As many of you know, I’m a huge supporter of Net Neutrality.
Net Neutrality is the idea that all sites, no matter how big, or small, are delivered at the same speed (generally, the maximum speed at which you can load a site is determined by how much bandwidth you pay your Internet service provider for). This makes the Internet a level playing field–big corporate sites and one-man blogs are all delivered the same.
This is going to change on Monday, August 9th, 2010.
Google and Verizon will announce a deal that the New York Times reports “could allow Verizon to speed some online content to Internet users more quickly if the content’s creators are willing to pay for the privilege.”
This has happened because the Federal Communications Commission has been denied the authority by the courts to police the activities of Internet service providers like Verizon and Comcast, due to a decision made on a law that was created in 1934 (The Communications Act of 1934), predating the modern Internet by more than half a century. This decision states that “cable Internet service is neither a ‘telecommunications service’ covered by Title II of the Communications Act nor a ‘cable service’ covered by Title VI.”
This decision gave Google & Verizon the ability to make this deal. This deal will set a precedent, and drive the first nail into the coffin of Net Neutrality. It end the potential that any website can act as a TV or radio network. It will spell the end of our opportunity to access and distribute media as we, the people, see fit. It would begin an era where the same people that control what you watch on TV and what you hear on the radio control what you see on the Internet.
I want to make this perfectly clear: no matter what you do online, whether it’s shopping, checking Facebook, using Twitter, going to school, or using StumbleUpon, THIS WILL AFFECT YOU.
The ultimate corporate goal here is to turn the Net into something akin to cable TV, allowing corporations like AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, and Google to pick what sites you can and can’t see online. Have you ever been forced to switch cable plans because your favorite channel became a “premium channel”? Imagine going to Facebook and finding out you have to switch your Internet plan to view it. Imagine having to pay to see Amazon.com so that you can buy things from Amazon.com. This is not just a problem for Internet power-users. All video, radio, phone, and other services will all be delivered by an Internet connection in the near future. When this occurs, the FCC, for all intents and purposes, will be useless.
The FCC is hand-tied. The president is staying silent, despite promises to the contrary. There are many Net Neutrality supporters on Capitol Hill, but they need your voices backing them.
So, my friends, I beg of you: go to http://www.savetheinternet.com. Sign their petition Two Million Strong for Net Neutrality. Contact your congressperson & senators. MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD. Two million whispers can silence the loudest scream.
Sources:
Josh Silver, Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-silver/google-verizon-deal-the-e_b_671617.html
Edward Wyatt, New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/technology/05secret.html?_r=1&hp
Comcast/FCC Ruling:
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/33136129/comcast-fcc-ruling
