Thanks Bill Bob.
And frankly, it has nothing to do with small or large profits. It has
only to do with the co-option and private-gating of a public resource
that everyone has helped to build.
How would you feel if some private organization contracted with your
city to manage sidewalks, and then afterwards erected fences to only
let those who paid them an entry fee (at a price _they_ determined)
to walk on those sidewalks, or those who ran stores paid them to
leave the sidewalk in front of their store open (again at a price the
management company determined)? What if there were two private
companies that did this in your town, and claimed that they were
competing because there were 2 of them. Meanwhile, you still can't
use the sidewalk unless you pay one of them.
Dana Spiegel
Executive Director
NYCwireless
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.NYCwireless.net
+1 917 402 0422
Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info
On Jan 24, 2006, at 7:57 PM, Billy Bob wrote:
I don't believe that anyone begrudges a private corporation a
reasonable
profit... It's when they have humongous profits from products that
have
become a "necessity" of life for most of us, that we have a problem.
I don't believe that we would be squabbling about the price of gas
for our
vehicles, if the corporations providing us the gas, were having a
great year
instead of the outrageous triple digit percentage profit gains at our
expense. Especially when the general public sees no need for the
high prices
we pay, that are producing those outrageous profits.
We will probably look at the Internet providers the same way. Why
can't we
go where we want to after paying to get on? And why should anyone be
directing how I use my computer or what applications I prefer to
use? I
believe that my ISP already, and has all along, stated that I get "x"
bandwidth per month for a price. If I go over that, I have to pay
more. I
think that is reasonable. I don't think it's reasonable for my ISP
to tell
me how I can use my bandwidth like my utility company doesn't tell
me how I
can use my electricity if the application is legal under the law.
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jim
Henry
Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 6:34 PM
To: 'Dana Spiegel'; nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net
Subject: RE: [nycwireless] Fwd: Internet Freedom Under Fire: Act Now
Shame on those evil big companies for wanting to make a profit!
Shame on
them for wanting to control how the very networks which they built
and run,
with their stockholders' money, are run!
<g>
Sorry sometimes I just can't resist!
Jim
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dana
Spiegel
Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 2:39 PM
To: nycwireless@lists.nycwireless.net
Subject: [nycwireless] Fwd: Internet Freedom Under Fire: Act Now
Begin forwarded message:
From: "Timothy Karr, Campaign Director" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: January 24, 2006 2:33:28 PM EST
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Internet Freedom Under Fire: Act Now
Dear Dana Spiegel:
After destroying TV and radio, mega-media corporations are scheming
to control what content you can view and which services you
can use
online.
Streaming video, Internet phones, podcasting and online games are
the future of the Internet. But companies like Verizon, AT&T and
Comcast want Congress to let them deliver only their own products at
super-high speeds ... while sticking the rest of us in the slow
lane.
This predatory scheme would be a dead end for independent voices and
Internet innovators: bloggers, producers, and any new channels and
services that might compete with the conglomerates.
The only way to stop them is to raise hell right now:
Tell Big Media and Congress: Hands Off Our Internet. Go to http://
www.freepress.net/action/neutrality
From its beginnings, the Internet was built on a cooperative,
democratic ideal. The infrastructure's only job was to move data
between users - regardless of where it came from or what it
contained.
This "network neutrality" fostered a medium that did not exclude
anyone, allowed for far-reaching innovations, and created the
Internet as we know it.
Past experience shows that when large media companies are left to
their own devices, the result is content and services that serve
nothing but their bank accounts. An open and independent Internet is
the antidote to these media gatekeepers.
If big media companies are allowed to limit the fastest services to
those who can pay their toll, upstart Web services, consumers,
bloggers and new media makers alike all would be cut off from the
digital revolution.
Tell Big Media and Congress: Hands Off Our Internet. Go to http://
www.freepress.net/action/neutrality
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