web: Net Neutrality no-brainer

I pay my ISP to connect me to all of the Internet, all 400 or so protocols, all the millions of 'net addresses. My ISP is welcome to sell me a faster connection. The idea that ISP's can charge the other end of the connection additional money to get to me is completely f***ing insane. Edward Whitacre of AT&T says

"Now what they [big Internet companies] would like to do is use my pipes free, but I ain't going to let them do that because we have spent this capital and we have to have a return on it.

Hey, you lying jerk, the site at the other end of my connection already pays to connect, and likewise each is free to pay more for better connections (I've worked at companies that spend a lot of time and $$$ deciding whether to go with Akamai, Speedera, or AT&T for co-location and content delivery services).

Some argue this is no worse than supermarkets charging Coca-Cola for better placement at the end of an aisle. But a) we're talking speech here, not groceries, and b) I'm paying to enter an infinite supermarket of ideas.

Click the image above to learn how to talk to your elected representative. I spoke to a nice staffer and supposedly Nancy Pelosi supports the right thing. Here's how the subcommittee voted on net neutrality amendments. If your representative voted wrong, call them up and give them hell. Californian Republicans voted wrong :-(

Categories: web, ideas, NetNeutrality