Congress is pushing a law that would abandon the Internet's First Amendment -- a principle called Network Neutrality that prevents companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast from deciding which Web sites work best for you -- based on what site pays them the most. Broadband providers such as AT&T, BellSouth and Verizon Communications want to expand from flat pricing and also sell tiers of service based on the speed, reliability and security of the bandwidth used. If the public doesn't speak up now, our elected officials will cave to a multi-million dollar lobbying campaign. For the financial services sector, which is expected to spend $117 billion on information technology this year, tiered pricing could add billions more in expenses to maintain online banking services and other web offerings, according to a memo circulating among financial services lobbyists. Those costs could hit the bottom line or be passed on to customers , in other words US!Kate over at the Accidental Hedonist has a post that explains the Net Neutrality issue as well as any that I've seen anywhere. She explains things in simple terms that everyone can understand. Check out what Kate has to say and then go write a letter to someone.
2 comments:
I am so glad to see you post on this topic... the more noise, the better. Raising attention levels is good. For my part, I know there's lots of learning to do - the issue is gnarly and complex. I realize that "noise" is not enough, but while I'm learning the details behind the topic, noise is all I've got. So for now, "loud noises," and I'll add more substance to the conversation as I can. In the meantime, I'm glad you're making noise, too. -mg
My first outraged comment has not apparently published properly, and so this is my second.
Basically, the gist of what I said was - how can they do that when they don't own it in the first place? Then I made a totally non-personal comment "This is why the rest of the world hates America".
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