Be Careful What You Wish For (again and again and again...)
by Joe?Pulcinella
Just saw this over at Slashdot. Net Neutrality is one of those movements with a warm and fuzzy name that could truly haunt us if it were to come to fruition.
Lauren Weinstein writes in to announce the new "Network Neutrality Squad" ? NNSquad. Joining PFIR Co-Founders Peter G. Neumann and Weinstein in this announcement are Vinton G. Cerf, Keith Dawson (Slashdot.org), David J. Farber (Carnegie Mellon University), Bob Frankston, Phil Karn (Qualcomm), David P. Reed, Paul Saffo, and Bruce Schneier (BT Counterpane). The Network Neutrality Squad ("NNSquad") is an open-membership, open-source effort, enlisting the Internet's users to help keep the Internet's operations fair and unhindered from unreasonable restrictions. The project's focus includes detection, analysis, and incident reporting of any anticompetitive, discriminatory, or other restrictive actions on the part of Internet service Providers (ISPs) or affiliated entities, such as the blocking or disruptive manipulation of applications, protocols, transmissions, or bandwidth; or other similar behaviors not specifically requested by their customers.
Again, they're asking those wonderful folks in Washington for guns and perpwalks in the name of Internet fascism. I realize that the word itself sounds nasty (and it is!) and the concept is hard to get one's head around?but setting price controls on Internet access is not different or any less harmful than Nixon's wage and price controls of the 1970's. Nor Hitler's.
Above artwork and the following snide (but funny!) comment courtesy of SaveTehInternet.org.
Hugo Chavez would support Net Neutrality! NN is a great way to keep the workers of teh internets, like me, from getting their bandwidth stolen from evil capitalist corporations. Man, I can?t wait until Hillary or the Magic Negro become teh president. They will fix teh ISPs good.