Say No To Neutrality

Note, once again, who is behind the drive to restrict our freedoms and censor free speech. The left is hell bent on totalitarianism and want to control the flow of information at every turn. This is how Castro was able to convince the Cuban people that those who escaped to the US were put into slave labor camps. Once the government starts manipulating the net, they won't stop, this is merely the first salvo. First they kill competition, then they control the monopoly they create.

From IBD:
Posted 5/23/2006

Regulation: It's clear that one of the most liberating developments of recent history has been the Internet. But those who would obstruct Web freedom are on the move.

Massachusetts Rep. Edward Markey seldom has used the language in such an exquisitely Orwellian fashion since he tried to thwart the Reagan administration's space-based defense project by comparing it to "Star Wars."

This time, he's joined by far left groups such as Moveon.org in demanding new regulations to ensure "nondiscriminatory" content.

These political activists are teaming with Web giants Google, Yahoo and Microsoft who want new rules to protect their established dominance. Doing them all a huge favor, Markey has introduced a bill to guarantee what proponents call "net neutrality."

Markey and his legionnaires aren't too worried. Armed with Internet-gathered petitions, they expect the House Judiciary Committee to take up "net neutrality" in coming days.

As you might expect, their objective cannot be realized without introducing seriously anti-competitive, indeed anti-capitalistic, enforcement measures.

The bill targets Internet service providers, who must find ways to pay for making content accessible to the seemingly limitless world of online users.

That could mean charging content providers — like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft — extra for faster service and other fees. So Markey would put the government behind the big content providers, sparing them any inconvenient expenses through "neutrality."

Never mind the phone and cable guys, who're fast realizing that somebody has to pay for the Internet. Indeed, for further Internet improvements, a lot more capital will be needed. What's true of lunches is true of those Web sites you're surfing. They're not free.

As even our poorest citizens get wired, and cities across the land race to create free wireless zones, the notion of entitlement embeds itself in the popular mind. Markey and Moveon.org lost no time in exploiting the populist sentiment.

The irony: They've aligned themselves with the biggest beneficiaries of the cyber revolution. Frankly, it ill-becomes Google, Yahoo and Microsoft to parade their commitment to "neutrality" as the government blocks capital formation by Internet Service Providers.

We've no special brief for local telephone and cable companies, who too often enjoy semi-monopolistic status. But if Markey's idea becomes law, they'd be denied the ability to spread their costs fairly.

Which means everyday surfers would lose a rich variety of content — inevitably the result of regulators' efforts to "balance" it — and be charged more for it.