Aug. 31, 2006 - 19:45 MDT

TIME TO PUSH

Back in the business section of the Rocky Mountain News today is an article by Jeff Smith of the Rocky Mountain News that is of significant interest to me. Quoted in full:

'NET NEUTRALITY' GROUP TAKES ACTION

Advocates petition Salazar to prevent two-tiered Internet

" Members of SaveTheInternet.com presented a petition with more than 16,000 Colorado signatures to Sen. Ken Salazar's office Wednesday, urging the senator to defend "Net Neutrality."

"The coalition, which includes more than 750 diverse groups including Common Cause, the American Ciovil Liberties Union and the Christian Coalition, argues that big telephone and cable companies such as AT&T, Comcast and Qwest plan to turn the Internet into a two-tiered tollway favoring companies that pay them the most."

"Internet's freedom is under attack," said Albert Smerker, a Littleton businessman who said his systems integration business relies 100 percent on the Internet. "Companies like mine aren't going to get a chance. We need to keep a level playing field."

"Smerker was one of about 20 people who attended a news conference in front of Salazar's office near downtown Denver."

"Comcast, Qwest and others have said they also favor an open Internet, and that they won't degrade or block anyone's Internet service."

"But they say some Internet content providers may want to pay an extra fee to provide expedited delivery to their customers. An internet movie service, for example, might want to ensure that its movies are downloaded quickly to customers, even if some of those customers subscribe to a slower Internet service."

"Cody Wertz, a spokesman for Salazar, a Democrat, accepted the signatures. He assured the group that the senator takes the issue serously and has heard from both sides but hasn't made a decision on how he might vote on the issue."

"He wants to take some time and be very thoughtful and deliberate," Wertz said."

"The group said it also planned to make its plea to Collorado Sen. Wayne Allard, a Republican."

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Seems that sides that usually oppose each other are looking at this situation through the same telescope. Unusual but encouraging to see accord among the discordant.

Seems to me also that this movement should be nationwide rather than statewide.

The biggies are trying to give themselves wiggle room in order to reap more money in the long run, it appears to me. And I guess that it is a part of the business philosophy extant nowadays, trying to figure out how to slap a surcharge on services being rendered at a fair price. But it looks to me that industry dividing up services as they seem to want to do is unfair. For companies who want to pay extra for rapid delivery, maybe the phone companies could set up a separate system, without degrading the Internet.

For many of us who have blogs, diarys and journals, it would be a death knell for our efforts to have to pay extra, more than we already do for our services. We pay extra for DSL as it is.

I know I can't afford more and I expect that there are many like me.

Perhaps it is coming to the Push/Shove time and we should realize it is the TIME TO PUSH . . . . . . . . . . .

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