For the millions of Americans wondering why Congress isn’t protecting the free and open Internet, today’s special telecom issue of The Hill offers some clues. Apparently, the old House leadership was too busy watching re-runs of Newlyweds.

In an article filled with more clichés than the last Nick Lachey album, former House Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-ATT) again trots out the lame telco argument that nobody knows what Net Neutrality means.

While he rests his case on the eternal wisdom of Jessica Simpson — parodying the argument of Internet freedom advocates as “Ah totally don’t know what that means, but ah wont it.” — Barton’s got more in common with her sister, Ashlee. His latest performance is little more than lip-synching from a copy of Ed Whitacre’s Greatest Hits.

So once and for all, here it is. Net Neutrality means the phone and cable companies that own the wires can’t discriminate against any Internet content, service or application based on its source, ownership or destination. That’s not something made up by Google, MoveOn.org or Britney Spears. It’s the definition used by the FCC – and agreed to, just a few weeks ago, by AT&T.

But Barton can’t resist this tortured parable about The Taurus and The Ferrari:

From a consumer’s point of view, it would be like the daily choice between driving my old Ford Taurus or a sizzling new Ferrari. I’m not in the hot Ferrari because I can’t afford one, but my Ford gets me to work. Would I replace it with the Ferrari if I had an extra $100,000 burning a hole in my pocket? Maybe. But I don’t have that extra cash, and so I keep that Ford and drive it up to the speed limit. Mostly.

Some believe the government can do it better, however, and they propose to put all of us into an Internet version of something that is neither the quick and pricey Ferrari nor the reliable old Taurus. With the government in charge, average will replace fast as the goal, and we’ll all get the same, average car capable of the same, average speed.

These tired telco arguments have run out of gas.

Consumers (and Internet companies, for that matter) have paid, should pay and will pay for faster speeds if they need them. Some will want Ferraris, and some will choose Fords. The point is that the consumer decides for themselves how fast and where they want to go. Without Net Neutrality, the phone and companies will set the speed limit and decide which roads their customers can take, while collecting exorbitant tolls. While they’re at it, they’ll inspect each vehicle to see who should be sent to the back of the line.

All we want is for the government to keep the roads free and open like they’ve always been – and keep the highway robbers at bay.

The best way to do that is to pass the Dorgan-Snowe Internet Freedom Preservation Act. Senator Dorgan makes the case here.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 6th, 2007 at 1:58 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.-->