May 29, 2006, Better late than never
And thus I arrive late in the all-important discussion of "net-neutrality," or, specifically, legislative resistance to an initiative from telecoms to impose additional tolls on the use of the internet for their own bottom lines at the expense of the rest of us; in this case, a New York Times piece by Adam Cohen lays the issues out succinctly and in easy to comprehend terms. Short answer: AT&T and other telecoms feel that they are not making enough money, even though people like you and me already pay for (1) a web hosting service, (2) an ISP provider, (3) high-speed internet access, and, when using dial up, (4) the phone call, because telecoms have come up with what amounts to a blackmail scheme from which they can profit, to wit, "You pay us more, or we'll slow down (and maybe even stop) transmission of your crappy (1) political, (2) non-profit, (3) personal, or (4) otherwise NOT WELL CAPITALIZED web-site, while speeding up those who can pay the internet-protection-money". Rarely is an issue that simple, but in this case, telecoms, who have profited handsomely from the increased internet traffic and the ability to dispense T-1's, DSLs and other high speed service-- like their patron saint, St. Tony of Soprano-- have spotted a big-time profit opportunity, and damn the rest of us.
So, I come late to this party... Those interested may want to join the efforts of Move-on.org who has a petition up on the subject; obviously, it's as if this measure were designed to screw groups like Move-On (you think?), though in a rare fit of solidarity, even the Christian Coalition has seen the problem here in being denied access to the internet unless protection money is paid (and when we say "protection", we are certainly not referring to your privacy, which the telecoms will hand over to the government faster than you can complete a local phone call.)
At this point, the first stage of the Internet Protection Racket Act of 2006 has gone down in a House Committee by a 12-3 vote, but that will not be the end of this measure. Note that when it comes to their first love because of the ability to deliver money and junkets and meals and drugs and whores other goodies (that would be well-capitalized corporate America) the Republican leadership is all too willing to sell out its second love (that would be religious conservatives, as emblemized by the Christian coalition), who merely deliver them votes. So... finally something that we can all agree on, eh?
Speaking of "better late than never", in "other hobby news", your talking dog
completed the Keybank Vermont City Marathon in Howard Dean's hometown, bringing up the rear of the field, plowing through an un-Vermont-like 83-plus degree day (and some sadistically "rolling hills") to do it. This one represents your talking dog's 13th finish of a marathon (and 7th different state, plus arguably D.C.). I also discovered that Burlington, VT is a much farther drive than I thought it was...
Anyway... enough about me... get out there and