Net Neutrality Links
I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.
Net Neutrality and the Flat Tax for Google [via Net Neutrality]
Why is an issue so simple on the surface turning into such a partisan one?
Well, here is the answer. It’s about money not censorship. And its about money that powers activism more than lobbying money. The telecom’s lobbying is one that, like most industries, traditionally plays both sides. The new online media, exemplified by Google, does not.
In truth, there are anti-trust and other legal remedies for anti-competitive discrimination that the market won’t sort out. If censorship was the issue, that could likely generate full bi-partisan support. That is not what is at stake however. What is at stake is that the content and web services business are making a killing in earnings by relying on cheap, available bandwidth that is the same cost to them as it is to your and me. Actually, this isn’t really accurate – it is a lot cheaper for them in bulk than it is for our DSL/Cable access. This doesn’t make the providers very happy. They want those really rich (i.e. Google, Yahoo, etc.) to compensate them proportionate to their total “assets” – in terms of users and usage. Basically, Telecom wants the right to progressively “tax” services like Google. After all, Google can always buy their own pipes and equipment if they don’t want to pay. According to many reports, they already are.
Now this is the irony, these same leftists (by their donations and statements) that would likely crow on and on about “the rich paying their fair share” are lining up to have the Congress forbid Telecom for using anything but a “flat tax” on their services. There are no “income brackets” allowed on the Internet according to Google and John Kerry.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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