In just a few days, the FCC will close its deliberations on Net Neutrality to outside comment.
If the giant telcos, like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast, get their way, the FCC will abandon Net Neutrality and allow them to play favourites with big online companies who are willing to pay them the biggest bribes for favoured online treatment.
This will mean that everyone who can't pay will receive prejudiced online treatment compared to those who can.
Free Software Magazine would provide a typical example. It does not have a ready income from its readers, that would allow it to pay such bribes, and would soon become disadvantaged. Its only option would be to begin charging a considerable price for each issue in order to pay the assessed charges (bribes).
In fact, most services that are currently free on the internet would soon become pay per view only. You will need to keep your credit card handy every time you go online.
Save the Internet has been conducting an intense campaign against this loss of internet freedom and need every bit of support they can get at this stage. Just because you live in some other country is no reason to feel complacent. Once the FCC abandons Net Neutrality these companies will be coming to your government to demand that they follow suit.
We can't afford, literally, to let this happen.
Comments
Free as in Freedom
The web we want: Free as in Freedom!
This is worrying, I know. We cannot stop this process, it's impossible, but future you draw is quite unfeasible (luckily).
Internet originate from free thought and it will be free as in freedom over and over again. Historically, Internet users are reluctant to pay and contents were free -- as is still now! I like think this will be forever.
In a perfect world, this first FCC's false move will be paid soon heading straight down toward the ground.
Of course, let me dream ... :-)
ps: I'm studying English, be patient ... Please! ;-P
Excuse me but when has the
Excuse me but when has the internet been free? Free as in speech yes but not free as in beer. We all have to pay an ISP to access the net so we are paying already. Unless of course you happen to be one of those crackers who pinch bandwidth from a neighbour :-(
Free as in ... Doh!!
Of course, we all have to pay an ISP to access the net as well we all have to pay someone to access everything.
There isn't nothing strange by paying the services (no one makes something for nothing), there isn't nothing strange by paying to access the net. Free as in freedom doesn't mean that we haven't to pay, gratis means that! :-)
Don't mix "Free as in Freedom" up with "gratis"!
I believen the comments to be wrong ...
The problem is that this enables ISP's to give some content providers much better bandwidth than others. It is not unlikely that for instance Microsoft enters a deal with some ISP's which enables the ISP's to use microsoft software for free (or cheap) and in return the ISP will give MS-applications better bandwith than it's competitors. If MS products would be perceived as faster by the end users the end users will most likely use the MS products, even if the speed advantage only is due to the ISP. In the battle between MS, Yahoo!, google and others this would be a huge advantage.
In addition small content providers will not be able to compete with larger content providers since they don't have the money to pay the ISP's for a better connection. This means that there will be no more YouTube-companies started "from scratch", which depend on good speed to stay competitive.
Etc. etc.
And in the end, this only results in end users paying more, ISP's getting fatter, content providers disappearing, no room for small content providers and companies, only the biggest survive, and the internet is not as free as it is today since one of the good things about the internet of today is its diversity and the fact that even the smalles have a voice.
Heads in the sand
Pay pay pay pay pay. PAY. We already pay an ISP to access a network to enter onto the WWW, The cost of which is already stated in a multi-tiered system (Wide Open West or WOW) for example. Now the fat-cats have devised another scheme to ring more more from John/Jane Q. Public, all in the name of share holders and profits. The original internet was a tool used by scientist to share information between different countries during the cold war. Today it is the pulse of many communities from different countires. What starts in America, this new pay-as-you-go access, will spread like a cancer to other countires. Just when other countries are coming online, this cancer of greed spreads and kills the openness that today's internet has been nurturing. Only the greedy haves will be able to access the net. The have-nots will continue to not-have. Where does the greed stop? Talk about terrorism. If this new law isn't the new face of terrorism, extorsion, then what is? When do we stop paying just because someone else wants to extort more money?
WoW
WoW is my comment to your comment! :-)