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SuperPulver for the People
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Jeff Pulver has shed his mild mannered alter ego and stepped up as Superhero of the Net. Not content with being a trailblazer in the voice over IP industry, he's gone and taken up the battle for net neutrality. Some might say he's tilting at windmills, but Pulver's so convinced the little people can make a difference, he's put his money where his mouth is, launching an online contest to create a viral marketing campaign in favor of net neutrality legislation. After checking out his site, it's hard not to rally round the cause.
While Congress takes time out from its busy schedule of wheeling and dealing to wrassle with a major overhaul of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, big business has once again attempted to nestle itself all snug and warm in the minds and hearts pocketbooks of DC policymakers.
At stake is nothing less than the future of broadband access to the internet. Phone companies, ever vigilant in their quest to grab all the toys, have switched their focus from squelching the rise of wireless competitors and pretending voip internet phones don't scare the bejeesus out of their finance guys, to gaining control over who uses the net and how. Their vision of a tiered internet has serious repercussions for the freedom of the internet.
In a free and open market, consumers can use the power of choice to prevent companies from acting in ways that harm consumers. But no one can seriously argue that free and open is what we have. Most telecom customers have, at best, a grand total of two phone companies to choose from. Pretty hard to make a dent there.
Our trusty government, in situations like this, is supposed to act as a sort of yard duty teacher, making sure the big kids don't hoist any kindergarteners up the tetherball poles. That's essentially what the Telecommunications Act was all about. Sure, a lot of positive changes have made their way into the newest draft, but show me anything meaningful about protecting net neutrality. It's not there.
And that's the way AT&T and its cohorts would like things to stay. They'd like you to continue paying for phone lines you don't use, simply to get broadband for your voip. They'd love to quash all competition in the name of the consumer and are pouring phenomenal amounts of money into high powered propaganda campaigns, trying to convince Capital Hill that, this time, really for reals, they'll behave. Pulver, and most of the rest of the IP industry aren't so sure.
I don't know what they're so worried about, after all, under the new proposed legislation, the FCC can make an annual report putting grab-happy Telecoms on Santa's Naughty list.
If you value your internet freedom, now is the time to weigh in on the debate. Pulver's contest ends June 6, 2006, so hurry on over and make that difference.
