[GPSCC-chat] Fwd: Fwd: Why Do You Need Net Neutrality?

[Cameron L. Spitzer]

>   I think the question is who should we take advice from
> and what do you advocate.

We should take advice from everyone and no-one.  It's irresponsible
to delegate these things.  We should instead be educating ourselves
so we can form our own informed opinions.  That's really where
Greens and other progressives have fallen down.  It's part of
the "I'm not technical" crap we pull on ourselves and each other.

I don't believe the current FCC rulemaking matters.  The cable TV
companies have pretty much taken over the last mile, with the
telco monopolies owning most of the rest.  If the FCC declares
the cable Internet companies common carriers, the Fascist courts
will call it a "taking" and throw it out.
We should be working on two fronts.  We should be working, long
term, for a new monopoly law.  The Sherman Act was written to
bust the 19th Century railroad and grain trusts.  It doesn't work
against software and communications monopolies.  Locally, we
should be learning how the Comcast and AT&T easements and
rights-of-way work in our cities, in our neighborhoods.
Find out what those green and beige boxes on the corner do,
and who got paid off to let them do it.

The other front is keeping the Internet working, which is the
job of every Internet user.  The snug.bug address belongs
to the Microsoft Corporation.  Do you really trust NYSE:MSFT
with your email?  Educate yourself so you can pick a more
trustworthy vendor, and move.  In the medium term, Comcast
and AT&T will be attempting some censorship and other
manipulation.  Educate yourself so you can route the stuff
you care about around that damage.  Start looking for
a trustworthy web proxy, and learning how to build one yourself.
For any hope to win this thing, which is ultimately the
battle for democracy itself, we have to own our own tools.
"I'm not technical" is a foolish indulgence, and we have
to outgrow it.  That's where the effort should be going.

-Cameron