Franken's remarks stand the First Amendment on its head. The First
Amendment protects the citizens from violations of our speech rights by
the government, while net neutrality laws are attempts to have the
government limit the services and business models of a group of
companies. If there is any connection between the First Amendment and
net neutrality laws, it goes the other direction. Net neutrality would
limit the ability of the citizens to make effective use of broadband
networks for voice and video communication. reserving good Quality of
Service opportunities to companies who can afford to build or use
Content Delivery Networks.
This speech sounds like a comedy routine because it's so disconnected
from the facts.
RB
On 7/26/2010 10:46 AM, Tim Karr wrote:
I know the carriers and their paid proxies get their briefs in a bind
whenever we posit this as a free speech issue [which is pretty telling
in and of itself]
So here goes:
*Sen. Franken to the Netroots: Only You Can Stop the Corporate
Takeover of Free Speech
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/sen-franken-to-the-netroo_b_659337.html>*
By Timothy Karr
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/sen-franken-to-the-netroo_b_659337.html
Over the weekend, Sen. Al Franken (D.-Minn.) made the corporate
takeover of our media, and the government's acquiescence to these
corporations, frighteningly clear.
[VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ODV5U87yps]
Franken told more than 2,000 bloggers and organizers attending the
Netroots Nation <http://www.netrootsnation.org> conference in Las
Vegas that our media system is at risk everywhere we turn -- from our
free speech online to the growing power of companies who own a massive
number of media outlets.
"Tonight I want to tell you that I believe Net Neutrality is the First
Amendment issue of our time," Franken said during a closing keynote
address to conference-goers. He went on to warn of the looming merger
<http://ww.freepress.net/comcast> between cable giant Comcast and
NBC-Universal, saying:
--
Richard Bennett
Senior Research Fellow
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
Washington, DC
