Will the Internet become, in the words of AT&T’s CEO, their private “pipes” or will it remain “the most participatory form of mass speech yet developed”? Jeff Chester writes about the citizens uprising that has, in the words of Congreeswoman Anna Eshoo, spread like a”prairie fire” across the country.

Chester on our work:

Network neutrality would help ensure that Internet serves the interests of diversity of speech. As the new Savetheinternet coalition put it, network neutrality is the equivalent of the Internet’s First Amendment.

He describes what’s at stake for giant telephone companies:

…an unfettered open road is directly at odds with the broadband business plans of AT&T (formerly SBC), Comcast, Time Warner, and Verizon. The cable and telephone industry see enormous revenues as operators of a private Internet toll-road.

And how the rest of us stand to suffer as a result of telco plans to dismantle Network Neutrality:

With the federal non-discrimination policy now toast, the phone and cable companies could embark in earnest with plans to — in their words — “monetize” digital distribution. Through their sole control over America’s residential broadband pipes (they have more than 90% of the market), they planned to set up a multi-tiered and pay-as-you-go private internet highway.

What’s ahead:

There is now growing optimism among “save the Internet” supporters that the Senate, which will soon take up a broadband communications bill, will endorse a neutrality rule. A bi-partisan plan to do just that has already been prepared by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Me.) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND).

And read Jeff’s other article just posted at The Nation.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 27th, 2006 at 3:56 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.-->