Frank, Yepper, and here is yet another article": Center for Individual Freedom
Dear Friend: Why after so many years of fighting to keep the Internet largely free of regulation and taxation are some lawmakers and Internet companies now advocating for increased regulation of the Internet? The United States House of Representatives may consider a provision that will lead to regulation of the Internet. Please contact your Representative in Congress and Majority Leader Boehner and ask them to keep the Internet free of regulation. Use the hyperlink below to send your personalized letter to your Representative in Congress and Majority Leader Boehner today! http://capwiz.com/cfif/issues/alert/?alertid=8574316&type=CO Last week, several news publications -- citing anonymous sources -- reported that new legislation to regulate the Internet (so-called "net-neutrality") will be considered as part of a telecom reform bill currently being debated in Congress. Over the past few months, proponents of so-called "net-neutrality" regulation have been using scare tactics with the general public and our elected officials - demanding legislation for a problem that doesn't even exist! Even the Wall Street Journal calls these proponents' tactics "silly" and dismisses the notion that it is the "end of the Internet as we know it." Some major corporate interests like Google and Yahoo! would like for you to believe they are David facing Goliath -- claiming that broadband providers like Comcast, Cox and AT&T will keep you from accessing their products. Nothing could be further from the truth! Never, in the history of the Internet, has a broadband provider blocked a customer from accessing their Yahoo! Mail or Google search engine. Yet, these companies want Congress to enact legislation that will protect them from this non-existent problem. Ironically, these calls for the government to become the Internet's traffic cop are being led by companies like Google, which only a short time ago made headlines when it chose to cooperate with the Communist leadership of China. Remember when Google caved to the Chinese government and agreed to block access to all information and websites that speak about freedom and democracy? When they agreed to censor all information that discusses Tiananmen Square and independence for Taiwan - or anything else that can be interpreted to go against the interests of China's Communist leadership? Can you believe it's supposed conservative lawmakers who are now cow-towing to these interests and offering to legislate and regulate the Internet in response to these ridiculous demands? We have witnessed the success of the Internet and all that it does: brings families closer, grows economies, creates a new generation of entrepreneurs and increases access to information for people all over the world. All this with little, if any interference from the government. The Internet must remain free from government regulation and taxation! Contact your Representative in Congress and Majority Leader Boehner today! Ask them to reject calls to regulate the Internet. And, ask them to urge their colleagues to do the same. Use the hyperlink below to send your personalized letter to your Representative in Congress and Majority Leader Boehner today! http://capwiz.com/cfif/issues/alert/?alertid=8574316&type=CO Sincerely, Jeff Mazzella President Center for Individual Freedom www.cfif.org > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf > Of Frank Coluccio > Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2006 11:21 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: RE: [nycwireless] New Yorker Article [was: > Multichannel News -AnalystsQuestionBellInvestments] > > > When a topic like network neutrality begins to appear in > places like the "Talk of > > the Town" column of The New Yorker Magazine, then you know > it's only a matter of > > time before it hits the mainstream of public awareness. And > that's not such a bad > > thing. > > > > Begin article: > > --- > > > > NET LOSSES > > > > By James Surowiecki > > march 13, 2006 > > > > "In the first decades of the twentieth CENTURY, as a national > telephone network > > spread across the United States, A.T. & T. adopted a policy > of "tiered access" > > for businesses. Companies that paid an extra fee got better > service: their > > customers' calls went through immediately, were rarely > disconnected, and sounded > > crystal-clear. Those who didn't pony up had a harder time > making calls out, and > > people calling them sometimes got an "all circuits busy" > response. Over time, > > customers gravitated toward the higher-tier companies and > away from the ones that > > were more difficult to reach. In effect, A.T. & T.'s policy > turned it into a > > corporate kingmaker. > > > > "If you've never heard about this bit of business history, > there's a good reason: > > it never happened. Instead, A.T. & T. had to abide by a > "common carriage" rule: > > it provided the same quality of service to all, and could not > favor one customer > > over another. But, while "tiered access" never influenced the > spread of the > > telephone network, it is becoming a major issue in the > evolution of the Internet. > > Until recently, companies that provided Internet access > followed a de-facto > > commoncarriage rule, usually called "network neutrality," > which meant that all > > Web sites got equal treatment. > > > > "Network neutrality was considered so fundamental to the > success of the Net that > > Michael Powell, when he was chairman of the F.C.C., described > it as one of the > > basic rules of "Internet freedom." In the past few months, > though, companies like > > A.T. & T. and BellSouth have been trying to scuttle it. In > the future, Web sites > > that pay extra to providers could receive what BellSouth > recently called "special > > treatment," and those that don't could end up in the slow > lane. One day, > > BellSouth customers may find that, say, NBC.com loads a lot > faster than > > YouTube.com, and that the sites BellSouth favors just seem to > run more smoothly. > > Tiered access will turn the providers into Internet gatekeepers." > > > > Continued at: > > > > http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/articles/060320ta_talk_s urowiecki ------ Frank A. Coluccio DTI Consulting Inc. 19 Fulton Street South Street Seaport New York, NY 10038 212-587-8150 Office 347-526-6788 Mobile -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 268.2.1/278 - Release Date: 3/9/2006 -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
