Check out the efforts of the big telcos masquerading as a public service group calling themselves, “Hands off the Internet”. This group has put together a neato, trendy flash video that equates net-neutrality with government controlled internet. Here are a few screen-grabs of their little video:
This picture shows you and me, the average Joe so confused about net-neutrality that we don’t really know what to think.
Here we see that the evil internet corporations are using “the internet” without paying. If only we could somehow find out who the poor, victimized companies are who own those lines to people’s houses — then we could make sure that they get part of Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s profits!
This one is my favorite. Here we see Google, Yahoo and Microsoft represented with so much cash that they don’t know what to do. Too bad that those evil internet companies take advantage of the nameless-faceless telcos so badly!
Here’s the reality of the situation. Telcos are developing routers that can “listen to” your internet traffic and they want to profit from what you surf. They want the right to charge Yahoo, Google and Microsoft for being successful. The problem is, where will they draw the line? Bloggers like you and I may have to pay a “blogging fee” if we get too popular. Isn’t it enough that we (and Yahoo, Google and Microsoft) pay for the bandwidth we use?
Here’s a more accurate analogy for you. Let’s take the telephone. Some people use the telephone to talk to their significant-other. Others use it to sell stuff and make money. Imagine if the telcos listened to all of your phone calls and charged you more if you were using it to make money
Another analogy: Suppose a study was conducted and it was found that Washers and Dryers are the largest drain of electricity in our homes. Imagine if the utility companies could charge Maytag, Whirlpool and the others appliance manufacturers more simply because people used the electricity THEY ALREADY PURCHASED to run appliances made by these companies
Bottom line: Telcos have as much right as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft to develop content that consumers would want to consume. Just because they do not should not give them the right to use their virtual monopoly to penalize the companies that DO develop valuable content.
