Net Neutrality - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

**IDDQD** · 06-19-2006, 07:21 PM

Google wants to inform the people of what those bastard powers that be are trying to take away this time. Anyone got any more info on this?

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say....Voyd?

**LiveFreeorDie** · 06-20-2006, 05:07 AM

Just so I make sure I understand the issue...its not one of censorship per se, it has to do with pay versus free internet and establishing a system whereby pay subscribers receive precedence in downloads and multi-media content over dial-up? Is that right?

**TheJake** · 06-20-2006, 12:03 PM

No.

basically it comes down to the large internet providers CONTROLLING what you can and cannot view online. Sites like TP could essentially dissapear into obscurity due to not being able to reach it. The internet would become nothing more than a sunday paper with us only being able to view and see what the "media" aka "government" wants us to see.

More of our freedoms being taken under control and ripped away essentially.

**expatben** · 06-20-2006, 01:04 PM

Remindes me of my time in China. The Government decided to censor the net there I believe because of morality-ie censoring pornagraphic content (could be wrong but its what I heard). Now, for some reason they deem the BBC news website and Wikipedia as devient as well as other western news sites.
Oh, and incase anyone is wondering about the crack down on porno as someone who has spent his fair share of time in a Chinese internet cafe seeing other people's screens I can tell you they are NOT doing there jobs in that department.

ch3cooh · 06-20-2006, 06:36 PM

I believe that the market mechanism is largely equipped to handle this sort of thing. Example: Right now I get broadband access from Time Warner, now let's say that some A-Hole who hates T-Punk takes over Time Warner and blocks this site. Well I just take my business to SBC/AT&T, problem solved. Eventually if Time Warner blocks too many sites, enough people will flee to the competition that they will notice on the bottom line.

To completely block a site would require collusion between all of the companies which under the laws on the book is still illegal.

**florencia9699** · 06-20-2006, 07:12 PM

^^ Yeah but this would still be a pain in the ***... I mean, would you be willing to change companies everytime you tried to access a site and realised it's no longer available for you?

I mean.. I'm speaking as an outsider... but i'd deffinitely think that's some serious messing with your rights, the ones US tv and movies are so proud to show us lowly 3rd world country people what we're lacking of...

ch3cooh · 06-20-2006, 07:25 PM

What messes with our rights is government regulation stepping in and denying us our right to choose.

**expatben** · 06-21-2006, 01:16 AM

Nah, gotta agree with Florencia, America was supposed to be the land of the free and now there is going to be net censorship of perfectly legal content? Besdies, what AT&T and the rest block TPunk? Hey, could happen right?

**TheJake** · 06-21-2006, 01:21 AM

it's just capitalism at it's finest.

I find it funny that it comes down to government regulation though.

big brotha...

**Joker** · 06-21-2006, 04:00 AM

The liklihood of it pushing through is not there, considering the telecom act of, what, 1997 or so did essentially the same thing and the courts knocked it down.

If not anything, the thing smacks of regulation, and one thing the GOP loves to do is deregulate. For more info, see airline, utility, or telephone de-reg.