I’ll bet you’re in love with your cable television provider! No? Pshaw… of course you are!
Who doesn’t love those cute little “bundles” of services that grow from cheap introductory rates to budget crushing monthly bills, and those ginormous early termination fees that are so effective at discouraging jailbreaks?
And, you’ve gotta love the democratic spirit of the whole thing—the way your cable company devotes so many resources to its public access channels. I know I’ve been deeply emotionally moved by the way Comcast nurtures new and innovative talent and provides a meaningful platform for alternative social and political dialogue. I’ll bet you have too!
Okay, that was all a set up for the good news. Starting Monday, all the things you’ve come to love about your cable television service will be coming to your internet service too!
That’s right. Soon you’ll be enjoying even bigger bills and even fewer choices!
Hooray! Capitalism eats saves the day again! It’s the American way.
Net Neutrality. It’s the unwritten law that has enforced true democracy across the internet and made your online experience great. It will be murdered on Monday.
Well, maybe it won’t be quite ready for burial that soon, but the lethal poison that will lead to its death may well be injected then. The Huffington Post, basing it’s report on a story in the New York Times, says this will happen at a Monday press conference where Google and Verizon are set to announce their agreement to prioritize, monopolize and de-democratize the internet.
Whether the New York Times has it right or wrong (Google denies that it’s conspiring with anyone to kill the internet and says there will be no Google/Verizon announcement on Monday), expect similar announcements from other internet and media titans shortly. Expect the poison to be fast acting. With the help of Congressional Republicans in the pocket of the telecommunications industry, Net Neutrality should be a corpse by 2013.
Here’s how all of this works. The Net Neutrality rule has always said that operators of internet networks (like Comcast and Verizon) should not prioritize traffic passing over their networks. They shouldn’t give a speed boost to CBS and put the brakes on CNN. They shouldn’t serve up Garth Brooks’ website any faster than they serve up your garage band’s totally awesome site. They shouldn’t give calls made with Comcast Digital Voice fast lane broadband and choke calls placed with Vonage.
Without Net Neutrality, they can do all those things. And will.
Just imagine the internet in your future! It might look something like this….
Access to the internet will be controlled by a handful of cable and telecommunications giants. Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, and outfits like that. Your choice of providers will be limited by the way these titans carve up the internet pie. Each will offer its services in tiers, each tier commanding a different price—just like Premium Digital costs more than Basic Cable.
Each provider will offer its own lineup of “channels”—voip phone service, internet search, movie rental, streaming video, games, standard web browsing and premium content sites. This list could go on and on.
If you want to use a voip phone service other than the one your provider offers? Tough luck.
Want to use a search engine other than the one that pays your ISP for featured placement? Tough luck.
Want to rent a movie from a company other than your ISP’s affiliate? Tough luck.
Want the Perkerson Park blog to load in your browser as quickly as it does today? Tough luck. Expect a wait. We can’t pay for featured placement and priority bandwidth. You may be stuck reading Bill O’Reilly’s Talking Points.
Google’s anticipated deal with Verizon may buy YouTube (a Google property) priority bandwidth on the Verizon network, giving it a giant competitive advantage over Blip.tv and NetFlix. Such a deal might guarantee that Google Blogger sites speed along over Verizon’s network faster than WordPress sites. The same might be true for all Google owned properties (like it’s social networking, email, books, voice and advertising properties) relative to Google’s competitors.
In this vision of the internet, as in every other world in which capitalism is allowed to run amok, the big dogs eat the little dogs, and independent and dissenting voices are silenced.
Free and open. That’s the internet we’ve all known. It’s the internet that has been dynamic and growing, tingling with tomorrow’s possibilities. I don’t want it to die. I’m sure you don’t either.
Please call or write your representatives in Congress. Drive your senators crazy! Don’t relent! Tell them we need legislation to preserve Net Neutrality. We need action now to Save the Internet!
Freedom of the press does, indeed, belong to those who own a press. Today’s internet gives every one of us a press and a way to distribute our publications. It gives every one of us a voice. It is a powerful tool for preserving freedom and democracy. The giant telecom and media companies are wrapping their hands around your throat and are ready to apply the squeeze. I’ll be anxious to see if you’re gonna fight back.
