[Peace-discuss] saving the internet from corporate domination

[ppatton]

The internet is a valuable tool for the peace 
movement,  as it is for many other political and 
public service organizations.  The demise of 
network neutrality would harm all providers of 
internet content that aren't rich 
corporations.  Please write your representative 
(for Bowling Green  area residents, Congressman 
Paul Gillmor)  about this important issue.  For 
more information read the article below and 
visit  http://www.savetheinternet.com/

The War of Internet Democracy
by Robert B. Reich


This week, the House is expected to vote on 
something termed, in perfect Orwellian prose, the 
"Communications Opportunity, Promotion and 
Enhancement Act of 2006." It will be the first 
real battle in the coming War of Internet Democracy.

On one side are the companies that pipe the 
Internet into our homes and businesses. These 
include telecom giants like AT&T and Verizon, and 
cable companies like Comcast. Call them the pipe companies.

On the other side are the people and businesses 
that send Internet content through the pipes. 
Some are big outfits like Yahoo, Google, and 
Amazon, big financial institutions like Bank of 
America and Citigroup, and giant media companies 
soon to pump lots of movies and TV shows on to the Internet.

But most content providers are little guys. 
They’re mom-and-pop operations specializing in, 
say, antique egg-beaters or Brooklyn Dodgers 
memorabilia. They’re anarchists, kooks, and 
zealots peddling all sorts of crank ideas They’re 
personal publishers and small-time investigators. 
They include my son’s comedy troop, that streams 
new videos on the Internet every week. They also 
include gazillions of bloggers – including my 
humble little blog and maybe even yours.

Until now, a basic principle of the Internet has 
been that the pipe companies can not discriminate 
among content providers. Everyone who puts stuff 
up on the Internet is treated exactly the same. The net is neutral.

But now the pipe companies want to charge the 
content providers, depending on how fast and 
reliably the pipes deliver the content. 
Presumably, the biggest content providers would 
pay the most money, leaving the little content 
people in the slowest and least-reliable parts of 
the pipe. (It will take you five minutes to download my blog.)

The pipe companies claim unless they start charge 
for speed and reliability, they won’t have enough 
money to invest in the next generation of 
networks. This is an absurd argument. The pipes 
are already making lots of money off consumers 
who pay them for being connected to the Internet.

The pipes figure they can make even more money 
discriminating between big and small content 
providers because the big guys have deep pockets 
and will pay a lot to travel first class. The 
small guys who pay little or nothing will just have to settle for what’s left.

The House bill to be voted on this week would in 
effect give the pipes the green light to go ahead with their plan.

Price discrimination is as old as capitalism. 
Instead of charging everyone the same for the 
same product or service, sellers divide things up 
according to grade or quality. Buyers willing to 
pay the most can get the best, while other buyers 
get lesser quality, according to how much they 
pay. Theoretically, this is efficient. Sellers 
who also have something of a monopoly (as do the 
Internet pipe companies) can make a killing.

But even if it’s efficient, it’s not democratic. 
And here’s the rub. The Internet has been the 
place where Davids can take on Goliaths, where 
someone without resources but with brains and 
guts and information can skewer the high and 
mighty. At a time in our nation’s history when 
wealth and power are becoming more and more 
concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, it’s been 
the one forum in which all voices are equal.

Will the pipe companies be able to end Internet 
democracy? Perhaps if enough of the small guys 
make enough of a fuss, Congress may listen. But 
don’t bet on it. This Congress is not in the habit of listening to small guys.

The best hope is big content providers will use 
their formidable lobbying clout to demand net 
neutrality. The financial services sector, for 
example, is already spending billions on 
information technology, including online banking. 
Why would they want to spend billions more paying 
the pipe companies for the Internet access they already have?

The pipe companies are busily trying to persuade 
big content providers that it’s in their interest 
to pay for faster and more reliable Internet 
deliveries. Verizon’s chief Washington lobbyist 
recently warned the financial services industry 
that if it supports net neutrality, it won’t get 
the sophisticated data links it will need in the 
future. The pipes are also quietly reassuring the 
big content providers that they can pass along the fees to their customers.

Will the big content providers fall for it? Stay 
tuned for the next episode of Internet democracy versus monopoly capitalism.

Robert B. Reich is Professor of Public Policy at 
the Goldman School of Public Policy at the 
University of California at Berkeley. He has 
served in three national administrations, most 
recently as secretary of labor under President 
Bill Clinton. He has written ten books, including 
The Work of Nations, which has been translated 
into 22 languages; the best-sellers 
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375725121/102-0571182-2687331?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance&tagActionCode=commondreams-20/ref=nosim>The 
Future of Success and 
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375700617/102-0571182-2687331?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance&tagActionCode=commondreams-20/ref=nosim>Locked 
in the Cabinet, and his most recent book, Reason. 
His articles have appeared in the New Yorker, 
Atlantic Monthly, New York Times, Washington 
Post, and Wall Street Journal. Mr. Reich is 
co-founding editor of <http://www.prospect.org>The American Prospect magazine.

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