Net Neutrality

Olympia Snowe and North Dakota Democrat Sen. Byron Dorgan have started on their second attempt to release a bill to ensure that net neutrality remains. This is the second attempt that they have made to pass this bill, which is almost completely identical to the first bill they presented. Net neutrality allows people to be able to control the content they access online themselves as opposed to the web communications gatekeepers. If the gatekeepers had control, they could limit the websites people are allowed to view based purely on profit, or charge more for the more desirable websites.

Internet service providers don’t yet have the power to limit what their costumers view online; this bill aims to keep it that way. Along with access, bandwidth could become an issue, causing people to pay more for their internet to be half-decent, or charging more for web servers to have a good connection. This presents a problem for small companies who can’t afford to pay. This, of course, inadvertently causes smaller companies to have less effective websites. A few people, including actress Alyssa Milano and Vint Cerf, one of the Net's technical pioneers, opposed the idea of us losing our freedoms on the internet stating that it would suppress internet innovation.

The new bill would allow for some prioritization of content but only under strict circumstances. They can only prioritize content if it is done for all types of that particular content, application or service and without a fee. That would mean that ISP’s could choose to have a dedicated pipe for all user-generated video content, but that pipe would have to be available to all user-generated video sites, and for free. Government regulation would make it against the law for any company to invest in customized Internet service.

The loss of Net neutrality would be a massacre, not in a literal meaning of the word but people have become so dependant on the internet for information and general living. People pay their bills online, do research online, talk to people they can’t really talk to otherwise, online. If they have to pay more to do all of that, it could cause problems. People already have enough financial trouble in this country; it’s a fact that the people with money are well-favored. The internet is one of the few, no-strings-attached freedoms any of us have left. It is as much a part of life now as eating and sleeping. This bill should be passed, allowing the government to control what happens to our internet may seem risky but the companies that care more about money than morals are far more dangerous.

Happy Valentines Day...

A Kirby Valentines Day card?
Something that most of our parents bought us to pass out to the other students until about 5th grade, this one seems highly inappropriate, especially if recieved by a girl.

I suppose I wouldn't mind recieving this anymore.
Society is corrupt...