Money Ruins Everything aka Evolution of an Internet

The Principal and I had a discussion about this very subject some two months ago at Larry’s. We both agreed that a lot of people take the Internet -- how it developed and how it currently runs -- for granted. Now that’s not necessarily a conscious decision, but most likely one made out of either ignorance to how it all really works or a sheer lack of time to sit around and ponder such things as the politics of the world wide web (unless of course you have a cool beer in your hand). Unfortunately the wheels to the worst of our drunken philosophical fears (that one day the Internet would be fundamentally changed by big business) have started to spin recently. It turns out that things could get real hairy in the not-too-distant future. The simple fact that the Internet generates so much money is like blood in the water for greedy politicians and corporations worldwide and they will stop at nothing to make sure they are making the most money possible. Before you know it they’ll be putting up the Internet’s equivalent of Wal-Mart and you can say bye-bye to the little guy.

Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo recently posted some interesting thoughts on the topic. He agrees: “We tend to take for granted how the Internet evolved. For all its shortcomings, it is a remarkably level playing field where all sorts of voices -- the strong and the weak, the popular and the despised -- can all make their voices heard. Yes, Viacom's voice is louder than TPM's or Atrios's or Newsmax's. But if you want to read TPM, we're right here, just as easy to visit as the media giants. But it won't necessarily stay that way.”

Apparently there is an ugly bill making its way through Congress right this very minute that could literally change the Internet as we know it. The bill, which reportedly has strong support from both parties, would essentially turn over the control of the Internet to the “phone companies”. In essence that would destroy the Internet's First Amendment -- a principle called "Network neutrality" that prevents companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast from deciding which Web sites work best for you -- based on what site pays them the most.

Marshall says: “There's a lot more underlying complexity to it of course. But the change could make it much harder to access TPM or any source of news or entertainment that isn't owned by some big corporation or, more likely, have the inside track with one of the phone companies. If you're cool with AT&T deciding the sources of use you can access then you probably won't mind. But if you like making those decisions yourself, you may want to speak up.

Here's one group mobilizing against the bill: savetheinternet.com. Another group that is on the case is publicknowledge.org.”

Here at The NDA we plan to make our voices heard on this issue by getting involved with the two aforementioned groups and by contacting our congressional leaders ASAP! We strongly suggest you make some time to do the same. Let’s not sleep on this one!