Politicians Worried About Voter Backlash on Internet Freedom
May 1st, 2006 by MattFrom National Journal:
Congressional and industry sources said Republican leaders are worried that voting against a network neutrality amendment — one that would keep dominant Bell and cable companies from charging competitors more to transmit high-speed Internet content — could be a political liability. Some technology companies and public-interest groups want FCC-enforceable regulations barring Bell and cable companies from undermining neutrality.
…
“We are trying to explain that a vote for a telecom bill that does not address the issue of network neutrality in any way is a very difficult vote politically, closer to the election, for Republicans,” said former Rep. Vin Weber, R-Minn., who was hired by technology companies to lobby his former colleagues on the subject.
“There is huge grassroots constituency for the net neutrality position: all sorts of Internet users,” said Weber. “It is a big and powerful constituency, but it is not necessarily an organized constituency. I would not like to cast a vote that can be portrayed by bloggers and others as a vote against the Internet.”
Politicians on both sides should be worried about their vote. A really easy way to organize our constituency is to threaten the medium we use to communicate with each other. We don’t like it.
Oh, and the Wine for Newbies podcast series signed on today. Congrats, you’ve managed to make wine drinkers mad!
