John Oliver‘s second attack on the Federal Communications Commission’s proposed dismantling of net neutrality went viral this week, with the Last Week Tonight host calling for everyone from gamers, to Instagram models, to 4chan trolls to stand up against the FCC gutting the internet as we now know it. Now another of the HBO hosts methods to gain internet users’ support has been revealed, and it’s pretty clever (and hilarious).
During the video, which has been viewed over 2.7 million times since being published on Sunday evening, Oliver jokingly explains that net neutrality would negatively impact upon his new competitor to Ancestry.com, which he has branded “JustTellMeIfImRelatedToANazi.com.” According to Oliver, the site would “cut to the chase” as a result of most people using the former site to find out whether or not they’re blood related to fascists.
Since the video went live, Oliver and HBO have seemingly purchased the rights to JustTellMeIfImRelatedToANazi.com, but rather than it actually allowing you to see how many degrees separated you are from Hitler, it instead redirects to the FCC proceedings page for the ironically titled Restoring Internet Freedom Act. This page then allows viewers to comment on the repeal, explaining why they are opposed to the act.
The same redirect also occurs when users visit GoFCCYourself.com, another domain set up by Oliver to encourage his viewers to speak up against the proposed act, which again sends them to its proceedings page. Since Oliver’s most recent video on net neutrality, the FCC have claimed that its site was brought to its knees by a DDoS attack, which also ensured that visitors were not able to leave any comments. This claim has raised suspicions, with advocacy group Fight for the Future saying that the FCC should release logs to prove that this was the case.
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“The FCC should immediately release its logs to an independent security analyst or major news outlet to verify exactly what happened last night,” a statement from the group reads (via NetworkWorld.com). “The public deserves to know, and the FCC has a responsibility to maintain a functioning website and ensure that every member of the public who wants to submit a comment about net neutrality has the ability to do so. Anything less is a subversion of our democracy.”
Watch John Oliver’s segment on net neutrality below:
