THE HARMONY OF THE MIND, BODY
& SPIRIT
& CREATING THE NEW PARADIGM
& Awareness
Teacher
Listen to an
audio presentation
by Jack
Dialup will take
a few minutes
Subscribe to Jack's
Email List
Lean more here
Home
About Jack Allis
Personal Growth
by
Telephone/Internet
Creative Payment
Options
To Fit Any Budget
Jack's Mission
Books & Tapes -
Order Here
Workshops/
Public Speaking
Articles
by Jack Allis
Stratia
Audio Interviews
Alternative News
Featured Story
Plus Archives
Contact Jack
Links
Kindred Spirits
SiteMap
SAVING THE INTERNET
An Article onCongress Destroying Freedom of the Internet
& A Grassroots Website: www.savetheinternet.com,
Where You Can Play Your Part in Saving It
Congress is Giving Away the Internet
& You Won't Like Who Gets It
By Art Brodsky
TPM Café - www.tpmcafe.com
April 22, 2006
Congress is going to hand the operation of the Internet over to AT&T, Verizon and Comcast. Democrats are helping. It's a shame.
Don't look now, but the House Commerce Committee next Wednesday is likely to vote to turn control of the Internet over to AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner and what's left of the telecommunications industry. It will be one of those stories the MSM writes about as "little noticed" because they haven't covered it.
On the surface, it may seem a stretch to think that those companies could control the great, wide, infinite Internet. After all, the incredible diversity of the Net allowed everything - Web sites and
services of all kinds to exist in perfect harmony. What's more, they were all delivered to your screen without any interference by the companies that carried the bits to and fro. Until recently, they had to. It was the law. The telephone companies, which carried all of the Web traffic until relatively recently, had to treat all of their calls alike without giving any Web site or service favored treatment over another.
The result was today's Internet, which developed as a result of billions of dollars of investments, from the largest Internet company that spent millions on software and networking, to the one person with a blog who spent a few hundred dollars on a laptop. The Internet grew into a universal public resource because the telephone and cable companies simply transported the bits.
Last fall, however, the Federal Communications Commission, backed by the U.S. Supreme Court, decided that the high-speed Internet services offered by the cable and telephone companies didn't fall under that law, the Communications Act. Out the window went the law that treated everyone equally. Now, with broadband, we are in a new game without rules.
Telephone and cable companies own 98% of the high-speed broadband networks
the public uses to go online for reading news, shopping, listening to
music, posting videos or any of the thousands of other uses developed
for the Internet. But that isn't enough. They want to control what you
read, see or hear online. The companies say that they will create premium
lanes on the Internet for higher fees, and give preferential access to
their own services and those who can afford extra charges. The rest of
us will be left to use an inferior version of the Internet.
Admittedly, it hasn't become a problem yet. But to think it won't become
one is to ignore 100 years of history of anti-competitive behavior by
the phone companies. And it was a mere six weeks or so from the time
the FCC issued its ill-fated decision to the time when Ed Whitacre, the
CEO of (then-SBC) now AT&T issued his famous manifesto attacking
Google and other Web sites for "using my pipes (for) free."
They don't, by the way.
Here's the inside baseball: A couple of weeks ago, a courageous band
of legislators tried to stop the madness in Subcommittee. Ed Markey,
Rick Boucher, Anna Eshoo and Jay Inslee proposed some good language to
protect the Internet. For their troubles, they just got four more votes,
other than theirs. Just three Democrats, other than the sponsors, voted
for it. Only one Republican voted for it. When we talk about special
interest giveaways, this one will be at the top of the list. And we won't
have only Republicans to blame.
By Art Brodsky
April 22, 2006
SAVE THE INTERNET
Act Now!
Here's What To Do
Please act now! This will take about 1 minute of your time. Go to www.savetheinternet.com. Click on "Act Now," and send letters to your US Senators and Congressperson. It's all automated. All you do is type in your name and zip code, and this wonderful technology does all the rest. They find your reps. They have created a two sentence letter that highlights the issues. They send it for you. This is a perfect example of the great things a free Internet can do.
The SavetheInternet.com Coalition is made up of dozens of groups from across the political spectrum, which have banded together to save the First Amendment of the Internet network neutrality. No corporation or political party is funding its efforts. It consists of groups as diverse at Moveon.org and Gun Owners of America.
Jack Allis
April 24, 2006