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You Can't Do That On The Internet
Gather 'round kiddies, I've got a story to tell you! The main character is named The Internet, and I'm going to tell you all about how The Internet gained it's popularity and has gone from being a luxury that some could only dream of having, to becoming a household object that is available to just about everyone. We'll talk about how The Internet became an outlet for everyone to have a voice that they could freely make heard to anyone who wanted to listen, at blazing fast broadband speeds. Then we'll talk about how big bad meanies in corporate offices want to keep you from having access to any website you want, at the speed you deserve ... that is, unless you want to pay for it.In the beginning the internet was very limited. Connection speeds were slow, the capabilities were lacking to say the least, and prices were high. Very high. If you wanted to make your own website you had to know arcane code just to do something simple, along with having to pay a high price to get domain and very little hosting space. I guess you could say that the internet, as we know it, was in it's infancy.
Each year new advancements were made. More service providers were available, prices got cheaper, speeds got faster. The ability to set up your own website became more of a possibility, as domains got cheaper and hosting space grew. Programs started popping up that allowed you to, relatively, easily create your own website. Times were great! The ability to gain access to just about anything was within a keystroke. You could go anywhere in the world all by typing 3 little letters: "www". What was also great was that you had the ability to use the power of the internet to do anything from; promoting your business, to creating an online photo album for your newborn baby. It is possibly the greatest form of communication known to man. The internet was no longer for a select few, it was for everyone!
Today the internet is the modern land of opportunity and a beacon of free speech! You can go online and watch movies, post a blog about how your day has gone, buy music, talk to your best friend via IM, listen to podcasts about just about anything, see what's happening in the news anywhere in the world ... whatever you want to do, it's possible on the internet. Not only that, speeds have gotten so fast that you can do all of this at the same time, ostensibly in the blink of an eye, and get this, it's not even that expensive. Sounds great doesn't it?
What gives us the capability to do so much, when not even 10 years ago, the thought of some of this would have been deemed impossible? Well it's a little thing called Net Neutrality. Net Neutrality means that everyone is equal, there's no preferential treatment. If you want to read CNN.com to get your news, or if you want to read LoudounTimes.com it doesn't matter. You can choose whatever you want and both outlets have equal access to users and the speeds to access such information is the same, dependent upon your connection speed. I guess you could say that Net Neutrality made The Internet a place where everyone could be someone. Pretty cool huh?
"Why are you telling me this Joe?", you may ask. Well I'll tell you why. Because The Internet is in grave danger. The Internet that you and I currently know could go away, and be replaced by an internet that will require you to pay for access to certain sites, and to also pay based on the speed in which you'd like to access said site. We'll call this internet "Bizarro Internet".
Bizarro Internet is backed by some of the nation's largest telephone and cable companies. These companies want to be able to decide what sites go fast or slow, they want to be able to discriminate against outside competition and force you to see only what they want you to see. They want to take your choice away, more importantly they want to take your voice away. If Bizarro Internet gets to see the light of day, you'll see The Internet, as we know it, go away forever. Let's say, for instance, you have a small flower shop and you want to offer your product to consumers all around the world. You'll still be able to do so, but if you don't have the big money that a company, like 1800flowers.com may have, you will have to choose a lower-tier of speed which means that customers will have to wait longer just to work with you ... and internet users are impatient, they don't want to wait. Whereas a bigger company, that can afford to pay more for their site to load quicker, will get more business because they aren't necessarily better, but because they have more money to throw around to make sure that you don't ever even get much of a chance to compete. So much for an even playing field. These companies want to make sure that when you read the news, watch streaming videos, even get internet phone, that it's from the outlet of their choice.
The major companies that have control of Bizarro Internet will also have the ability to hinder you from seeing, or even uploading information that they do not approve of. That means that if you write/read a blog, that doesn't reflect kindly of them, they have the right to halt that. So much for freedom of press/speech. "Who are some of these companies?" you might be asking. Well, I don't want to name names, but I'll give you a hint as to who some of the major players are, one company sounds a lot like A Tea and Tea, the other is spelled similarly to Verizun, the other could almost be confused with Komkast and the other starts with a "T" and ends with "ime Warner", catch my drift? These are the companies that want to control not only how you access The Internet, but how you communicate on The Internet and who you communicate with.
Now I've talked to people and a lot of them have said, "Oh well there's no way this will ever happen Joe.", well I have to say to you, it's already happening! Last Wednesday "Verizun" was found to have blocked internet/text messages that, Pro-Choice group, NARAL tried to send to it's members. No matter what side of the debate you fall on, you've got to admit, that's overstepping boundaries. "Verizun" quickly lifted the ban on the text messages once the group caught wind of what was happening. Even further than that, just this week "A Tea and Tea" updated the terms for internet service. The company will now suspend or cancel internet service to anyone who speaks out against the company in any way! "Verizun" has similar clauses in their contracts for service.
That's where the story stops, however it doesn't end there. The Internet is still in danger, however you can help keep our friend The Internet from being taken over by Bizarro Internet by contacting you're congress person and demanding that Net Neutrality stays the law. Your freedom to choose what you access on the internet, and how you communicate depends on it.
Joe.... My first thought on this bedtime story was that I am going to have a nightmare when I fall asleep... The Internet reeks of politics....Special Interest Groups and Lobbyist whith the money to change things in the laws to suit there own interest... Do you really think we as a people can get the politicians to see the light?? I think the bottom line is who has their hands in who's pocket..I would love to believe that my vote counts being the optimist that I am..but the greed and corruption is disheartening at best... and now we can face jail time and fines for downloading a song ... don't get me wrong I am for anyone getting what is due them .. I would just hope that it doesn't have to be so extreme.. Good Blog as usual...
Susie
Posted by SusanClawson
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Well to answer your question, yes we can make a change. In-fact, in 2006, Congress took up a major overhaul of the Telecommunications Act called the "Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006," or COPE Act. Despite more than $175 million spent on lobbying, campaign contributions, deceptive advertising and fake grassroots groups, the phone and cable companies failed to pass their legislation.
Why did it fail? Because more than a million concerned citizens wrote and called Congress opposing any bill that didn't protect Net Neutrality.
So yes, you can have an impact. It's just that there needs to be a big enough voice, not just one or 2 people. Everyone needs to take a stand.
Posted by B_Joe_Carter
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Joe....Thanks for putting me in touch with the savetheinternet site... I sent an email to Senator Bryd ( who right now is " undeclared" on the issue ) urging his support. I also contacted Representative Capito urging her to protect Net Neutrality....Senator Rockafeller is supporting the legislation.. I emailed a Thank You to him.. Let's see if it works again in 2007....
SC
Posted by SusanClawson
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It's big brother man, American corporations are taking over the world. What's next, Earth, a Walmart planet. It looks like business is becoming the government of the internet. All this will lead to is more hacking and anarchy. Huzzah!
Posted by B_Rich_Edmondson
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