To me this represents why net neutrality laws are so important. http://mmeiser.com/blog/2007/10/comcasts-leaked-talking-points-memo.html
Censorship is freaking subtle as all hell. THere's no transparency to it. Your skype stops working or starts acting like crap nothing short of a network expert is going to be able to tell you that it's your lying bastard ISP that's purposefully degrading your service. Unable to do a decent skypecast? Uploaded or downloaded large files like videos timing out? Videos on youtube playing like crap? Even the best among us would have a hard time proving it was their ISP. Hell, comcast blocked bittorent for 10's of thousands of users... everyone noticed the slowdown, but it took almost a month to prove it. Censorship is such a threat because you can't see it half the time. It's non-transparency is it's own disguise. You only hear about it when it doesn't work. It's the same way with net neutrality. What's more net neutrality WAS a part of law under the so called common carrier laws protecting telephone lines to the home until 2006 when the FCC repealed it data communications. Anyway... I predict the following a) it's going to get MUCh worse before it gets better b) the vast majority of blocking of services will go unreported but we'll have repeated huge cases that blow the book wide open, just like historical censorship. Only 1 in 1000 cases will come to light, but those will create a moral panic. c) the moral panic will cause extremely minimal legislation that will still allow for all sorts of grey area censorship of services. This will probably take 5 - 10 years before it even begins to play out. By the time we get there half the planet including most of Europe will probably have already passed legislation on internet censorship, and btw, that IS what this is about. Censorship. Why is it about censorship, becuase data is the new code of communications. We don't just communicate in words anymore, we communicate in video, audio, photo, and many more complex types of action and art like music. Net neutrality is a censorship issue. -Mike mmeiser.com/blog mefeedia.com On 10/26/07, Bill Cammack <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Apparently, it's even worse already. :/ > > I just finished watching TeXtra #88 > <http://www.podshow.com/shows/?mode=detail&episode_id=84796>, and in > Natali's viewer mail (at the end of the show), a guy wrote in that he > had ordered something on Pay Per View on Comcast, and set his DVR to > record it since he wasn't going to be home. > > He says that when he got home, it wasn't on his DVR and that when he > complained to Comcast, they informed him that they were no longer > allowing Pay Per View events to be recorded on DVRs. > > http://textra.podshow.com/ > > -- > Bill Cammack > http://billcammack.com > > > --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, "Jay dedman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > On 10/24/07, Jay dedman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Will there be a time when corporate-owned internet providers start > choosing what goes through >their networks? Some believe it's > happening now, and they seem to have legal right to do it. >Comcast, > one of the biggest US internet providers, is showing signs of limiting > P2P networks. > > > > follow up: > > > http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071019-evidence-mounts-that-comcast-is-targeting-bittorrent-traffic.html > > > > "Comcast has been "caught" blocking BitTorrent traffic in some areas, > > according to tests performed by the Associated Press. The news > > organization claims to have confirmed that Comcast is blocking—or at > > least seriously slowing down—BitTorrent transfers, regardless of > > whether the content is legal or not. If true, Comcast's actions have > > serious implications for sharing information online, and by proxy, Net > > Neutrality." > > > > Jay > > > > -- > > http://jaydedman.com > > 917 371 6790 > > Video: http://ryanishungry.com > > Twitter: http://tinyurl.com/2aodyc > > RSS: http://tinyurl.com/yqgdt9 > > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
