Bloggers Hail Coalition Call for Net Freedom
April 22nd, 2006 by tkarrThe blogoshere has lit up with news of the launch of the SavetheInternet.com Coalition. Here’s a sampling of the more than 135 postings that mention or link to the campaign:
When you can get Glenn Reynolds and MoveOn.org to unite in common cause, you figure it’s got to be a slam-dunk issue. And this one is. With almost no noise in the media, the government is mulling ceding control of the Internet to the major ISPs, allowing them to selectively throttle bandwidth or block sites and services as they see fit.
David Weinberger at Joho the Blog:
Remember when democracy had something to do with all people being equal? With ensuring that our institutions don’t get too powerful? Net neutrality has made the Internet a great equalizer, not just for Americans but for voices around the world.
I hope you take the time to read through this and contact the people who represent you. It doesn’t matter what your politics are, what you use the Web for, or what you think about regulation. This is about ensuring the Web continues to remain free . . .
The owners of the pipes make it sound as if supply is tight, and price discrimination is the answer. But (a) there is still plenty of unused bandwidth out there (which is why prices are falling) and (b) the very idea of price discrimination in an environment where both buyers (that’s us) and sellers are both paying to hook up to the Web is, well insane.
Kiersten Marek at Kmareka.com:
This is a cause that we little websites need to be on board with: net neutrality. Without it, the big-money players on the internet could easily squeeze out access to little websites like this one.
Without net neutrality, decisions now made collectively by millions of users will be made in corporate boardrooms. The choice we face now is whether people can choose the content and services they want, or whether the broadband barons will choose for them.
The age of business models built on scarcity and on keeping your customers from doing what they want to do is over.
“This is a call for support from Internet users of every demographic. This will affect everyone, and right now the issue is a quiet one being discussed in Washington . . .
This is a huge issue, and without public outcry, I am truly worried that Congress will give in to big business over the public good. . . Find the members of the Save The Internet coalition here. There’s some folks I really respect on it, and some folks I generally have no use for, but hey, this is something we can all agree on. . .
April 22nd, 2006 at 11:56 pm
Add me to the list. My blog is now engaged in the issue. I have a large readership (300,000+ visitors a month)
Thanks.
James Hudnall
http://jameshudnall.com/blog.php
April 23rd, 2006 at 12:51 pm
There’s a good post for those who’d like to get in touch with Congresspeople at TPM Cafe:
http://www.tpmcafe.com/node/29086
There will be markup in the full committee on Tuesday, April 25.
The comments at the above link from BevCam Rob are especially helpful.
April 23rd, 2006 at 1:21 pm
Net Neutrality: Red het internet!…
Stel je wordt op een dag wakker en wilt iets opzoeken op internet. Je gaat naar je favoriete zoekmachine maar krijgt geen verbinding. Wat blijkt? Je internet service provider (ISP) heeft de zoekmachine geblokkeerd ten gunste van een andere zoekmachine …
April 24th, 2006 at 6:39 am
Quick update on Nell’s mention of the House Vote:
The Full Committee will meet in OPEN MARKUP SESSION on Tuesday, April 25, and Wednesday, April 26, 2006, in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building, to consider a Committee Print on the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006 (COPE Act), as reported by the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. On Tuesday, April 25, 2006, the Committee will convene at 5:00 p.m. for the purpose of opening statements. The Committee will reconvene on Wednesday, April 26, 2006, at 10:00 a.m.
The video should be here:
http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/Markups/04252006markup1848.htm
The Committee’s vote will likely occur on Wednesday.
April 24th, 2006 at 9:30 am
More Save the Internet…
More grassroots efforts to preserve network neutrality are afoot. Check out the SavetheInternet.com Coalition. Keep up with events on their blog. I know I will.
Learn about important things like, What is network neutrality?, Who wants to get rid of n…
April 24th, 2006 at 12:38 pm
Great work, folks. Here’s my little blog’s effort to highlight the campaign: http://www.rikomatic.com/blog/2006/04/free_press_laun.html
All the best. - Rik
April 24th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
Why is this campaign not on internationall level? The US does not = internet does it?
April 24th, 2006 at 1:20 pm
[…] Visit the Save the Internet website and blog to learn more, and to send an quick and easy letter to Congress voicing your opposition. […]
April 24th, 2006 at 3:50 pm
andrisig, I don’t think anyone believes that this is a US problem only. But this campaign is focused recent moves by US telecom and cable companies to challenge the net neutrality and end-to-end principles in the US Congress.
Certainly we would all agree that there are important international fights to be fought as well. But this specific effort is aimed at the US government, which as you know, is responsible for much of the management of internet resources.
April 24th, 2006 at 5:42 pm
The power play of the Telco’s has got to be put to sleep before users worldwide become nothing more than a echo of what was once the voice that cried ‘Freedom’. This country was founded on the principle that the people make the government and give them the power to voice what ‘We’ want. This is nothing more that big people and businesses with big money on a power trip. The conservatives and liberals have never been happier now that they might have someone else making more decisions for them instaed of thinking for themselves. This society has become so stagnant in its effort to retain its own moral highground. These beaurocrats need a serious kick in the a**.
If the Telco power bill come to pass, it’ll most certainly force groups focused on finding ways around things that much more determined in their efforts to cause technical instability. As a computer security expert, I actually see this being a bad move for them; as they gain more control over bandwidth, Denial of Service attacks would be so much easier to carry out, and be twice as effective, yet causing twice the damage. Clogged networks, servers shut down etc..
Kill the Bill vol.I
April 26th, 2006 at 10:17 am
Thanks for all of this….
One note, the small banner image url (http://www.savetheinternet.com/images/sti_button.png) is wrong. the actual image is at http://www.savetheinternet.com/images/sti_button.gif, and there’s nothing at the other url.
June 10th, 2006 at 9:33 am
The solution is simple. Just blacklist the sites and providers that pay to be prioritized. Also, there’s no law (yet) that states that we can’t start our own network.