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Net Neutrality 12-08-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

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

Net Neutrality Alert : FCC Chair Tries To Ram Thru ATT Merger

Imagine : a 5 minute wait for a Daily Kos page.

Imagine : that political blogs – perhaps the major channel now for political dissent in the United States – suddenly became hard, very slow, to access while corporate websites popped up in your browser quick as a corporate CEO robbing a pension fund.

Well, execs from the ATT and BellSouth Corporations that are seeking approval for a merger from the FCC have said they’d love to make that happen.

ACTION ITEM : Send Letter to your Congressperson or Senator protesting Kevin Martin’s attempts to violate FCC ethical guidelines and ram through an AAT/BellSouth merger that would threaten the Net Neutrality.

Media on this :

John Nichols in The Nation : http://www.freepress.net/19566

Josh Silver on the Huff Post : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-silver/latest-washington-ethics-_b_35706.html

Want to know what you can do?
MA Bell Monopoly Versus the Free Internet — Tell the FCC Net Neutrality Is Not Negotiable

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
When Did AT&T Become Not For Profit? Was I Absent that Day?
MA Bell Monopoly Versus the Free Internet — Tell the FCC Net Neutrality Is Not Negotiable
NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

Net Neutrality 8-20-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

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

Net Neutrality Opposed by National Conference of State Legislatures Over My Objections by State Rep Mark Cohen Dem PA

State Rep Mark Cohen Dem PA’s diary :: ::
I was the only legislator present who was familiar enough with net neutrality issues to argue in its favor. In a voice vote, in which each legislator casts an individual vote, it seemed to be a close call as to which side had the majority. When I called for a roll call vote by states, a majority of 33 state delegations voted against network neutrality, while a majority of ten states voted for network neutrality.

As a 3/4 vote is needed for the National Conference of State Legislatures to take a position, a change of the majority in only one state that voted would have defeated the resolution. The vote was the equivalent of the 2000 Presidential election in the electoral college.

The effect of this resolution is that lobbyists for the National Conference of State Legislatures–the mainstream organization representing state legislatures–will be in opposition to network neutrality for the next year, when the resolution expires.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

Net Neutrality 7-1-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

I’ve added these links to the Net Neutrality Page today.

Stopping the Big Giveaway – by John Kerry

The Commerce Committee voted on net neutrality and it failed on an 11-11 tie. This vote was a gift to cable and telephone companies, and a slap in the face of every Internet user and consumer.

It will not stand.

I voted against this lousy bill for two reasons: because net neutrality and internet build-out are crucial to building a more modern and fair Information Society, and both were pushed aside by the Republicans.

. . . Why are United States Senators afraid to say that companies should be expected to foster growth by building out their broadband networks to increase access?

. . . This bill was passed in committee over our objections. Now we need to fight to either fix it or kill it in the full Senate. Senator Wyden has already drawn a line in the sand — putting a “hold” on the bill, which prevents it from going forward for now. But there will be a day of reckoning on this legislation soon, make no mistake about it, and we need you to get engaged — pressure your Senators, follow the issue, demand net neutrality and build-out.

It’s not just net neutrality that is at stake

Kos wrote yesterday that the Net Neutrality amendment was defeated yesterday in the Commerce Committee, and there have been several diaries about that since. A bill that was kept however has not been remarked upon here. This is the revival of the broadcast flag, which the FCC had mandated several years ago but was struck down by a court. Now the entertainment industry is trying to bring the broadcast flag back with a new law. . . .

With respect to the broadcast flag however, Republicans take precisely the opposite position. By supporting the broadcast flag, they are saying that it is necessary for the government to control which of those transmissions that we listen to or watch on TV we can record: something that is unprecedented. It has been taken for granted up until now by everyone that if you can hear something on the radio or hear it on TV you should be able to record it, but the broadcast flag would change all that. The government would require all electronic devices that are capable of receiving digital TV or radio signals to implement restrictions blocking recording of those signals if the producer of the signal has embedded in it a flag indicating that it does not want the signal recorded. In other words, the government will mandate that you no longer control what you do with your electronic devices, but the corporations of the entertainment industry do.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

Net Neutrality 6-02-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

I’ve added these links to the Net Neutrality Page today.

E-BAY Comes Out in Support of Net Neutrality!

Today, as a registered Seller on E-Bay, I received an e-mail from the E-Bay President and CEO Meg Whitman making a strong case for Net neutrality. Ms Whitman has come out very strongly in support of blocking passage of any bill(s) that would allow the telephone and cable companies to create a “two-tiered” system of network access.

I think this is an excellent and well written letter that clearly explains what the Telecoms are attempting to accomplish. I will post the letter in its entirety:

Net Neutrality and Snakes on Rocketboom today

Not that we ever need an excuse to get our daily dose of Rocketboom, but in today’s episode, Amanda Congdon covers Net Neutrality in between her rants on Snakes on a Plane.

Boiling the Frog – a Net Neutrality Metaphor by Art Brodsky

The metaphor goes like this: If you throw a frog into boiling water, it will jump out. But if you put a frog in warm water, and gradually raise the temperature, it will become acclimated, until it becomes cooked. Gross, but accurate. This is what the telephone companies and their allies who sell them equipment are doing. The metaphor was on display last week when Verizon Executive Vice President Tom Tauke testified before the Senate Commerce Committee. Verizon is not trying to do away with the current Internet, Tauke said. (Water warm).

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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NET NEUTRALITY PAGE