On Monday, Minnesota Sen. Al Franken made the corporate takeover of the Internet - and the government's acquiescence to these corporations - frighteningly clear.
Franken told a crowd of independent musicians and tech entrepreneurs attending the South by Southwest conference that the open Internet, which has been such a boon for artists, is under threat.
Commercializing (or mainstreaming) the arts has often put creativity at risk, Franken told the audience, relating his own experiences in television. But this has changed, he said, thanks to the Internet.
"The Internet has proven not only to be a hotbed for innovation [and] an incredible engine for job creation, but also the ultimate self-distribution channel," Franken said. "Now you don't need a record deal to make a song and have people hear it."
The Party May Be Over
"I came here today to warn you that this party may almost be over," Sen. Franken said. Internet service providers are "coming after the Internet hoping to destroy the very thing that makes it such an important tool for independent artists and entrepreneurs -- its freedom and openness."
"The strategy being used by people who want to destroy Net Neutrality are trying to confuse people about what Net Neutrality means," he said. Net Neutrality's basic fairness is taken for granted by users, "because that is how it's always been. The Internet is democratic."
And If corporations take over the Internet, the incredible Web-based mobilization and creativity of the last 10 years would no longer exist, Franken said.
Making Clear the Rules of the Road
The government now has a role to play, he said during an interview with TheUptake.org, before his speech. "The point of this is that this is not the government taking over the Internet, but the government making clear the rules of the road, and that we have basic protections for the open Internet."
Sen. Franken called on everyone to counter the anti-Net Neutrality lobbyists in Washington, "who are using a rhetorical technique that I call 'making things up.'"
Calling Net Neutrality a "government takeover of the Internet," Sen. Franken said, is a "talking point that deserves a place alongside 'death panels' and 'Obama is a Muslim' in the pantheon of lies that are not just baldly false, but completely ridiculous."
Franken pledged to introduce legislation that "would call violations of Net Neutrality out for what they are: anti-competitive actions by powerful media conglomerates that represent violations of our antitrust laws."
"It's time for us to use the Internet to save the Internet," Franken said, urging those present in Austin and watching online to help build the movement needed to win this crucial fight.
Follow Timothy Karr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TimKarr
just as the free radio waves were eventually taken over, just as airborne tv was, just as cable was
only this time faster
The right wing propaganda machine is so good at what they do and so well funded that it is very difficult to compete.
Here in Europe we do not have to deal with what you are going through but it is still a shame. This seems to be just one more symptom of a fascist state run amok.
It seems that the only solution these days is to do what the Egyptians did. Nothing else that is peaceful will work.
Go for it.
So, how do we reach those people who don't pay attention? HOW??? Quick, tell me, because time is short.
If you believe any of the following:
- intelligence is a good thing
- people have rights and corporations don't
- the middle class made this country great
- the majority of this country is smart
- the movement in Wisconsin will get bigger
- politicians go into office for good, and not just to get rich
Sorry, you're a liberal, and the future is going to really suck.
The only thing that will change America, is campaign finance reform. 100% of campaign funds come from taxes and are alloted equally.
Furthermore, a politician can no longer work for private corporation after being in office, and or, if they held high ranking positions in large corporations prior to running for office. When they get into office, WE will put them up for life. They'll live well enough off what WE pay them while in office and a good pension when they're done. They can work when they're done if they want, but they cannot work for any corporation that has any connection to anything they did while in government. Example, Rick Scott couldn't be a governor.
Now, if you believe that this could ever happen in the USA, you're wrong. It'll never happen, we'll have civil war before corporations let us take their rights away.
These guys also see Wikileaks as a far more grievous threat than their own and their friends' fiscal peculations. Here in Washington there is a quietly understated interest in bringing the Internet "under control". We can't have so much seepage of real information or dissident opinion.
What is really needful is for our tekkies to figure new ways around the corpocracy. Any ideas Anonymous?
The engineers who created the protocol by which people share information online, made Net Neutrality a founding principle. It's because of this openness that the Internet has become such a tremendous for free speech, creativity and innovation.
The only entities that wants to change that are powerful phone and cable companies. And that's exactly what they'll do if we leave this basic network principle unprotected.
... has become such a tremendous ENGINE for ...
... The only entities that WANT to change ...
"Let's get the facts out. The proposed rules are just that: proposed rules. The FCC is seeking comments on language to ensure that service providers can't arbitrarily block or degrade legal Internet activity. In other words--and pay attention here--the FCC is trying to create rules to preserve your freedom of speech and your ability to access legal content on the Internet."
http://www.networkcomputing.com/data-networking-management/the-truth-about-the-fcc-proposed-rules-on-net-neutrality.php