Arcane, but important: the free flow of information across the Internet is in peril.

WaPo: "The telecommunications companies' proposals have the potential, within just a few years, to alter the flow of commerce and information -- and your personal experience -- on the Internet. For the first time, the companies that own the equipment that delivers the Internet to your office, cubicle, den and dorm room could, for a price, give one company priority on their networks over another."

Comments

[Brian R.]

I HIGHLY recommend Doc Searls article on this subject, Saving the Net: How to Keep the Carriers from Flushing the Net Down the Tubes. It's thorough and provides LOTS of context for the serious problem Ed & the Washington Post write about.

In short, our future for equal access to the Internet isn't looking so bright. Get ready for the biggest fight over access to a resource in this country you've ever seen. It'll make the struggles in the early 20th century for the right to telephone access look like a small town shoot out in comparison.

More detailed thoughts here on my blog post called Angry BellSouth and Anti-Public Good Chapel Hill Business.

[sagecast]

For a full backgrounder on the net neutrality issue check out the camapign I just posted at www.freepress.net/deadend.

The threat to the freedoms of the Internet, as we have come to know them, is real. Our best defense is a public pressure campaign against Congress, the FCC and the predatory ISPs.