Save the Internet
December 17, 2006
While watching Home Alone on TBS this weekend I saw the following anti-net-neutrality commercial air a couple of times.
Did anyone catch the small print at the end of the advertisement? The National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) produced this commercial; I’ll get to the significance of that in a minute.
So what is net-neutrality? Right now, the user decides what is on the internet. If I want to run a search on Google, I use Google; if I want to run a search on Yahoo; I use Yahoo. The ability I have to choose is thanks to net-neutrality. So why is the NCTA concerned? Keep in mind that this is the same lobbying group that wants you to buy cable packages rather than individual channels and wants to ban VOIP services like Vonage and Skype… Getting rid of net-neutrality is a scheme by “the multi-billion dollar cable and telecom companies” to take away your freedom to surf freely on the internet.
How can they possibly do this you ask? Consider the following hypothetical scenario: I pay the Concast Cable Company every month and they supply me with TV and internet service. One day Concast signs a million dollar deal with Yahoo and guarantees to increase Yahoo’s traffic. I log on to the internet and find I can no longer use my favorite search engine, Google, because it is in the best interest of Concast for me to use Yahoo. The freedom to choose that I used to have is now gone.
Consider scenario two: I log onto YouTube every day because I find amateur videos entertaining. One day, Concast Cable Company decides that it is going to launch its own video sharing service. So in order to get people to use their service, Concast blocks access to YouTube for all of their subscribers. They Concast video service might be the crappiest software on the web, but what choice do I have?
Now scenario three: I pay HellSouth every month and they supply me with phone and DSL service. I think HellSouth ‘s long distance rates are highway robbery, but stick with it because I don’t have much other choice. One day I discover a program called Skype, which allows me to call anywhere in the United States for free. So I cancel my long-distance service from HellSouth and save a ton of money. In a world without net-neutrality, HellSouth can block access to Skype for all of their users. And now I’m back to paying outrageous monthly rates for long-distance. This is already happening in some cities, so don’t think this some sort of conspiracy.
I don’t care if you are liberal, conservative, libertarian, communist, or whatever… net-neutrality is absolutely necessary for anyone who values freedom on the internet. The debate over net-neutrality is more than a question of who should control the internet. It is a question of whether our “democracy” is controlled by The People or by The Corporation. Having said all that, check out this advertisement in favor of net-neutrality:
Edit: December 19: This video was first posted on the day after I wrote this blog, but it is possibly the best 3 minute summary of the situation at hand and what we can do about it.
Senator Ted Stevens proposed a bill in congress at the end of last year in favor of net-neutrality. Sadly, the bill died by the time congress ended. Of course, the NCTA spent nearly $150 million lobbying conservatives to pass a bill doing exactly the opposite. The government will ultimately decide who wins and who loses. In a country where we promote freedom and democracy as the greatest thing since sliced bread, it would be a shame if even we couldn’t make it work.
Did anyone catch the small print at the end of the advertisement? The National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) produced this commercial; I’ll get to the significance of that in a minute.
So what is net-neutrality? Right now, the user decides what is on the internet. If I want to run a search on Google, I use Google; if I want to run a search on Yahoo; I use Yahoo. The ability I have to choose is thanks to net-neutrality. So why is the NCTA concerned? Keep in mind that this is the same lobbying group that wants you to buy cable packages rather than individual channels and wants to ban VOIP services like Vonage and Skype… Getting rid of net-neutrality is a scheme by “the multi-billion dollar cable and telecom companies” to take away your freedom to surf freely on the internet.
How can they possibly do this you ask? Consider the following hypothetical scenario: I pay the Concast Cable Company every month and they supply me with TV and internet service. One day Concast signs a million dollar deal with Yahoo and guarantees to increase Yahoo’s traffic. I log on to the internet and find I can no longer use my favorite search engine, Google, because it is in the best interest of Concast for me to use Yahoo. The freedom to choose that I used to have is now gone.
Consider scenario two: I log onto YouTube every day because I find amateur videos entertaining. One day, Concast Cable Company decides that it is going to launch its own video sharing service. So in order to get people to use their service, Concast blocks access to YouTube for all of their subscribers. They Concast video service might be the crappiest software on the web, but what choice do I have?
Now scenario three: I pay HellSouth every month and they supply me with phone and DSL service. I think HellSouth ‘s long distance rates are highway robbery, but stick with it because I don’t have much other choice. One day I discover a program called Skype, which allows me to call anywhere in the United States for free. So I cancel my long-distance service from HellSouth and save a ton of money. In a world without net-neutrality, HellSouth can block access to Skype for all of their users. And now I’m back to paying outrageous monthly rates for long-distance. This is already happening in some cities, so don’t think this some sort of conspiracy.
I don’t care if you are liberal, conservative, libertarian, communist, or whatever… net-neutrality is absolutely necessary for anyone who values freedom on the internet. The debate over net-neutrality is more than a question of who should control the internet. It is a question of whether our “democracy” is controlled by The People or by The Corporation. Having said all that, check out this advertisement in favor of net-neutrality:
Edit: December 19: This video was first posted on the day after I wrote this blog, but it is possibly the best 3 minute summary of the situation at hand and what we can do about it.
Senator Ted Stevens proposed a bill in congress at the end of last year in favor of net-neutrality. Sadly, the bill died by the time congress ended. Of course, the NCTA spent nearly $150 million lobbying conservatives to pass a bill doing exactly the opposite. The government will ultimately decide who wins and who loses. In a country where we promote freedom and democracy as the greatest thing since sliced bread, it would be a shame if even we couldn’t make it work.
