Bryan recently wrote a short article on the growing buzz about Net Neutrality.In a nutshell, as it's summed up here: "On April 26, a congressional committee caved to pressure from AT&T and Verizon and voted for a bill that would allow large telephone and cable companies to control what you do, where you go, and what you watch online."
Here's another article from PC Magazine discussing a recently proposed alternative.
The truth is, there should be no alternatives. There should be no regulations. The internet is an exercise in free speech which should not be restricted by any government. To do so is to restrict our civil liberties.
If you blog, if you read blogs, if you value your freedoms at all, you must call your congressmen and women about this immediately. To get a list of your congressmen and women, along with their phone numbers and contact information, go here. Don't put this off! Call them today! And please let me know that you did.
14 comments:
If this passes, the cable companies could start charging companies like Yahoo and Google for using the pipeline. That would be scary, because it would then stifle innovation and the "small-guy", who wcouldn't be able to afford to pay up to reach your screen.
I don't like this bill at all.
Thanks for the info! I'll write, call, etc right away, and post on this soon.
Big Bidness is going to get whatever they want under this administration. They are the ones funding the reelection campaigns, after all.
I am having a hard time posting comments to day. I got right on top of this Saur.
You you believe an aide at Delay office said that he was leaving office and this issue doesn't concern him anymore. Than he came back and tried to revamp it. Bastard! Next thing you know they will be telling us where we can and can not pee.
Okay, already. Don't need to get all pushy. Geez, some women...
already done....OTOH these are the same clowns that wanted public funding for sports stadiums....
Wow, that's shocking yet sadly not surprising all at the same time! I'm on the road right now, but I will send some politicians emails soon. AND, I will get Cranky on it too.
Thanks, Saur. I knew I could count on you to help me get the word out.
You can see that there is no easy walk to freedom in blog world, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow (of lberal media do-gooders) again and again before we reach the mountain tops of our desires.
Hardspots and challenges have not deterred us in the past, they will not intimidate us now. But we must be prepared for them like handsome men in business who do not waste energy in non name brand zoots and unproductive idle chatter.
Excellent post.
I haven't called yet, but I will. I received a lot of info about this on one of the lists that I follow, and traced through Snopes, being shocked when it turned out to be true. Then when the article showed up on PC the hair on my neck started to stand up. Yuck.
Those clowns never really read anything you send them, unless you stuff some ca$h in the letter.
My proof? I sent a letter to Mel Martinez about some crap the Jebster was doing. It was not exactly a letter of support. And what did I get? A request for a donation to the Republican National Convention during the 2004 elections. I sent them Monopoly money. I was very generous - I sent them $2,000! In Monopoly money.
Net neturality was great while it lasted. This is the payback to AT&T for giving all our phone records to the CIA.
Lazy Iguana, so very true. You know that I got an embossed certificate thanking me for being a major donator to the Republican Party? Though I'm a registered Repub, I've never sent them a dime!
3 Score & 10, I do the same thing as you do (snope it out). What's really scary is the amount of stuff that is turning out to be true nowadays!
Mr. Gator, an excellently creative, and fashionably inspirational post!
Bryan, ;o)
Notsocranky, good! And Cranky himself is a formidable weapon!
Mallory, thanks!!!
Old Hoss, you love it, and you know it. :D
LP, WOW! A politician that speaks the truth, even if it is temporary! :P
Jef, Well, *I* did. I see it as more like a telephone line. We should be free to call and speak with anyone we want to. Oops, nevermind. We don't have that freedom anymore, either.
Miss C, 'zactly!
UWL, good! We need a firebrand like you on this.
Fred, yeah, it makes your skin crawl, doesn't it???
The truth is, there should be no alternatives. There should be no regulations. The internet is an exercise in free speech which should not be restricted by any government. To do so is to restrict our civil liberties.
Thought I'd chime in on the debate here since this quote really jumped out at me. I've been learning a lot about this issue because the company I work for has been doing work for the Hands Off the Internet coalition, so I've learned a lot about this debate.
I actually agree with the quote above entirely, but I think you may be a bit confused about who is on what side of this issue. The Save the Internet folks are calling for legislation from the government to forcibly impose net neutrality, giving the FCC the power to regulate and enforce this issue. It's the other side of the debate (Hands Off the Internet) that wants NO government regulation of the internet.
check out http://dontregulate.org, there is a flash ad there with more info.
Jonathan, thank you very much for the contribution. I'll check it out!
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