Brendan Strasser

Antiquarian booksellers for Net Neutrality!

I have been a seller of gently used and rare books since 1981, well before the internet was even a cybergeek's dream, and have seen the industry morph since that era into its present form, where perhaps up to 90% of all used book transactions occur on-line. Those of us who have weathered the slings and arrows (whether or not we have made outrageous fortunes!) understand our utter reliance on a free, unbridled internet for the purposes of conducting our chosen business, which is, for many of us, an extension of our lifestyles, as necessary to us as breathing or Richard Thompson. The rare and second-hand book market recycles rather than manufactures; it encourages literacy and the preservation of knowledge. While engaging emerging technologies, it remains respectful of tradition and staunchly defiant of trends. In many ways, it values are antithetical to hyper-corporate America -- and must remain so unless knowledge is to become yet one more commodity to be traded under arcane and self-serving regulations. The 'net does not need gatekeepers and clipboard-wielding executives to provide the same "service" that they have already provided in destroying American business and higher education.