Technology inventor protecting creator's copyrights. Business writer, novelist, songwriter, and Citizen Journalist.
Remember all the Net Neutrality hype?
Remember when former US President Obama started pushing the concept of a free and open Internet as if it weren't already free and open?
And you remember when the details of it were made known that it mostly amounted to another way for the government to control the Internet by controlling the companies providing connections to our homes?
And you remember Obama wanted to classify providers as Public Utility Companies?
And you remember how Google and other tech giants applauded the legislation and thought Obama was just the best thing since sliced bread?
Well, maybe you don't remember. But that's okay.
Because your Citizen Journalist is here to remind you of it. And why should she be reminding you of it now? Because Donald "The Hammer" Trump is getting ready to yet again rescind an Obama ruling.
This has given Mainstream Media opportunity to write articles bashing Trump, Tech Giants reason to worry, and many on Facebook and Twitter who have no clue to pass around links to online petitions to keep giving them free Internet.
When Obama classified broadband providers as utilities, he then put those under the control of Big Government. Clinton fell for the same thing when he signed into being the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA, that was out of date and completely useless one day after it was signed.
I'm all for law and order, but many are useless because of the way they are worded. Think about it. The DMCA and Net Neutrality are just versions of the old laws that say silly things like —
"It is illegal to walk your crocodile without a leash along Main Street during a full moon while your ex-wife is visiting her mother to attend her father's funeral."
Alright, there is no law that goes that far, but there are laws about walking your crocodile, and the DMCA and Net Neutrality did write their rules over the top like that making them completely useless and punishing, so you get my drift.
You might be asking, "Yes, Angela, but we want to be able to keep the Internet free and open to all. What if a website wants to be on the Internet but the broadband company says they can't be on it? I mean, really, Angela, isn't that just wrong?"
Maybe. Maybe not.
What does one mean by free?
Free, as in the right to publish what one wants? Or free, as in not paying for it? The first already has the Constitution governing that freedom. The latter is pie-in-the-sky thinking as nothing comes with no cost.
The US Government and Tech Giants are working hand-in-hand to limit Constitutional-guaranteed freedoms. Net Neutrality is simply another way they are doing it.
By controlling the companies who bring connections to your house, the government has put themselves in control of your Internet access. That means, politicians can shut it down whenever they want to.
Tech Giants, playing the victim here, push messaging such as this one from Google, a message that many other tech giants agree with:
“Our values remain the same: The Internet should be competitive and open. That means no Internet access provider should block or degrade Internet traffic, nor should they sell ‘fast lanes’ that prioritize particular Internet services over others. These rules should apply regardless of whether you’re accessing the Internet using a cable connection, a wireless service, or any other technology.”
Let's break down this self-serving statement, shall we?
What companies are the worst offenders when it comes to selling "'fast lanes' that prioritize particular Internet services"?
First on the list would be Goo-Goo-Goo...that's right. You've almost got the whole word out of your mouth. That company has formed a parent company called Alphabet that is working even harder behind the scenes to control what you see and when you see it.
How about Fakebook, as many popularly call that social media giant these days? Or Twitter or any of those other social media platforms you like so well?
Yes, they too control access within their silos and try their damnedest to keep you on their site by making big promises of your ability to freely sharing information — then breaking each one and every one once they've got you hooked.
Does Twitter's shadow banning sound familiar?
Or how about Facebook limiting how many friends you can have, how many can see your posts in their feed, or severely limiting how many friends you can tell about events you're putting on?
Or Google's pushing of meaningless HTTPS certifications on all websites no matter what? Or not allowing AdWords to be used by a company working hard to protect intellectual property rights? Or favoring certain news sources to always show up in searches and all other news sources to show up on page 134,567.
You're access to the Internet has always been controlled.
Nothing is free. There is a cost to building the infrastructure. Do you know there are people who do not know that the Internet comes through a wire to their house? They think because they have Wi-fi that somehow those bits and bytes magically appear. They think that satellite magically delivers it.
Hello! Everything is hard-wired somewhere. Satellite dishes in yards pick up signals and the wire brings it inside your house to a piece of hardware that connects to your computer and/or phone.
And you pay monthly for having the convenience of that service delivered to your home. Stop paying the bill and you stop getting the service.
For Tech Giants to act like their growth was not and is not dependent on you paying your monthly bill for access to the Internet is just stupid.
But even Tech Giants are seeing the writing on the wall.
Why else does Goo-Goo-Goo spend massive amounts of money to make robo calls and send snail mail to small businesses about advertising with them? Just remember what this is all about: Keeping you from freedom.
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