A new Internet looks like it might be headed our way if Congress gives into lobbyists and doesn't act. This new Internet would be "two-tiered" and would charge websites more to allow faster connections to content. How disturbing this is! This would create classes in a medium known for breaking barriers and allowing itself to be open to all. The media giants (ex. Verizon, Bell South, AT&T) want to charge websites a surcharge to deliver content faster to people accessing it from home; this is a charge for using their networks. This would create classes of websites where the big guy once again crushes the little guy with ease. The Internet is known for its small, low-budget start up companies. All of the big websites started as very small projects of college students (Google, Yahoo, etc). Talk about reducing innovation and development! This would do nothing but crush the little guys! I think that we pay enough for connection charges to have the telcom industry charge the websites even more. Bloggers don't have the extra money to give to the Internet providers to have their content delivered faster; people would get tired of waiting and move on. The Internet is not a place for a society of classes. We need to keep our Internet open and free to ensure a better tomorrow!"Google and Amazon and Yahoo are not going to slice those payments out of their profit margins and eat them," says Ben Scott, policy director for Free Press, a nonprofit group that monitors media-related legislation. "They're going to pass them on to the consumer. So I'll end up paying twice. I'm going to pay my $29.99 a month for access, and then I'm going to pay higher prices for consumer goods all across the economy because these Internet companies will charge more for online advertising."
(story here)
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