[quote name='rabbitt']It's not the mild inconveniences I'm worried about (a traffic jam is a mild inconvenience). Something like this is only a showing of what a company could really do, given a motive, an agenda, and the power ($) to do so.
Similar situation with Amazon removing the digital copies of 1984 from their database. People were not in-arms about losing a book, but about the principle of the circumstance and the Big Brotherness, poor judgment, and distasteful action Amazon took to remedy "the problem."
The Internet is the final frontier and the only technology that gives a two-way forum. It is empowering to me that I can say this here and know that you can respond. All other forms of communication deny regular people a voice. Remember, radio was taken over by the government "in the interest of the public" because people weren't able to take care of it themselves (indeed, it was what the people wanted), but one look at radio now will show you a near-dead audience and a cesspool of McDonald's commercials, the 100 most digestible songs on repeat, and a torrent of obnoxious car salesmen shouting at you. If it weren't for radio having a captive audience, I'd said it was six feet under.
It's no secret that the huge telecommunications companies are spending record amounts on lobbyists and trying harder than ever to eliminate Net Neutrality. Look at China. There's a new saying over there that goes "the Great Firewall of China was built with American bricks." I don't have to tell you that AT&T's recent perversion reeks of censorship because you already know that.
Blocking 4chan doesn't directly affect either of us (I hope). So, other isolated circumstances appear now and then, and, still, neither of us are affected. However, AT&T has its foot in the door, so to speak, and situations pop up more frequently. Now it won't be such a big deal if another ISP does the same thing. It's worth taking serious. I hope you'll take the time to honestly think about it and reconsider Net Neutrality as more than a silly notion.
I won't belittle your intelligence by listing all that could happen under an omnipotent ISP because, again, you've already thought a possible implication without even meaning to.[/QUOTE]
Oh noes!! The guys who run the big routers and fiber bundles have power over the internet their customers can access!! Ahhh!!! Why did nobody ever warn us about this?
Seriously, using this as an example of the big bad corporation plotting against us is really, really, lame. Even the guys who run 4chan feel about stupid about the overexposure this has received. There was no censorship, at all. If anything, AT&T did their duty as network operators to block an address inflicting damage on other parts of the network.
Get back to me when AT&T or other major network operator blocks a site competing with a site of their own.
Broadcast radio died from lack of imagination, although some venues are doing fine. The worst that will happen is that the companies that own most of the frequency licenses won't find they can justify the cost of retaining those licenses and open things up for somebody looking to do it differently. The immensity of other listeing choices will possibly mean nobody will notice. Remember, the golden age of radio was when it was the only game in town. Once upon a time we thought it was really cool that we could have a personal device that held a single cassette that it could play five or so times before needing a new set of batteries. We paid absurd amounts for these devices. Today, for a fraction of that amount, especially if you adjust for inflation, we get a tiny device that holds a whole library of audio and can go over a dozen hours of use before needing a recharge.
The old Walkman now seems so horribly limited it isn't worth the trouble, even if they're giving them away. No matter what is on that single cassette, the limited choice isn't going to bring the Walkman back from being a museum piece. Choice prevailed as the preferred way.
Interference in freedom of content on the internet is an issue for the voting booth. Unless there is something interesting or a particularly wrongheaded candidate on the ballot, there just isn't much cause for excitement between now and November of 2010. OTOH, a large portion of America seems in favor of censoring radio. The 2006 and 2008 election cycles brought to power a bunch that very much wants to silence voices speaking against them by reinstating the idiotic laws that long crippled the growth of talk radio with its interactive aspects. People in government have a much bigger interest in censorship than businesses. Businesses are tempted to abuse to prevent the rise of new competitors, but politicians want far more than that.
Similar situation with Amazon removing the digital copies of 1984 from their database. People were not in-arms about losing a book, but about the principle of the circumstance and the Big Brotherness, poor judgment, and distasteful action Amazon took to remedy "the problem."
The Internet is the final frontier and the only technology that gives a two-way forum. It is empowering to me that I can say this here and know that you can respond. All other forms of communication deny regular people a voice. Remember, radio was taken over by the government "in the interest of the public" because people weren't able to take care of it themselves (indeed, it was what the people wanted), but one look at radio now will show you a near-dead audience and a cesspool of McDonald's commercials, the 100 most digestible songs on repeat, and a torrent of obnoxious car salesmen shouting at you. If it weren't for radio having a captive audience, I'd said it was six feet under.
It's no secret that the huge telecommunications companies are spending record amounts on lobbyists and trying harder than ever to eliminate Net Neutrality. Look at China. There's a new saying over there that goes "the Great Firewall of China was built with American bricks." I don't have to tell you that AT&T's recent perversion reeks of censorship because you already know that.
Blocking 4chan doesn't directly affect either of us (I hope). So, other isolated circumstances appear now and then, and, still, neither of us are affected. However, AT&T has its foot in the door, so to speak, and situations pop up more frequently. Now it won't be such a big deal if another ISP does the same thing. It's worth taking serious. I hope you'll take the time to honestly think about it and reconsider Net Neutrality as more than a silly notion.
I won't belittle your intelligence by listing all that could happen under an omnipotent ISP because, again, you've already thought a possible implication without even meaning to.[/QUOTE]
Oh noes!! The guys who run the big routers and fiber bundles have power over the internet their customers can access!! Ahhh!!! Why did nobody ever warn us about this?
Seriously, using this as an example of the big bad corporation plotting against us is really, really, lame. Even the guys who run 4chan feel about stupid about the overexposure this has received. There was no censorship, at all. If anything, AT&T did their duty as network operators to block an address inflicting damage on other parts of the network.
Get back to me when AT&T or other major network operator blocks a site competing with a site of their own.
Broadcast radio died from lack of imagination, although some venues are doing fine. The worst that will happen is that the companies that own most of the frequency licenses won't find they can justify the cost of retaining those licenses and open things up for somebody looking to do it differently. The immensity of other listeing choices will possibly mean nobody will notice. Remember, the golden age of radio was when it was the only game in town. Once upon a time we thought it was really cool that we could have a personal device that held a single cassette that it could play five or so times before needing a new set of batteries. We paid absurd amounts for these devices. Today, for a fraction of that amount, especially if you adjust for inflation, we get a tiny device that holds a whole library of audio and can go over a dozen hours of use before needing a recharge.
The old Walkman now seems so horribly limited it isn't worth the trouble, even if they're giving them away. No matter what is on that single cassette, the limited choice isn't going to bring the Walkman back from being a museum piece. Choice prevailed as the preferred way.
Interference in freedom of content on the internet is an issue for the voting booth. Unless there is something interesting or a particularly wrongheaded candidate on the ballot, there just isn't much cause for excitement between now and November of 2010. OTOH, a large portion of America seems in favor of censoring radio. The 2006 and 2008 election cycles brought to power a bunch that very much wants to silence voices speaking against them by reinstating the idiotic laws that long crippled the growth of talk radio with its interactive aspects. People in government have a much bigger interest in censorship than businesses. Businesses are tempted to abuse to prevent the rise of new competitors, but politicians want far more than that.
censorship.
