, this would be major news.

[phractle]

Net Neutrality has been a passionate battle of mine.

It's not as simple as something to be for or against since there are benefits and costs to either or.

I hope the internet can remain relatively unchanged however ISP's shouldn't be the sole deciding entity of how much websites would cost to access.

That would be something determined between the website owners and every ISP that enables access to their website.

It would be a shame if this forum costed money to access.

[leejosepho]

Originally Posted by emgreen

I wouldn't take the threat too seriously... If true, this would be major news.

It would be "major news" if internet access had always been free and now ISPs (Internet Service Providers) were suddenly going to begin charging, but all of this is about something else. With so-called "net neutrality" removed, ISPs will simply begin charging for "premium content" just like cable companies, news outlets and other such streaming services have already been doing for quite some time. I do not know how all of this will ultimately play out, but I do suspect the days of free-range internet -- go wherever you wish and do whatever you wish -- after making the initial connection are now coming to an end. Even theme parks selling all-day passes still have additional cash registers to be encountered throughout the day.

[amandalouise]

at first I was worried about the net neutrality law being taken away and how it could affect the sites Im on. then I googled the law. it became law in 2015. all the sites I am on were free even before this. my point if the sites I was on before law was free, then they are still going to be free after the law is no more. but if those that are worried about psych central and whether its going to remain free if trump takes away the net neutrality heres a suggestion pm doc john or make a post asking the question in the community feedback forum.

Im going with the fact that before the neutrality law (2015) all of psych central was free so if trump takes away the neutrality law my guess is it will remain free.

[greentires4me]

I hate to say this but is just a case of jitters! Plus fear mongering

[~Christina]

I would pay for PC ... Why? Because it has been a huge source of help for me for yearsssss !

I treat my self to a Starbucks Latte once a week... So I would just skip a week that would pay the 5 of so bucks that would be charged.

Would it suck ??? Helll yes it would but I need PC and I think PC needs me too.

I give great advice damn shame I cant always take my own advice lol

[Wonderfalls]

You won't pay a fee to use a particular site. The companies that create and maintain the sites would be allowed to pay more to get a faster speed for their sites. John Oliver has a really good explanation of the issue on his May 14th program (You Tube) and how to protest its expiration. (You can complain on the FCC's site.)

[Pikku Myy]

What fee? I am sure Doc John and team would give us some notice

[bioChE]

It’s not fear mongering. The battle for net neutrality has been going on for a long time. It’s the ability for net providers (ISPs) to prioritize some content over others. Whether or not it would be pay-to-play hasn’t really been the issue yet, but it would certainly lead to higher costs for consumers.

And it is major news, it’s just that the battle has been going on so long that it’s not front-page news.

Definitely get involved by writing your legislators and letting Washington know how you feel about the issue.

[greentires4me]

I don't live in the states but someone already looked up this if you read above my post @amandalouise. She did the due diligence to see what has really happened and made some really good points.

You just read my post and ran away with yourself.

I don't pay for Tapatalk but I am sure in how many countdown days I may have to! I believe Apple is starting to make us pay for some apps that before were free. But if this keeps up about the fear mongering like they do in CNN one must either stop watching it or go in person to see your politician to learn the facts there must be one for your region.

[Wild Coyote]

Originally Posted by bioChE

It’s not fear mongering. The battle for net neutrality has been going on for a long time. It’s the ability for net providers (ISPs) to prioritize some content over others. Whether or not it would be pay-to-play hasn’t really been the issue yet, but it would certainly lead to higher costs for consumers.

And it is major news, it’s just that the battle has been going on so long that it’s not front-page news.

Definitely get involved by writing your legislators and letting Washington know how you feel about the issue.

Thanks, Bioche!
I agree.
Welcome back! you have been missed.

WC

[Wild Coyote]

Originally Posted by Wonderfalls

You won't pay a fee to use a particular site. The companies that create and maintain the sites would be allowed to pay more to get a faster speed for their sites. John Oliver has a really good explanation of the issue on his May 14th program (You Tube) and how to protest its expiration. (You can complain on the FCC's site.)

Thank you, wonderfalls!

WC

[DocJohn]

First, the subject of this thread suggests Psych Central is charging for bipolar forum usage. That is not true. We would never charge for access to any of our content. Period.

Second, no ISP is going to start charging consumers on a website-by-website basis. There are billions of websites, so it would be untenable for them to work this way.

What net neutrality is most likely going to affect is streaming services -- companies that use up huge amounts of bandwidth like YouTube and Netflix -- in order to deliver their content and services. It is significantly less likely it will impact little publishers like us, or access to websites like ours. (In fact, it's likely ISPs would carve out special content publishers -- like health -- as always being free given the importance of their content to their users.)

In short, until new rules or laws are passed, I wouldn't worry much about your access to our community or website. And even then, it's highly unlikely we or our users are going to be impacted by net neutrality.

Best,
DocJohn

[tecomsin]

Thanks for your explanation DocJohn and to everyone on this thread. I learned a lot about net neutrality and what to look out for in reporting.