Thanks FCC & Congress — One Heluva Lot — For Nothing

Internet Economy: Out of Gas, Out of Ideas, But in Our Wallets (More)

Breaks or Benefits: Greed Kicked into High Gear

Flashback to the Telecommunications Act of 1996 — remember how it was to serve the public better? Ha.

What it promised back then:  

The law's main purpose was to stimulate competition in telecommunication services. The law specifies:

• How local telephone carriers can compete .

• How and under what circumstances local exchange carriers (LEC) can provide long-distance services. 

• The deregulation of cable TV rates.  

Promises made — promises broken, but by whom? The FCC or the Internet providers? Um ... probably both of them. 

The chart above shows (according to this story): One Frightening Chart Shows What You Might Pay For Internet Once Net Neutrality Is Gone

What is “net neutrality” anyway. In a nutshell there is “net neutrality” 101 and what it means:

We've all come to rely on the Internet for almost every aspect of our lives — work, communication, shopping, entertainment, even medical advice — and there's been a slow rumbling of debate about how this new frontier should be managed. After all, the Internet, like any infrastructure, has a limited capacity, so how should service providers organize and prioritize what information is accessed and by whom? 

On the one hand, we've had proponents of net neutrality — folks who argue that a free and democratic Internet requires equal access, and that unless net neutrality is enforced, telecom providers will seek to sell the fastest traffic to the highest bidder, creating a situation where companies can ensure "premium" service by simply paying more for it, and forcing subscribers to buy services they would otherwise never want. On the other hand, we've had defenders of "free market" principles, suggesting that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should have the right to decide how they monetize their services. 

All this came to a head this week with a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in favor of Verizon, which was asking for an appeal of the Federal Communications Commissions' net neutrality rules, arguing that the agency had overstepped its legal authority. Here's how the Huffington Post (link above) describes the mess - and yes, make no mistake about it, it is a huge mess for the public. 

Use your voice and the FCC and Congress to protect the Internet for everyone and not let the big ISP's to rip off the public for more profits. Information must be equal for everyone on the same level. This can't emphasized any strong than that.

Help all you can.