phone, cable lobbyists engaged in political campaign to weaken internet

[dajoki]

The Nation
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060213/chester

The End of the Internet?
Jeff Chester

Click here to see how you can help defend net neutrality.http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow?bid=4&pid=59002

The nation's largest telephone and cable companies are crafting an alarming set of strategies that would transform the free, open and nondiscriminatory Internet of today to a privately run and branded service that would charge a fee for virtually everything we do online.

Verizon, Comcast, Bell South and other communications giants are developing strategies that would track and store information on our every move in cyberspace in a vast data-collection and marketing system, the scope of which could rival the National Security Agency. According to white papers: http://www.democraticmedia.org/issues/netneutrality.html now being circulated in the cable, telephone and telecommunications industries, those with the deepest pockets--corporations, special-interest groups and major advertisers--would get preferred treatment. Content from these providers would have first priority on our computer and television screens, while information seen as undesirable, such as peer-to-peer communications, could be relegated to a slow lane or simply shut out.

Under the plans they are considering, all of us--from content providers to individual users--would pay more to surf online, stream videos or even send e-mail. Industry planners are mulling new subscription plans that would further limit the online experience, establishing "platinum," "gold" and "silver" levels of Internet access that would set limits on the number of downloads, media streams or even e-mail messages that could be sent or received.

To make this pay-to-play vision a reality, phone and cable lobbyists are now engaged in a political campaign to further weaken the nation's communications policy laws. They want the federal government to permit them to operate Internet and other digital communications services as private networks, free of policy safeguards or governmental oversight. Indeed, both the Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are considering proposals that will have far-reaching impact on the Internet's future. Ten years after passage of the ill-advised Telecommunications Act of 1996, telephone and cable companies are using the same political snake oil to convince compromised or clueless lawmakers to subvert the Internet into a turbo-charged digital retail machine.

[AX10]

1. KICK and recomended!

[dajoki]

2. this will hurt us all

Under the plans they are considering, all of us--from content providers to individual users--would pay more to surf online, stream videos or even send e-mail. Industry planners are mulling new subscription plans that would further limit the online experience, establishing "platinum," "gold" and "silver" levels of Internet access that would set limits on the number of downloads, media streams or even e-mail messages that could be sent or received.

[Auntie Bush]

3. What a horrible thought!

[Nothing Without Hope]

4. And then there is the recently revealed secret Pentagon plan to FIGHT THE

INTERNET:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4655196.stm

Everyone should read this article. Here is one sentence - and remember, this is the "cautious, conservative" BBC:
"The US military seeks the capability to knock out every telephone, every networked computer, every radar system on the planet."

A link to the pdf file of the Pentagon plan is on the page with the article.

They call this "fighting the internet." Somehow, our bold, truth-telling US media haven't gotten around to reporting this...:sarcasm:

[jasmeel]

8. I wonder if the media is complicit because the internet is hurting

their viewership-making them obsolete.

[Nothing Without Hope]

12. Oh, I think that's extremely likely. Plus, the corporate media are owned

by Bush enablers who profit from fascism and are vulnerable to Administration dictates re media consolidation and oversight.

[Nothing Without Hope]

5. Where this can go: Google shows how government internet censorship

works in their China operation:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x399928
thread title (2-13-06 GD): NYT: "So Long, Dalai Lama" - Google demonstrates NEW WORLD CENSORSHIP
Comment/excerpt: Internet censorship has generally been visible in China. As Lie Xiaobo, a leader dissident writer is quoted in this important NYT story, "It was one thing when you hit on links that did not work. You could see what was blocked. The new Google hides the hand of the censor."

And this is from a company whose big slogan is "do no evil."

By definition, if it's controlled by companies - which of course also have political connections - then the content is no longer open. Control means that censorship can be put onto the whole system. That is what the Bushies want, and much of the corporate ownership of the media is in their cronies' pockets.

[OneBlueSky]

6. THE most critical issue . . . the Internet is the only thing standing . .

between us and complete a complete fascist/corporatist dictatorship . . .

[watrwefitinfor]

7. And they know that... (n/t)

[msongs]

9. so, what is the democratic party plan to prevent this? nt

[dajoki]

13. which is why they want it to go away n/t

[Wordie]

10. DONE! K&R...please post a copy of your OP in the Activist HQ, dajoki!

[spuddonna]

11. Done! K&R! This is critical! Please sign the petition!

Without a 'neutral' Internet, grassroots activism on the Net will be severely hampered!

Here's the direct link: http://www.netfreedomnow.org/