A Threat To The Net
By now, many of you have heard about Net neutrality. Basically it works like this: Right now you go online and go to whatever site you want. Even more important- if you want to create your own website - anyone in the world can see it - if they can find it and can download it easily.
All of this could change. Large companies like Comcast, Verizon, Cox, etc. would like to charge a premium to guarantee fast delivery of your site - sort of like the Mafia encouraging you to buy “insurance” so your store doesn’t burn down. It means that if you start up a local entertainment site - people can still see it, but perhaps at dialup speeds - whereas Disney will download in seconds- because they will pay extra - millions extra.
Cox - which has it’s own classified service, has blocked Craigslist for the past 3 months. Bell South is suspected of blocking MySpace. While this sort of behavior is currently illegal, it may become legal if the Senate does not pass the Net Neutrality Bill. The Senate commerce committee votes next Tuesday.
This is not only a serious threat to our community and social networks - it is a serious threat to business as well. Companies could start charging for email. Small net businesses might never get off the ground. Skype, Vonage and Lingo could be blocked in favor of your cable company’s own call metered service. Airlines like the next Jet Blue would never take off because big airlines like American and United would pay to make sure they were the only online choices. Instead of finding a local sailboat charter in the Caribbean, your only choice might be the Disney Cruise.
Please contact our local Senators right now to let them know how you want them to vote:
Senator Mel Martinez : 305 444-8332
Email link
The office of Senator Martinez says that he will issue his stand shortly.
Senator Nelson:
305-536-5999
Email link
Senator Nelson’s office says that he is for Net neutrality and will vote for it and is on the commerce committee. He is also up for re-election this November
This post is a simple explanation for a complex issue. Study it online - all of our futures are at stake.
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Well said, Blaine. I’m happy you brought light to this issue.
The Cox vs. craigslist thing is dirty. Just goes to show you how scared big publishing companies are.
On another note, that Disney site is a behemoth. No matter who that pay off, it will always take days to download.