Have you ever heard of “Net Neutrality?” … This is currently the way the Internet is run. If some big telecom corporations have their way, this will end much the way newspapers and radio were controlled. The reason this is appealing to government to give in to the telecom requests is that it will help in stifling freedom of speech. More of the “real” public opinion would not be as easily heard as it is today. Can I type this in an understandable manner? Probably not. That’s why I provide a link to a site that keeps you informed on a regular basis as to what is going on.
I used to think things like this were bogus, that they would pass. My reason for this is that I ran BBS systems. I heard all the rumors of the phone company threatening to charge more for lines that answered with a modem. I’ve heard this before that the Post Office was going to dip into the email market forcing people to pay so many cents per email sent. Open threats that caused great scares when and where they were posted. How is this different? It’s history repeating itself. Real people are involved. Named corporations and the government. This is real.
I also respect those that started the Internet and their foundations. Their intent was and still is for Net Neutrality. Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn were the first to participate in the Internet’s design. As I understand it, it was initially for the sharing of information between scientists, government and colleges. If you’re kinda interested in this, please read a cool book entitled “The Cuckoo’s Egg” by Cliff Stoll … I’ve read this many years ago.
Just some 15 years ago, the World Wide Web was thought up by Sir Tim Berners-Lee where anyone in the world could access this group of computers using standards and publish their own content for viewing by anyone in the world with a like connection. His standards allowed for the user to choose her access to the ‘net as well as the applications that they chose to use to do it. I am also incredibly appreciative of those who took this medium to collaborate on operating systems and Open Source Software. Richard Stallman, Linus Torvalds, Brian Behlendorf, Eric Raymond, Bruce Perens et. al., but that’s entirely another story.
If you appreciate these people as I do, please get involved and save the Internet as we know it. Thanks.