PLEASE BIA, take a few minutes to watch these videos on net neutrality, as they give a very good, non-technical explanation of what this is about, and what's at stake.
In the words of Joe Biden, this is a big effin deal. If companies like Comcast get their way, and they've already won the first round in the courts, they stand to make billions off of the public domain. This would severely limit access to the internet by everyday folk like us. Sites like BIA may become a thing of the past, unless they can afford to pay ISPs (Comcast, etc.) the huge fees they'll be able to and will charge, which will make such sites prohibitive to the user to access, and thus destroy the current business model that justifies small site owners like BIA, you and me. They'll kill the concept of social networking in the womb.
So this is a two-fer for the status quo: not only will they stand to reap billions in profits off this, but at the same time they limit the ability of average folk to gather petitions and advocate against these kinds of things that run counter to the public good.
Word has it that these corporations -- AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner, among others, have a plan that, by 2012, will have this in place. If that happens, the ability for the average person to network and get the word out to do positive things like advocate for health care reform, put the word out about the abuses of Fox and other mainstream media and otherwise correct the record when others won't, for example, will all become things of the past.
The great thing about the internet is that it brought the concept of "freedom of speech" to a whole new level, and gave the average person the same platform that newspapers, TV stations and others have, to reach a wider audience. I suspect that it is the effectiveness of these efforts that have threatened the status quo and hence, their support for the opponents of net neutrality. Its not just about the money; its about taking away the power the internet gives the man on the street.
In short, if they can take away the ability for individuals and groups to advocate on behalf of the grass roots, essentially putting us back to a time when letter writing and phone calls were our only method of communication, then they have taken away the ability of the people to organize, as limited as it is now. This also provides a clue to just how powerful a tool the internet has become (if only we'd use it even more).
Here are some links to some organizations that have been figthting this battle:
http://www.savetheinternet.com/ http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=d... And see this; the FCC has EXTENDED the deadline for comments on its proposed rules. The battle here is those rules must become law, rather then merely recommendations. That's the battle.
http://www.wirelessweek.com/News/2010/04/P...
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Thursday, April 8th 2010 at 1:31PM
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