Save the Internet

This was forwarded to me by Larry Beinhart, author of Wag the Dog, The Librarian, and Fog Facts. I'm not sure how I got on his email list other than some back and forth awhile back about how much I liked his books. I'm glad he kept me on his list. I only mention that because I think it adds credibility to this. Face it, they want to shut us up and make money while doing so; it's their way.

Dear media reformer,

Congress Sells Out

After accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from big telecom firms, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) is sponsoring a bill to hand over the Internet to these same companies. He's not alone.

Where Does Your Representative Stand?

Act Now: Save the Internet

Congress is about to sell out the Internet by letting big phone and cable companies set up toll booths along the information superhighway.

Companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast are spending tens of millions in Washington to kill "network neutrality" -- a principle that keeps the Internet open to all.

A bill moving quickly through Congress would let these companies become Internet gatekeepers, deciding which Web sites go fast or slow -- and which won't load at all -- based on who pays them more. The rest of us will be detoured to the "slow lane," clicking furiously and waiting for our favorite sites to download.

Don't let Congress ruin the Internet:

http://www.savetheinternet.com/

Our elected representatives are trading favors for campaign donations from phone and cable companies. They're being wooed by people like AT&T's CEO, who says "the Internet can't be free" and wants to decide what you do, where you go and what you watch online.

The best ideas never come from those with the deepest pockets. If the phone and cable companies get their way, the free and open Internet could soon be fenced in by large corporations. If Congress turns the Internet over to giants like AT&T, everyone who uses the Internet will suffer:

* Google users -- Another search engine could pay AT&T to guarantee that it opens faster than Google on your computer.
* iPod listeners -- Comcast could slow access to iTunes, steering you to a higher-priced music service that paid for the privilege.
* Work-at-home parents -- Connecting to your office could take longer if you don't purchase your carrier's preferred applications. Sending family photos and videos could slow to a crawl.
* Retirees -- Web pages you always use for online banking, access to health care information, planning a trip or communicating with friends and family could fall victim to Verizon's pay-for-speed schemes.
* Bloggers -- Costs will skyrocket to post and share video and audio clips -- silencing citizen journalists and amplifying the mainstream media.
* Online activists -- Political organizing could be slowed by the handful of dominant Internet providers who ask advocacy groups to pay a fee to join the "fast lane."
* Small businesses -- When AT&T favors their own services, you won't be able to choose more affordable providers for online video, teleconferencing, and Internet phone calls.
* Innovators with the "next big idea" -- Startups and entrepreneurs will be muscled out of the marketplace by big corporations that pay for a top spot on the Web.


We can't let Congress ruin the free and open Internet.

:kick:

Considering the internet is the 'thorn in the side' of the custom news that
comes by other sources. They have taken control of the media, but aspire to
control all other sources...but how could they control the internet...
I guess we are now finding out.

Have you forwarded it yet?

Just asking.

And yes.

8)

my comments.

And I added a special message for my pay-to-play rep., the not-so-honorable Devin Nunes. :puke:

Allowing private telecom companies to "tax" internet usage is equivalent to letting car companies put up toll booths on public highways.

of our infrastructures in the form of taxes???? Turnabout is fair play.... I am willing to bet that they don't.

I am willing to be that this is an attempt to shut up our beloved Air America among other things.

The telecom lobs will say that it is exactly like a tollbooth on a road built and maintained by them. This argument is facetious for two reasons:

1. They did not build the fricking internet.

2. They already bill for internet service. I pay for it every month, and I am paying for a free internet, not for a tangled mess of tollbooths, traffic backups, and road blocks.

I'll sign it when I get home tonight.

:kick:

Thanks for the link! :thumbsup:

Edward Felten maintains a blog and has delved into this subject in the past. Some of his writing is very interesting, especially if you are looking for a bit more technical insight into the matter.

http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/index.php?s=net+neutrality

This is a complicated issue. The internet is already far from neutral. Businesses already regularly pay more for much higher internet connections and quality of service. And I wouldn't necessarily be against paying a little more per month for my connection for a premium voice over ip connection if the company were actually doing something to improve my line quality, as opposed to just refraining from sabotaging it as a result of me paying their extortion fee. And I'm certainly not happy about people that use file sharing services monopolizing a majority of the bandwidth, and thereby making the quality of service low for everyone.

That said I'm not convinced any of these things are issues that cannot be successfully resolved between internet companies and their customers in the free market given broadband competition is only increasing. I would like to know what problem is so pressing that legislation is required, and why it would actually fix it.