Ask A Ninja: Net Neutrality

[thewayne]

I am definitely a fan of Ask A Ninja.

http://www.askaninja.com/news/2006/05/11/ask-a-ninja-special-delivery-4-net-neutrality

Comments

[cardigirl.livejournal.com]

I mentioned Net Neutrality a week or two ago, when MoveOn.org brought it to my attention. No one much responded except for folks outside the US. WTF????????

(thanks again for the headpounder icon; I only wish I didn't have as much use for it as I find I do)

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

I didn't respond to your net neutrality post initially because I wanted to research a couple of things. One of the biggest problems that our gov't has regarding the internet is that they can't grasp the fact that they don't own it. Yes, the US Dept of Defense Advanced Research Projects invented the internet. The World Wide Web was invented at the CERN labs in Switzerland. So the US tries to pass laws to regulate content, and the rest of the world laughs.

Net neutrality is a little different. From one side, we are a capitalist economy. The companies that want to add the surcharges have made tremendous investments into this infrastructure of copper and wireless, and they see an opportunity to squeeze a little more profit out of it, never mind that the backbone providers and ISPs already pay them money for access, and last I heard, none of the companies that own the infrastructure are actually in financial straits.

On the other hand, this would leave the US wide open to reprisals. The US does not control all of the internet, and if, say, Australia wanted to throttle all US traffic to a stand-still, they could easily do it.

So I thought on this a while and decided that even though Dubya is pro-business (well, he's pro- anybody who'll donate money), it won't last in the long run. And sure enough, a bill has been introduced to ensure net neutrality into Congress.

I should check into the news sites and see what's happening with it.

[cardigirl.livejournal.com]

You go to, let's say, an office building wherein your favorite haircutting salon works on the bottom floor. You pay your haircutter to cut your hair. Maybe you even tip him. You leave.

One day you come in and, at the front door to the building is a man with his hand out. "Pay me because I built the building. Yeah, I'm still collecting rent from the guy who cuts your hair, but the building cost me a buncho money and I'm just not rich enough." You decline to pay him and he tells you okay, but you now have to take the stairs up and down, you can't use the elevator without his special key code which he'll only give you if you pay him baksheesh. And don't park out front, use the back entrance and walk around. Just step over the winos. They weren't rich enough either.

And you still have to pay the hairdresser.

--------------------
Here's some of the MoveOn.org mobilize-the-bloggers info (which they even include your Ask the Ninja site!):

The House of Representatives will soon vote on whether or not to preserve Internet freedom—and our fight to protect Network Neutrality is gaining huge momentum.

The SavetheInternet.com Coalition now has 524 member organizations, 637,386 petition signatures to Congress, 3,251 blog links, and 5,634 MySpace friends. We will only win this fight if the public is mobilized, Congress is bombarded from all angles, and word spreads around the Internet like prairie fire.

Here are some resources to help you blog today about the current threat to Internet freedom:

MoveOn's blogger resource page is full of facts and links to help you inform people about Net Neutrality: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1771 ;

MoveOn member Mari Fetzer designed a FANTASTIC image with links to 5 things people can do today to preserve Internet freedom. The coding is available at the bottom of: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1769

Several fun videos are now on the SavetheInternet.com Coalition website, including a great Halo mimick on Net Neutrality: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1770

Comedy site "Ask A Ninja" has a unique perspective on Net Neutrality: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1768

EDIT added: The original blogger resource link was not working for some people with Internet Explorer. Below is a corrected link.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1771&id=7594-5833392-8vraIiVIX0G9ToN1_356MA&t=1

–Adam Green, Noah T. Winer, and the MoveOn.org Civic Action team
Thursday, May 11th, 2006