Thursday, May 24, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
The following was taken from Al Gore new book, The Assault on Reason, and provides one of the core arguments for Net Neutrality:
Fortunately, the Internet has the potential to revitalize the role played by the people in our constitutional framework. It has extremely low entry barriers for individuals. It is the most interactive medium in history and the one with the greatest potential for connecting individuals to one another and to a universe of knowledge. It's a platform for pursuing the truth, and the decentralized creation and distribution of ideas, in the same way that markets are a decentralized mechanism for the creation and distribution of goods and services. It's a platform, in other words, for reason. But the Internet must be developed and protected, in the same way we develop and protect markets—through the establishment of fair rules of engagement and the exercise of the rule of law. The same ferocity that our Founders devoted to protect the freedom and independence of the press is now appropriate for our defense of the freedom of the Internet. The stakes are the same: the survival of our Republic. We must ensure that the Internet remains open and accessible to all citizens without any limitation on the ability of individuals to choose the content they wish regardless of the Internet service provider they use to connect to the Web. We cannot take this future for granted. We must be prepared to fight for it, because of the threat of corporate consolidation and control over the Internet marketplace of ideas.
The danger arises because there is, in most markets, a very small number of broadband network operators. These operators have the structural capacity to determine the way in which information is transmitted over the Internet and the speed with which it is delivered. And the present Internet network operators—principally large telephone and cable companies—have an economic incentive to extend their control over the physical infrastructure of the network to leverage control of Internet content. If they went about it in the wrong way, these companies could institute changes that have the effect of limiting the free flow of information over the Internet in a number of troubling ways.
The democratization of knowledge by the print medium brought the Enlightenment. Now, broadband interconnection is supporting decentralized processes that reinvigorate democracy. We can see it happening before our eyes: As a society, we are getting smarter. Networked democracy is taking hold. You can feel it. We the people—as Lincoln put it, "even we here"—are collectively still the key to the survival of America's democracy.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Net Neutrality fuels innovation
various innovators like the maker of the sling box and the leaders of youtube testified that without the open internet, the innovations they created would have never existed. instead they would have been given the booth by companies like AT&T.
check it out...
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Dear Plains Feeder,
here is our response...
deal plains feeder,
many thanks for featuring net neutrality now! on your blog. we do appreciate the publicity.
we may have idealogical differences, judging from the links and pictures on your site, but we here at n3 respect each person's opinions and right to voice those opinions.
we do want to thank you especially for your support of Net Neutrality. without it, your blog, our blog, anyone's blog may not exist and all those opinions, imperative to the democracy, may never see the light of day. by posting us on your blog and visiting our webpage you are affirming our stance on Net Neutrality and promoting democracy!
now for our next trick,
net neutrality now!
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Sign the Petition, Spread the word!!!
let them know we want a neutral internet.
if you have not already, PLEASE SIGN THE SAVE THE INTERNET PETITION!!!!
if you scroll down and look on the right for an orange box, you found it!!!!
by signing you will join the thousands already working for net neutrality and have a message sent to your congress person on your behalf. easy!!!
sign it and tell your friends about net neutrality. they can always check here for info.
SIGN THE PETITION!!!!!
Good times at the peace and justice expo
to all of our new friends out there, keep spreading the word about net neutrality!
here's some of us eating pie for a peace tax demonstration.
check out who stopped by our booth!! (the last one..)
Peace from Net Neutrality Now!
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Omaha Peace and Justice Expo!! Go!!!
We will have a booth and maybe offer gardening tips...
Omaha Peace and Justice Expo
UNO Milo Bail Student Center
Keynote speaker Cindy Sheehan (Yes, that one..)
Lots of Booths and Stuff, panel discussions and progressive people..
come hang out with us and show omaha that conservatism and white bread america is not what omaha is really about.
N3
How bloggers and the neutral internet keep pundits honest.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodies?
Who watches the Watchmen?
Bloggers, that's who.
check it out http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070423/alterman
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Net Neutrality and the Bigger Picture
"We have an honorable media. They give us all the information we need and more."
Mainstream media outlets have vested interests ($$$) in some of today's most contentious political issues. Media consolidation over the past few decades has led to increasingly limited sources of information.
News Corporation, General Electric, Disney, Time Warner, Viacom, and CBS Corporation are the Big Six of the U.S. current mainstream media. (The Nation, July 3 2006). View the media chart, noting the holdings in television, magazines, music, film, and Internet companies, at http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060703/mediachart
Furthermore, advertiser influence on material covered in these media outlets biases the information disseminated.
Check out FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) for comprehensive information on the flaws in today's corporate media.
A few examples of corporate media bias
Former Donahue Producer Jeff Cohen's comments on Democracy Now:
Well, think about it. When his show was taken off the air three weeks before the Iraq invasion began, it was the most watched program on the channel. And it’s very rare in TV news, where the most watched program -- or TV -- where a most watched program gets cancelled.
And, you know, the day after Donahue was terminated, that memo leaked out. It was never supposed to get public. An NBC internal memo about MSNB, it said: “Donahue represents a difficult public face for NBC in a time of war. He seems to delight in presenting guests who are antiwar, anti-Bush and skeptical of the administration's motives.” What they really worried about is we had -- we tried to get dissenters on there that would say, “You know, this might not be about weapons. This impending invasion might be about oil or military bases or empire.” And to question motives is almost a cardinal rule, to say that the motives of U.S. foreign policy might not be pure, that’s not something they want.
And, you know, that NBC internal memo that leaked a day after Donahue was terminated, it went on to describe their nightmare scenario: “Donahue would become a home for the liberal antiwar agenda” -- I’m quoting -- “at the same time that our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity.”
General Electric owns NBC and MSNBC among others.General Electric: Military contracts 2005: $2.2 billion
Defense-related contributions in the 2004 election cycle: $220,950
As cited on Corp Watch
Obviously, General electric not only has an interest in public support (financing) for military operations, but also elections as elected officials must award them such military contracts.
How might this influence their programming? Use your imagination or do some research.
Can you find other examples of corporate media bias?
Post a comment.
In this climate, the Internet has the capability to provide non corporate-sponsored information that empowers citizens to become informed participants in democracy.
Will we let the Internet giant companies bias the Net the way cable broadcasting has been?
Or will we demand Net Neutrality Now!?
Friday, March 23, 2007
Congress-Man.... with kung-fu action!!!
We are impressed with Congressman Terry's talent to trample our civil rights and special powers to let large corporations with big wallets buy his support while sacrificing the freedom and will of his constituents. High Five Lee!!!!!!!!
Please, for those of you who live in Omaha, advocate!! Maybe you too can receive this "awesome, blow your mind, really concerned" response from Congressman Terry. ;P
C'mon Lee, stand up for the neutral internet, it's the right thing to do.
Dear ------------------:
Thank you for contacting me with your concerns about net neutrality.
On June 8, 2006, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the bipartisan "Communications, Opportunity , Promotion, and Enhancement Act" (COPE). However, the video franchise legislation failed to pass in the 109th Congress, and it is unknown if legislation will come to the floor in the 110th Congress.
The COPE Act was primarily a video franchise bill that would allow telephone companies to receive a national franchise certificate allowing them to streamline the franchise process. Currently, if a new video provider comes to a community, the provider must obtain a franchise from the local government. That franchise gives the provider the right to do business in that community and rights to the cities' right of ways. However, today many new video providers find the local franchise process extremely burdensome and a hurdle in bringing competition to the public and the COPE Act would ease that burden and bring more competition to the public.
Another aspect of COPE was the net neutrality provisions. COPE would give the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) strong authority to protect access to Web sites and Internet applications by allowing the FCC to enforce its broadband principles that ensure consumers are entitled to: (1) Access to lawful Internet content of their choice; (2) Run applications and services of their choice, subject to the needs of law enforcement; (3) Connect their choice of legal devices that do not harm the network; (4) Competition among network providers, application and service providers, and content providers.
I do not believe Congress should regulate the internet by accepting further net neutrality provisions. The FCC under COPE has explicit authority to enforce net neutrality, permitting the FCC to impose fines of $500,000 for each violation of the broadband principles and the FCC is mandated to resolve any dispute within 90 days. By approaching net neutrality on a case-by-case basis, the FCC can establish fair rules of the road as Internet providers roll out new services. Imposing nondiscriminatory rules on all providers would stop innovation in its tracks.
The internet today has operated well without further laws regulating internet service providers (ISPs). However, I would not want to see any provider, whether ISP, cable company, or telephone company have the power to block or deny anyone access to the Internet.
Sincerely,
LEE TERRY
Member of Congress
11717 Burt Street, Suite 106
Omaha, NE 68154
Phone: 402-397-9944
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Hello
We choose to stand up before one of our last pure freedoms is taken away.
Our aim is to spread the word, to inform as many people as possible. If we can reach enough people, if we can inform enough people and those people truly grasp the stakes, we can steer the course of legislation and save the internet.
Power exists in the hands of the People. For too long we have forgotten.
For starters please visit Save The Internet.
more from us soon...
--N3
