Successful Blog

Net Neutrality 8-7-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

Online Advocacy: Same As It Ever Was?

The net neutrality fight has many parallels to anti-Communications Decency Act battle that raged beginning in 1995. Online activists were emboldened by free-speech issues and teamed with established companies to fight the legislation. The activists lost the fight in Congress and with President Clinton who signed the bill, but generated enough momentum and support that they rallied considerable resources to their side to win in the Supreme Court, which struck down the law.

The activists…

  • Got sites like Yahoo! to go black for a day (Black Thursday)
  • Organized online petitions that got more than 100,000 signatures
  • Drove direct constituent communications to members of Congress

    • If we can learn from recent history, the CDA battle taught us that the Web can quickly bring people together to marshal forces for a common cause, but that if the driving issue goes away, so do many of the participants. You need a pressing, immediate battle to really rally the troops. . . .

    –ME “Liz” Strauss

    Related
    NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

    Net Neutrality 8-6-2006

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    Net Neutrality Links

    I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

    Net Neutrality Tool Misses the Point

    . . . However, what some are missing is critical to this whole net neutrality debate. It’s not that we won’t know or be able to detect if we’re experiencing packet discrimination. Heck, we already know broadband providers are going to discriminate because they’ve told us they will—AT&T’s Whitacre even said it recently again, in case there was any question.

    No the issue is this: we’ll know the discrimination is happening, but the internet surfing public and web-based businesses will be unable to do anything about it. Why? Because last year the FCC gave up that discrimination complaint-process role and in Congress’ telecom bills (House and proposed Senate), even if the FCC changed its mind and wanted to do something, its hands will be tied. . . .

    –ME “Liz” Strauss

    Related
    NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

    Net Neutrality 8-5-2006

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    Net Neutrality Links

    I’m adding these links to the Net Neutrality Page.

    It’s Saturday. Check out this music video . . . it’s cool.

    We Are the Web

    Internet Video

    Mind If I Mislead You?

    Even though Mike McCurry is AT&T’s mouthpiece, not Verizon or Vonage’s, does it make a real difference? His credibility (mind if I mislead you?) has been challenged by Michael Masnick from Techdirt. Why? Because “he asserts that Google’s access to bandwidth doesn’t cost the company a dime.”

    Guess what? No matter which side of the Net Neutrality issue you may be on – you just had smoke blown up your arse! How’s it feel?

    –ME “Liz” Strauss

    Related
    NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

    SOB Business Cafe 08-04-2006

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    SB Cafe

    Welcome to the SOB Cafe

    We offer the best in thinking–articles on the business of blogging written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the title shots to enjoy each selection.

    The Specials this Week are

    Darren Rowse offers an interview with Dave Sifry on Blogging Popularity.

    Dave Sifry on Making Your Blog Popular

    Mike Sansone considers whether blogging can be called a conversation . .. really.

    Christine Kane lays out 7 great reasons why you should forget about email until after noon.

    7 Great Reasons Not to Check Email til Noon

    Scot Herrick has a fabulous read on creativity and innovation as a strategy in today’s Cubicle Nation.

    Ann Michael has Google’s number laid out in keywords.

    Google Are Key Words King

    Related ala carte selections include

    Minic Rivera has some Blogging Times News for Artists.

    Gawker Offers Free Ad Space to Artists

    Please know that I include this last because everyone should see Susan Reynold’s wonderful art. Do click on it to see it full size. The image is amazing.

    Susan's Wonderful Art

    Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like.
    No tips required. Comments appreciated.

    Have a great weekend!

    –ME “Liz” Strauss

    Net Neutrality 8-4-2006

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    Net Neutrality Links

    I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

    Net Neutrality By the Numbers

    That leads us to the first number today, 60. That’s how many votes Stevens needs to round up before he can bring his bill to the floor. Senate rules require 60 votes to cut off debate on legislation. Otherwise, practically speaking, the bill is dead. So, the Senate leadership has told Stevens he must have the votes in hand to cut off debate before the bill will be brought up for debate. . . .

    [snip]

    The flip side of the issue is our second number, 41 (corrected from the earlier mathematically challenged version.) That’s how many Senators are needed to keep the bill off of the floor. The objective of those favoring Net Neutrality is not to kill the bill. Rather, we want to fix it and make it better, but the chances of that happening are better if negotiations take place and agreements are reached before the bill gets to the floor than after it gets to the floor. . . .

    –ME “Liz” Strauss

    Related
    NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

    Net Neutrality 8-3-2006

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    Net Neutrality Links

    I’m adding these links to the Net Neutrality Page.

    Stevens Scrambling for Anti-Net Neutrality Votes

    Stevens is still trying to force a vote on his inaptly titled telco give-away bill, the Communications, Consumers’ Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006 (S. 2686). But he’s not having much luck so far. . . .

    he article singles out Santorum, DeWine, and Chafee as resisting efforts to push the bill to the floor before the elections. Not only are they hearing from constituents on this issue, they are raking in some serious cash from moneyed interests on both sides of the debate. They really don’t want to have to vote on this before the election. . . .

    AT&T’s Whitacre: ‘Nobody Gets a Free Ride’

    “This thing is growing at a rate that nobody would imagine,” [AT&T CEO Ed] Whitacre said of the market demand for bandwidth. He said AT&T networks are now handling 5.6 Petabytes of data every day. “There’s more and more content, and you need more and more bandwidth, and somebody’s got to build it.”

    “If you build it, you have to make a return on that,” he continued. “Nobody gets a free ride, that’s all.”

    This kind of language, of course, leaves open the possibility that AT&T will (or already does) offer some of its customers a better ride across its access networks in exchange for fees. But it doesn’t necessarily mean the provider would block content that it disagreed with, which is a fear that most net neutrality backers discuss the most.

    –ME “Liz” Strauss

    Related
    NET NEUTRALITY PAGE