Wednesday April 26, 2006

This Blog (and millions of others) May Be Forced Offline…

Do you use Verizon, AT&T, Time Warner, or Comcast for your Internet access?  If so, you may want to learn about some legislation the big phone and cable companies are pushing.  It’s a legislation that will get rid of Net Neutrality.  In other words, AT&T, Time Warner, etc… will begin charging websites for access to their networks.  The amount of fees paid by those websites will dictate how fast the site loads - or if it loads at all.

Not sure what all this is about?  Go read this FAQ… I’ll wait.

It works like this.  If the big guns have their way, then each and every website may* have to pay for access to the big company’s networks in order for their site to be accessible to those customers.  The companies are planning on charging in a tier model.  The higher the price paid, the faster the site will load, and the more accessible it will be.

What’s at stake?  The Internet as we know it.  The future of media is the Internet.  This dispute is over who will control new technologies.

What else is at stake?  Every. single. website.  If the big guns win, and net neutrality disappears, then this blog, and every other website I run, may be forced off of the Internet, as I can’t afford to pay for extra charges like that.

Hundreds of millions of other websites may disappear, too.  New technologies may suddenly become limited, or may only be available to certain people on certain networks, and not available to people using other networks.

Please…  Support net neutrality, and call your representative today and ask them to vote FOR net neutrality.  If the public masses don’t cry foul, and cry LOUDLY, the government won’t support this bill.  Ensure the future of the ‘net as we know it.  Call.  Support.  Get the word out.

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