Moyers: Save the Most Democratic of Media
October 17th, 2006 by tkarr |
How ironic if the Internet should pass irretrievably into history just as the very seeds for the digital revolution are being sown.
But that’s just what may happen, writes award winning journalist Bill Moyers:
“Already, the notion of a level playing field — what’s called network neutrality — is under siege by powerful forces trying to tilt the field to their advantage. The Bush majority on the FCC has bowed to the interests of the big cable and telephone companies to strip away, or undo, the Internet’s basic DNA of openness and non-discrimination.”
In a commentary for TomPaine.com, Moyers sets forth the historical ramifications of efforts by phone companies to tilt the playing field in their favor and squash the free and open Internet.
He writes that the Internet is the most democratic of all media. “All you need to join the revolution is a computer and a connection…. with the Internet every citizen is potentially a producer. The conversation of democracy belongs to us.”
But Congress is in the process of trying to change the natural order of democratic communications. Working with high-spending lobbyists from AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and other phone and cable giants, certain members of Congress are now trying to pass a law that would strip Net Neutrality from the Internet.
“Our new digital monopolists want to use their new power to reverse the way the Internet now works for us: allowing those with the largest bankrolls to route their content on fast lanes, while placing others in a congested thoroughfare,” Moyers writes.
“If they succeed in taking a medium that has an essential democratic nature and monetizing every aspect of it, America will divide further between the rich and poor and between those who have access to knowledge and those who do not.”
But a strange thing happened to phone company lobbyists on their way to Capitol Hill. They were tripped up by angry and well-organized public opposition.
Americans have mounted a defense of Net Neutrality using blogs, YouTube videos, MySpace sites and emails to send Congress an overwhelming message of public support for a free and open Internet — and opposition to any legislation that cedes control of the Internet to these phone companies.
Moyers writes:
“Word got around that without public participation these changes could lead to unsettling phenomenon—the rise of digital empires that limit, or even destroy, the capabilities of small Internet users. Organizations across the political spectrum—from the Christian Coalition to MoveOn.org —rallied in protest, flooding Congress with more than a million letters and petitions to restore network neutrality. Enough politicians have responded to keep the outcome in play.”
Our successes stopping the phone companies thus far reflect the Internet’s new power to mobilize millions of people as a democratizing force. We’ve sent a potent message to Washington and need to now go on the offensive to ensure that Net Neutrality becomes law.
That’s why your active involvement is so important. The more an organized public is engaged in the policy-making process, the more likely the Internet that Congress shapes will serve the people, not just powerful corporations.
– For more from Moyers, be sure to watch his 90-minute television special, “The Net at Risk,” scheduled to air 9:00 p.m., Wednesday night, on local PBS stations across the country.
