Congress Poised to Unravel the Internet

Congress Poised to Unravel the Internet

Lured by huge checks handed out by the country's top lobbyists, members of Congress could soon strike a blow against Internet freedom as they seek to resolve the hot-button controversy over preserving "network neutrality." The telecommunications reform bill now moving through Congress threatens to be a major setback for those who hope that digital media can foster a more democratic society. The bill not only precludes net neutrality safeguards but also eliminates local community oversight of digital communications provided by cable and phone giants. It sets the stage for the privatized, consolidated and unregulated communications system that is at the core of the phone and cable lobbies' political agenda.

In both the House and Senate versions of the bill, Americans are described as "consumers" and "subscribers," not citizens deserving substantial rights when it comes to the creation and distribution of digital media. A handful of companies stand to gain incredible monopoly power from such legislation, especially AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner and Verizon. They have already used their political clout in Washington to secure for the phone and cable industries a stunning 98 percent control of the US residential market for high-speed Internet.

Alaska Republican Senator Ted Stevens, the powerful Commerce Committee chair, is trying to line up votes for his "Advanced Telecommunications and Opportunities Reform Act." It was Stevens who called the Internet a "series of tubes" as he tried to explain his bill. Now the subject of well-honed satirical jabs from The Daily Show, as well as dozens of independently made videos, Stevens is hunkering down to get his bill passed by the Senate when it reconvenes in September.

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Have to stop this!

The only weapon we have.The internet has enabled us to expose the lies of 9/11.They know what this free form of communication can do.
What can be done to stop this?

They could ridicule us ...

Generally whenever a politician wants to discredit a particular view, they either ridicule the view or the person who has that view. Usually it's both. This way it discourages others from following the view as they don't want to be ridiculed either. It's a bit like playground name calling but dressed up and called politics :]

The problem with the internet is that it's a lot harder to ridicule any person so they try to ridicule the idea instead. I think their approach is losing slowly. I don't think they can stop the truth, whatever it is, from coming out. The evidence won't go away and people will start to realise. If we all do our bit to inform people then the government loses and freedom wins.

What I expect is that they will try to lump all truth seekers into the "lunatic conspiracy nut with no evidence but a tin foil hat" group. This was successfully managed with UFO's even though there is nothing wrong with seeing a UFO. It could quite easily be a secret military aircraft, and therefore the motive for the discrediting comes from the military and intelligence agencies. Now we live in a world where anyone asking questions is laughed at and ignored if the questions don't fit with the official line of thought. So at some point they may do an independent investigation, but appoint someone like Condon from the 60s.

Whatever the government does, I think they will lose eventually, and freedom will prevail. The internet has come out of nowhere and they literally can't deal with it.

Well that's my idea anyway :]

They're all gonna laugh at you!!!

This line was used repeatedly in that horror movie classic, Carrie, and for good reason. Humiliation is one of our most basic fears. To be both ostracized and ridiculed by that same crowd- the larger the crowd, the worse the effect- is a horrible fate for the individual.

As for this specific matter, it is one of the most important things that we, as a free society, must grapple with in the near future. If access to individual websites that the fascists don't approve of is somehow restricted, that could severely curtail the ability of the average person to obtain truly independent information. Only the new "extremists" (that would be you and I) would be able to continue to receive independent information by cirumventing such controls. Ordinary people would become these extremists, or even *gasp* terrorists simply because we want to receive information free from state/corporate manipulation or vetting.

9/11 is the single greatest test of the independence of the internet and the ability of large groups of people to peacefully organize in order to counter the corporatist status pro. But this net neutrality fiasco has to be the second greatest test- more like threat- to the internet as an independent tool of the people. Fuck all the people, corporations and organizations who want to take it away from us! I really mean that: Fuck. You.
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http://tinyurl.com/q9wdl A must-see for the uninitiated: this video will awaken them from their long slumber
http://tinyurl.com/s8rrp A must-read for believers of the official story: David Ray Griffin administers the red pill