The COPE act is EXTREMELY dangerous. Not only does it eliminate public funding for some programs but it also eliminates the so-called “net-neutrality” law that was recently torn up by the FCC. “Net Neutrality” is basically the concept that everything on the Internet is given the same priority. So, if you go to Google, a porn site, myspace… your Internet service provider doesn’t care… they were required to serve up the same connection regardless of where you were going, essentially they couldn’t discriminate against any body’s traffic. The big Telcom companies don’t want that, they want to give THEIR services (or the ones people pay for) priority. So if google doesn’t want to pay SBC?-we’ll screw google. SBC users won’t be able to get there.
Well because of massive, massive consolidating, essentially the big Telcom companies that owned our phone service (the Bells) now own a huge portion of the pipes that the Internet run on.
Now remember, when you use your Internet connection, that costs the ISP money… But if you DON’T use it, that’s all profit (virtually). So when you are sitting on a Bit Torrent site letting people get music or files from you… or you are uploading pictures to Flickr - they are paying money for that bandwidth. If you were not doing those things, they wouldn’t. (virtually)
So now introduce things like VONAGE, SKYPE, Filesharing, ITUNES…. yada. All of these things are taking money from these big companies other Corporations. Vonage takes market from Phone service obviously. Itunes is essentially a replacement for Cd sales, AND television distribution (soon to add Movies)
So put those two things together along with the million other new things that are, or will be, invented on the Internet and you can see why the SBC’s and other old-sleeping-giants are worried about the Internet. It’s cannibalizing virtually EVERY industry.
Think about it… How many people use the Internet to file their taxes? Who would have thought that a Internet connection could a highly skilled job like accounting?
If this bill passes without the “net neutrality” amendment, not only will it be a setback for free speech on TV - but also for the freedom and democracy of the Internet. If this bill passes the internet will begin to resemble Cable; a pay-by-tier over priced monopoly.
4 responses so far ↓
1 atomicyak // Jun 15, 2006 at 5:37 am
This issue is devestatingly important. What does it say about us if we allow any vehicle for true democracy to wither and die?
The US is a corporate oligarchy. I don’t see how people could use the word, “democracy” to describe it.
2 fifteenips // Jun 15, 2006 at 1:32 pm
The US is a corporate oligarchy. I don’t see how people could use the word, “democracy” to describe it.
I couldnt agree more.
Do you have citizenship in china now?
3 atomicyak // Jun 15, 2006 at 6:51 pm
Nope, I’ve never been.
I’m living in Japan with a marriage visa - it’s virtually impossible to get citizenship here. Not that I really care - I don’t like seeing myself as being a citizen of any country.
4 fifteenips // Jun 15, 2006 at 6:52 pm
Oh yea, japan, my bad.
So no citizenship ever? (its not like the american marriage citizenship thing?)
I really have no clue about this stuff.
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