Brought to attention by the ever link-spamtastic
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cleolinda and ridiculously expanded upon by yours truly.
This is damn important. Although only applicable to Americans, no offense to the rest of the world, but this is just yet
another problem we're facing... If anything, if the broadband companies get what they want in this case, both you and I will pay loads and loads more for crappy service. As someone else put it, money alone can be enough of a rallying call for anyone.
The
Network Neutrality Act has been introduced by Representative Ed Markey (D-MA) and it would be in our best interest for it to pass.
What is network neutrality? The short story is that network neutrality provides a fair and leveled playing field for all users of the internet. The only people that can benefit from this are the broadband companies- the ones receiving the new revenue and profiting off increased service charges. It's so that one company cannot pay money to a broadband company to receive priority bandwidth over another company. If anything, it reeks of the potential for abuse. I wouldn't be so naive to think neither the companies nor the government would dare to take advantage. The US currently has no legislature regarding network neutrality in place.
Why this lack of network neutrality legislation may soon bite the consumer in the ass...( What an editorial in our favorite liberal media outlet has to say )Columbia Law School Professor says network neutrality good, but what would a member of the liberal Ivy elite know...So what are the prospects of this act? In the recent past, the US House of Energy and Commerce Committee has
rejected net neutrality amendments
in a vote of 34-22, perhaps mainly because it was attached to a larger telecommunication bill. And a quick look through Google's (that does support net neutrality) and Yahoo's news aggregation reveals surprisingly little coverage in internet sources.
However, it has been noticed that as more voters become aware of this issue and voice their opinions to their Representative, the more they may be willing to change their stance. So here are the ways in which you can do something if you so choose to (taken from a bunch of blogs talking about this):
1. SIGN a Net Neutrality petition to Congress.
2. CALL Congress now. Especially, tell your representatives in the House to support Markey's Net Neutrality Act of 2006, but educate your senators on this issue too, as the fight will soon move there. (If your Representative voted the way you wanted, thank him or her and encourage him or her to continue to support your cause.)
3. WRITE A LETTER to Congress. (The House will not be voting this week on this issue in light of increased public scrutiny, so your letters should get there in time if you do so right away.)
4. MYSPACE: Add "Save the Internet" as a friend.
5. Check out the BLOG RESOURCES about this issue, including "Save the Internet" logo.
6. VISIT the SavetheInternet coalition Web site for more information.
Thus ends my spamming and internet activism.
ETA Maybe everyone should cool down and really analyze the implementation of legislation?More about the general COPE bill in the House and Ted Stevens' (R-Alaska) "Communications, Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006" in the SenateFrom ConsumerAffairs.com:
Congress Wrestles with Net Neutrality![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
