THE HANDSTAND | FEBRUARY/MARCH 2006 |
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Here is further
confirmation of the three pages in January Issue
Handstand on internet issues of political importance,Big
Brother moves behind the scenes: THE END OF THE INTERNET? By Jeff Chester, The Nation. Verizon, Comcast, Bell South and other communications giants are developing strategies that would track and store information on our every move in cyberspace in a vast data-collection and marketing system, the scope of which could rival the National Security Agency. According to white papers now being circulated in the cable, telephone and telecommunications industries, those with the deepest pockets--corporations, special-interest groups and major advertisers -- would get preferred treatment. Content from these providers would have first priority on our computer and television screens, while information seen as undesirable, such as peer-to-peer communications, could be relegated to a slow lane or simply shut out. Under the plans they are considering, all of us--from content providers to individual users -- would pay more to surf online(See Example below), stream videos or even send e-mail. Industry planners are mulling new subscription plans that would further limit the online experience, establishing "platinum," "gold" and "silver" levels of Internet access that would set limits on the number of downloads, media streams or even e-mail messages that could be sent or received. To make this pay-to-play vision a reality, phone and cable lobbyists are now engaged in a political campaign to further weaken the nation's communications policy laws. They want the federal government to permit them to operate Internet and other digital communications services as private networks, free of policy safeguards or governmental oversight. Indeed, both the Congress and the Federal Communications Commission are considering proposals that will have far-reaching impact on the Internet's future. Ten years after passage of the ill-advised Telecommunications Act of 1996, telephone and cable companies are using the same political snake oil to convince compromised or clueless lawmakers to subvert the Internet into a turbo-charged digital retail machine. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060213/chester * Links to White Papers mentioned above: http://www.democraticmedia.org/issues/netneutrality.html * Grand Rapids requires Network Neutrality in municipal wireless network http://www.wirelesscommunity.info/2006/01/31/grand-rapids-requires- network-neutrality-in-municipal-wireless-network/ * Just Say No(thing) http://gigaom.com/2006/02/01/just-say-nothing/ * The Real Bandwidth Hog? The Telcos http://techdirt.com/articles/20060202/024219_F.shtml from Frank Scott EXAMPLE EUobserver.com is an independent website published by EUobserver.com ASBL, a non-profit association registered under Belgian law. © 2006 EUobserver, All rights reserved JOCELYN BRADDELL, EDITOR Purchase Pay Per View creditsTo access premium content in the EUobserver you need to purchase Pay Per View credits. If you have purchased credits before, please click here to login. You pay 1 credit = 0.5 euro to view one normal news article. Credits can be stored for later use. Special reports provided on the EUobserver.com site may cost more. The exact price is specified on the report. EU leaders seek legitimacy through action at 'elitist' event is 1 credit. Please enter the amount of Pay Per View credits you want to buy. credit(s) You will now be directed to our payment partner Worldpay.com's secure server to fill in your credit card details. If you require an invoice and would like to pay by
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