In yesterday's blog, I gave you a copy of an email I received from eBay's CEO asking me to protest some proposed web-related legislation. As promised, I did a little web research on this internet de-regulation debate. I found an article from PBS' Now that defines the conflict. The entire debate centers around the FCC's Telecommunications Act of 1996.
On one side are companies like Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast. You can read more about what they are fighting for on sites like Hands off the Internet. Basically, they want to cash in, making more money off the internet. They want, "the Internet to be governed by economics, not government regulation." If they win, they will be able to give more bandwidth to certain companies in exchange for cash. People who couldn't or wouldn't pay top dollar prices would be stuck with lower bandwitdth (goodbye high-res. video and fast load times, etc.).
The opposing side is spearheaded by companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. They argue that the proposed changes are undemocratic and would limit creativity and innovation on the web. Sites like SavetheInternet.com and Free Press herald this cause's ideals.
Since the profits that the internet service providers are craving would ultimatley be coming out of our pockets, as internet users, I think it's worth our while to check out and play a part in this debate. The real kicker to me is that the quality of the internet would decline while the price increased! What do you think? What should we do?
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