One of the key media policy fights in
the U.S. government in 2006 will concern what's termed "net neutrality" --
the idea that users have freedom of choice and freedom of opportunity on
the internet. It's basically been the bedrock of telephony policy in the
U.S. for the past one hundred twenty years.
But now, the big cable
and telecom companies -- you know, the punks who spent the past year trying to
strangle community internet initiatives in the crib -- have this big
moneymaking idea to set up separate tiers of internet access and grant
favored access and speed to those who can pay more. In other words, they
want to set up electronic
apartheid and give themselves favored status, and have been lobbying
and throwing campaign cash with abandon to make it happen with a hoped
forthcoming rewrite of the 2006 Telecommunications Act.
But it's
not that cut-and-dried among industry types. There are some companies with
some clout and some cash -- including Google, Yahoo, eBay, and Microsoft
-- which made their money and made their presence thanks to net
neutrality, and have expressed an interest in keeping things neutral.
But beyond industry-versus-industry slugfests -- what is cool and
especially encouraging is that national-scale activist initiatives to
maintain net neutrality have sprouted like mushrooms in the
past week. (Hey, you! Click on those links and speak out now!) And calls
to keep the internet open are
fortunately increasing, and may increase
further.
Plus, there's the potential for victories -- just
like this
past week in Indiana. (UPDATE: I spoke a bit
too soon. The struggle is
still going on.)
Interesting potential monkey wrench, part
one: The leading name to take the last vacancy on the FCC, though he's a
Republican stupidhead, has spent a career fighting
the Baby Bells.
Interesting potential monkey wrench, part two:
Verizon (one of those greedy punk telecom companies) is asking Joe Barton
to lay off on the current press to get legislation done. Maybe Verizon
thinks Barton is trying to bite off more than he can chew, and as a result
he might choke and this might decrease the likelihood of
any horrible bill getting passed.
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