Why Net Neutrality is a no-brainer…

Consider, if you will, what became of the once mighty “radio”. It was theInternet of its time. In its hey-day there was nothing else to compare. Nothing.

Eventually, it became a part of the entertainment spectrum along with television and movies.

Then one day, this big bully of a company started buying up all the ittie-bittie, teensie-weensie radio stations, and made them all into one big stupid pile of dung. Wherever you go, you can tune into “60s, 70s, 80s, and beyond”, or the wonders of (yet more) “classic rock”. It. All. Sounds. The. Same. It’s the very epitome of “homogeneous”. And as such, it’s pretty lame, dull, and downright crap.

Now, rocket forward to the 1990s. The glorious rise of the Internet. The home of geeks and nerds on a worldwide scale, geeking out with impunity. Free from commerce, and all that Microsoft-y type stuff that made them gag spontaneously. But, woe, for Capitalism was on the march, and it started to wreak havoc on the once-wonderful web…

All right, it’s not that bad. In fact, the ability to transact from the comfort of one’s home is probably the single biggest societal gain we’ve had as a result. But there, in the background, is the constant hubbub of the ever present home-grown Internet personality, and the wonders of the blogosphere, there to guide you in your personal choices on a range of topics. Even further back (for the humble consumer) is the still stirring voice of the geek, still playing with glee and mirth in this now-congested playground.

But they don’t want all that noise. They just want to turn it into disturbia. The powers that be have seen the profit they can make, and they want to make it bigger, much bigger. The Internet is still in its infancy, and being practically devoid of regulation, means it can be twisted and turned in heinous ways. All for the love of money.

Yes, they want to tune out the noise so they can sell you themselves, and themselves only. While the single mother blogging for fun and profit, or the independent musician plying his craft, has your attention, they can’t sell you more shit.

That’s what Net Neutrality is all about. It’s about not making their footprint bigger than mine, or yours. They can’t still your voice, but with some tweaks here, and some IP filtering there, they can make you as quiet as possible without evoking a complete backlash. It’s already started to happen (http://techland.time.com/2012/04/16/netflix-ceo-takes-swing-at-comcast-xfinity-over-net-neutrality/).

This will happen almost unnoticed by many. Only the watchful eye of people like yourself, and the many concerned parties on the case, will sound the alarm. If you don’t want the Internet to become passé then you must concern yourself with the monster in the closet that is the very real danger to Net Neutrality.