From the outside in

Friday, August 6, 2010

The end of Net Neutrality means the end of bottom-up change

via Open Left - Front Page by Chris Bowers on 8/5/10

If you haven't already, sign up to joint the fight to save Net Neutrality.  It isn't too late to save it, but we have to get moving now.

"Real change comes from the bottom up, not the top down."--Senator Barack Obama, April 30, 2008

For years, Internet advocates have warned of the doomsday scenario that will play out on Monday: 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."

The deal marks the beginning of the end of the Internet as you know it. Since its beginnings, the Net was a level playing field that allowed all content to move at the same speed, whether it's ABC News or your uncle's video blog.  That's all about to change, and the result couldn't be more bleak for the future of the Internet, for television, radio and independent voices.

How did this happen? We have a Federal Communications Commission that has been denied authority by the courts to police the activities of Internet service providers like Verizon and Comcast. All because of a bad decision by the Bush-era FCC. We have a pro-industry FCC Chairman who is terrified of making a decision, conducting back room dealmaking, and willing to sit on his hands rather than reassert his agency's authority. We have a president who promised to "take a back seat to no one on Net Neutrality" yet remains silent. We have a congress that is nearly completely captured by industry. Yes, more than half of the US congress will do pretty much whatever the phone and cable companies ask them to. Add the clout of Google, and you have near-complete control of Capitol Hill.

----Josh Silver, august 5th, 2010

It would truly be a grotesque irony if the greatest phenomenon in favor of democratized, bottom-up change in history--the network neutral internet--was destroyed under the administration that has consistently sold itself as the most democratized, bottom-up, grassroots-friendly White House in history.  But, we are on the brink of seeing exactly that happen.

The Obama administration's endless dithering and insatiable desire to not appear--or be--confrontational toward corporate America and other status-quo institutions is about to allow the Internet to become a top-down, corporate captured medium.  The wealthiest corporations will be able to shut out bottom-up, grassroots institutions that are outside their control.  And, they will vastly enrich themselves in the process.

The Internet is the most democratized media in the history of the world.  It is the largest repository of cultural production ever created.  Both of these are only possible because everyone who has access to the Internet has the same production and distribution options as everyone else.  This deal between Verizon and Google would end that, once and for all, by allowing the wealthiest, most powerful corporations to have the best channels of production and distribution, while everyone else gets crumbs or worse.

This is going to happen unless the Obama administration and the FCC prevent it.  And they CAN prevent it.  Unfortunately, they are more interested in not taking any confrontational stance at all, and are working to outline a "third way" on Net Neutrality even as the Google Verizon deal unfolds.

Although, I suppose on the plus side for the Obama administration, they won't have to worry about hearing about complaints from annoying bloggers anymore, since it could become almost impossible to get our websites to load.

If you haven't already, sign up to joint the fight to save Net Neutrality.  It isn't too late to save it, but we have to get moving now.

Posted via email from Out of my Mind

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