save the internet.com, and click act now


The video I posted previously may very well be scaremongering but thats kind of beside the point because it was doing what it set out to do, which was get people to read more about net neutrality.

Its not just a consiparcy theory:

The threat to an open internet isn't just speculation -- we've seen what happens when the Internet's gatekeepers get too much control. These companies, even, have said as much about their plans to discriminate online. According to the Washington Post:

William L. Smith, chief technology officer for Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp., told reporters and analysts that an Internet service provider such as his firm should be able, for example, to charge Yahoo Inc. for the opportunity to have its search site load faster than that of Google Inc.

He's not alone. Ed Whitacre of AT&T told BusinessWeek:

Now what they would like to do is use my pipes free, but I ain't going to let them do that because we have spent this capital and we have to have a return on it. So there's going to have to be some mechanism for these people who use these pipes to pay for the portion they're using. Why should they be allowed to use my pipes?

By far the most significant evidence regarding the network owners' plans to discriminate is their stated intent to do so. As Verizon's Ivan Seidenberg told the Wall Street Journal:

We have to make sure they don't sit on our network and chew up our capacity. We need to pay for the pipe.



But since your not willing to listen to them, how about these sources?

Googles stance on net neutrality



The open internet coalition (googles a member)

Open access is a basic principle of our Internet. The Internet, after all, was invented and built with public tax dollars. All Americans should have the right to use Internet software, sites, and services without the interference of the large telephone and cable companies. But AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and other giants want to change the rules that have made the Internet a success.
Think of the Internet as a superhighway for information where anyone – from Apple’s iTunes to a garage band distributing songs on their own home page -- can gain access to the road. Both the big player and the new entrant can reach individuals, anywhere, on equal footing. But now, AT&T, Verizon and Comcast want to change the rules and put up toll booths on the Internet, despite the fact that all of us already pay hefty, monthly charges for our DSL, cable and fiber optic connections to the Internet.

If the phone and cable companies get their way, websites and online service providers who aren’t able to afford these fees would be put in a slow lane. Large media companies who can pay the tax to use the fast lane would dominate what you can access. The less powerful voices would be lost. That would mean a lot less consumer choice and it would strangle individuals and small companies trying to get their businesses off the ground. The alternative is net neutrality. Simply, net neutrality guarantees that broadband networks cannot use their networks to give preferential fast lane access to any content provider, nor can they slow down content or services that are unable to pay. The Open Internet Coalition seeks to ensure that the transmission of internet traffic remains open, accessible and fast, and does not favor one particular brand or type of content over another.

We aren’t seeking anything new or radical – net neutrality was the law of the land from the Internet’s inception until 2005, when the cable and telephone companies successfully lobbied the Federal Communications Commission to change the rules. We want to preserve the best of the Internet: giving consumers greater choice at the lowest possible cost; ensuring that the Internet’s economic engine keeps moving ahead; protecting innovators and small business; and advancing the founding principles of the Internet.



the current state of net neutrality

Net neutrality is a major issue as the U.S. considers new telecommunications laws. The U.S. House of Representatives passed its telecommunications bill, H.R. 5252, in May, without adequate net neutrality protections. Now the fight has moved to U.S. Senate. On June 28, the Senate Commerce Committee passed its own telecom bill, S. 2686. While an amendment to the bill that would have added meaningful net neutrality safeguards failed 11-11, this tie vote marks a significant political victory and gives the effort new momentum. The debate now shifts to the full Senate, where advocates will be working to get strong net neutrality language is any bill that the Senate considers.

save the internet.com, and click act now