I don't know how many of you have heard about Net Neutrality, but if you're reading this, then you should educate yourself because it directly affects YOU. Net Neutrality ensures you have the freedom to choose what websites and internet applications you have access to. There is no discrimination with Net Neutrality – the internet’s sole purpose is to move data from place to another.
Now I want you to imagine a highway (a superhighway, if you will) and there are two lanes on this highway, but one lane is a toll lane. In this lane, you can go as fast as you want anywhere you want, but you have to pay extra. In fact it costs so much, only people driving Ferraris and Rolls-Royce convertibles are able to afford the luxury of this lane. The rest of us are crammed onto the other lane. It's cheaper, yes, but it's much slower and it doesn't always go where we need it to go.
Big phone and cable companies, who control 95% of all access to the internet, are trying to steer the internet in just this direction. Companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast are spending millions of dollars in an effort to legislatively remove Net Neutrality. If we lose Net Neutrality, we are relegated to a bumpy-dirt-road of an internet while large companies, who can afford the taxes and fees associated with proposed new high speed internet regulations, will be zooming down the fast lane.
The internet will resemble cable television with programming chosen for you. Think about that. When was the last time you had YOUR own TV show where you could express your thoughts and ideas? I don’t know you, but I’m thinking probably never. But how many of you have websites or blogs where you can do just that? In 2004 eight million people had a blog. I can only assume that number has risen since then.
Eight million. That’s a lot of blogs. That’s a lot of ideas. That’s a lot of voices that could be silenced if we lose Net Neutrality. A scary thought. And it may be happening sooner than we think. CNet reports that Ted Stevens, a Republican Senator and the main proponent of a bill to rewrite telecommunications laws, is pushing for a vote on Net Neutrality (among other things) as soon as this week. If he gets his way, you really don’t have much time to
let your Senator know how you feel about Net Neutrality. Better hurry!
Related:
CNet story,
Save the Internet,
It's Our Net
