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Comcast’s Ongoing Assault on Net Neutrality

What exactly is Net
Neutrality?
Netneutrality

If you are like most people, it is probably the biggest thing you have never heard of.

Have you ever received a satellite television brochure detailing what packages you can get for what price? Well if Internet heavyweights such as AT&T,
Comcast and Cox cable have their way, and destroy Net Neutrality , the Internet will be parsed up and packaged the same way. You want to visit cnn.com? That’s another $40 every year. eBay? Another $50 annually.

Who is Behind the Attack on Net Neutrality?

Just last month, the Federal Communication Commission sanctioned Comcast for intentionally blocking its customers from receiving certain Internet traffic. While most of you probably do not use the BitTorrent service that Comcast was blocking, without strong laws enforcing Net Neutrality there is nothing to stop these 800-pound gorillas from blocking your access to any service or Web site. Worse yet, there is nothing to stop them from blocking their customer’s access YOUR company’s website. Of course, if you were to pay a little extra, and their customers were to pay a little extra, I am sure these Internet service providers (ISPs) might find it in their hearts to reign in their officious hijinks. It is not difficult to see that this cannot help but result in you eventually being denied access to majority of the Internet.

What Can You Do?

Obviously, do not to sign up with an ISP that unilaterally makes decisions about what aspects of the Internet you can and cannot access. More importantly, you can demand your congressional representatives take immediate measures to ensure your continued access to the ENTIRE Internet, not just the part of the Internet willing to pay ISPs kickbacks in exchange for access. Check out your candidates’ positions on Net Neutrality before you vote. For more information on what you can do, visit SaveTheInternet.com and The Open Internet Coalition . Do it now. Once Net Neutrality is gone
it will never come back. Instead of billions of diverse and independent Web pages, you may one day find yourself surfing a much smaller Internet, one echoing only the sentiments of those commercial interests willing to pay to have their message heard.

Brett Trout

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