The House Votes this Week on Net Neutrality
Jun 05, 2006 19:01 Filed in: Internet
We are informed that the House of Representatives
will vote on whether the Internet will be the
exclusive property of a few large corporations to do
as they like or will remain neutral to content. This
may be the single most important event in the history
of the Internet up till now, because the essential
character of the Internet is threatened.
Moveon.com has created a most amusing and educational movie made by Grammy-nominated musician Moby.
Click here to watch the movie.
The giant media companies rankle at the low entry cost of the Internet, because it is the only thing that stands between them and total control of the flow of information. Right now, you can build a web site and make it available to the world for $10 per month. Startup costs are negligible. Everybody can participate. It's precisely the opposite of the top-down command structure of newspapers, television and cable.
If there were ten competing broadband ISPs it wouldn't make much of a difference, but with only three giants controlling most of the access to the Internet, its fundamental character would change. There would be nothing to keep them from slowing down or even blocking web sites that don't pay extra fees or that are a little too critical of them.
The Internet is too important to be left to the whims of politicians. If you want the Internet to stay neutral as to content, let your congressman know. It doesn't matter if his largest contributors are the telecommunications companies, like Chip Pickering, my representative. Tell them, anyway.
Moveon.com has created a most amusing and educational movie made by Grammy-nominated musician Moby.
Click here to watch the movie.
The giant media companies rankle at the low entry cost of the Internet, because it is the only thing that stands between them and total control of the flow of information. Right now, you can build a web site and make it available to the world for $10 per month. Startup costs are negligible. Everybody can participate. It's precisely the opposite of the top-down command structure of newspapers, television and cable.
If there were ten competing broadband ISPs it wouldn't make much of a difference, but with only three giants controlling most of the access to the Internet, its fundamental character would change. There would be nothing to keep them from slowing down or even blocking web sites that don't pay extra fees or that are a little too critical of them.
The Internet is too important to be left to the whims of politicians. If you want the Internet to stay neutral as to content, let your congressman know. It doesn't matter if his largest contributors are the telecommunications companies, like Chip Pickering, my representative. Tell them, anyway.
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