The Virginian-Pilot has finally seen fit to print an article on the issue of net neutrality. (Of course, this is just a reprint of a Washington Post article. Guess the MSM has a bit of difficulty with original content, too 🙂 )
Listed as being in support are such varied groups as Microsoft, Google, MoveOn.com and the Christian Coalition. On the other side are AT&T, BellSouth, and Verizon, among others. You would expect that providers of internet services would be against it; after all, they are the ones that stand to make some money on this. But would you expect our senator, George Allen, to be against it?
According to Allen’s website, he voted in favor of net neutrality. But a careful reading of what he voted for reveals that he is, in fact, in favor of “keeping government regulation at a minimum,” words that are completely in agreement with those who oppose net neutrality. From the sidebar of the VP article:
The future development of the Internet should be left to the competitive market forces without government intervention.
I find the doubletalk offensive. Don’t pretend to support one thing when you are really supporting something else. And a little disclosure would be nice. Allen has received significant contributions from those who oppose net neutrality.
I fully support net neutrality and I hope Mr. Allen will rethink his position on this.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Vivian,
The lack of government regulation has made the Internet what it is. If the ISPs and e-mail providers decide to charge for faster speed of sites and e-mail, other competitors will come along and won’t charge. Government regulation will only change what the free market dictates. Let the free market work.
That is not the point. The point is that Allen is making it sound as if he supports net neutrality when he doesn’t. If he doesn’t he should just say so. I think he – and you – are wrong and I’m willing to say so. He should do the same.
Allen voted against the Snowe/Dorgan net neutrality amendment in the Senate Commerce Committee. An eyewitness at the hearing wrote this DailyKos diary entry describing what went down. Key quotes:
…I went up to my Senator, George Allen, and told him to vote for the Snowe/Dorgan amendment or risk further firing up the netroots against him in his campaign. He said, “that’s just how it is sometimes,” or something to that effect.
…
Allen looked uncomfortable to me, and I’d like to think very much that it was because he saw me in the front row tallying his vote. I honestly hissed involuntarily when he voted ‘no’, and had to take a minute to compose myself. Allen refused to speak, or even look up, for most of the Net Neutrality debate.
Yes, I saw that diary.
hrconservative has got the facts wrong.
Net Neutrality is NOT NEW…it was put in place when the web was first created by the most widely acknowledged creator of the webb–Tim Berners Lee.
Net Neutrality is the reason the internet has been so innovative.
Net Neutraility does NOT interfere with free market concepts. ISP”s can continue to charge whatever price the market will bear for providing higher quality services for folks to access the internet. This is important…so let me say it again. Net Neutrality does NOT interfere with the free market system of what quality service will be provided or what the telecommunication wants to charge for this services.
Net Neutrality prohibits ISP’s from controlling it’s customers choices when we connect to the internet. Net Neutrality allows everyone to ability to travel freely without impairments to the websites we want to visit. It allows bloggers to have accessible websites so others can easily access these sites if they choose to….as well as ebay, online news service videos, etc etc. The current internet allows any of us to not only travel but create a website (or websites) for others to visit.
In 2005, discrepancies between the way DSL and cable providers were regulated has created the current need to create NEW laws governing the internet. The telecommunications industry wants the government to write this legislation in a way that eliminates the current principle of net neutrality…the very concept that allowed the internet to be innovative and free.
“The companies fighting net neutrality have been waging a misleading campaign, with the slogan “hands off the Internet,” that tries to look like a grass-roots effort to protect the Internet in its current form. What they actually favor is stopping the government from protecting the Internet, so they can get their own hands on it.” (NYT 5/28/2006)
Net Neutrality unites such widely diverse groups as MoveOn.org and the Christian Coalition. Left wingers, liberals/progressives, moderates, conservatives, Right wingers, have all joined forces to fight for KEEPING Net Neutrality in place. No one is arguing that telecommunications and cable companies have to undergo price regulation. Everyone agrees that telecommunication corporations are entitled to decide what they want to charge for their services.
But they want more than simple free market practices. That’s why they’ve been spending so much money buying our Congress off. They tell Congress there has never been a problem…even though there have been a few instances of net neutrality being violated but the FCC stepped in and corrected the situation whenever it occurred. The DSL providers have never before been allowed to violate the concept of net neutrality and that is why it has not been a problem before now.
The telecommunicatons industry did not invent the internet and it is not owned by them. I see the internet as a public resource, much like the airwaves. However, they want to own it, control it, and profit off of it at our expense.
The historical role of the telecommunication has been to be an internet service provider and they need to remain in that role. We do not need Congress to make then the controllers of the internet.
I love the freedom of the internet and do not want my freedom of choice to provide websites, blogs, or visit the other websites and blogs to be restricted. If network neutraility is ELIMINATED then our freedom of choice will be eliminated.
The fact that a bill has to be passed to make net neutrality legal proves it is new. Whenever you introduce any government regulation into anything, it restricts what you do. The Internet is what it is because of the absense of government regulation.
Wow, this thing is a month old. If I did not subscribe to Vivian’s comment feed, I would not have seen it
another FACT wrong…net neutrality was being enforced by the FCC on the telecommunications DSL industry….but the cable companies did not fall under this rule…But with the telecommunications industry following the Net Neutrality rule the cable companies did not dare violate it b/c they would lose customers….
So the current legislations is being drafted to set one standard for everyone to follow….So..that is why the corporations have been spending so much money trying to lobby net neutrality our of existence.
If you would take the time to do some research you’d know all this….
But if you persist in your delusions that’s your right…I’ve put the facts out…I’m not going to get caught up discussing something that is a distortion and not a fact….