Quake3World

The nation's largest telephone and cable companies are crafting an alarming set of strategies that would transform the free, open and nondiscriminatory Internet of today to a privately run and branded service that would charge a fee for virtually everything we do online.

Verizon, Comcast, Bell South and other communications giants are developing strategies that would track and store information on our every move in cyberspace in a vast data-collection and marketing system, the scope of which could rival the National Security Agency. According to white papers now being circulated in the cable, telephone and telecommunications industries, those with the deepest pockets--corporations, special-interest groups and major advertisers--would get preferred treatment. Content from these providers would have first priority on our computer and television screens, while information seen as undesirable, such as peer-to-peer communications, could be relegated to a slow lane or simply shut out.

Under the plans they are considering, all of us--from content providers to individual users--would pay more to surf online, stream videos or even send e-mail. Industry planners are mulling new subscription plans that would further limit the online experience, establishing "platinum," "gold" and "silver" levels of Internet access that would set limits on the number of downloads, media streams or even e-mail messages that could be sent or received.

Foo wrote:I'd almost welcome it because I think there's a solid chance of a grassroots movement in creating community networks - Wireless equipment is now trivially cheap and for urban areas it would be possible to connect hundreds of people using minimal equipment.

As for how many people would have the know-how, patience or drive to do that come the time, who knows.

Point is many applications of the internet can be acheived on a local scale and yeild similar benefits. Plus you lose a lot of the commercialised crap that's built up over the last 10 years.

I remember when the net used to be pretty much game sites, porn and universities.

As Ed Whitacre, chairman and CEO of AT&T, told Business Week in November, "Why should they be allowed to use my pipes? The Internet can't be free in that sense, because we and the cable companies have made an investment, and for a Google or Yahoo! or Vonage or anybody to expect to use these pipes [for] free is nuts!"

Besides their business interests, telephone and cable companies also have a larger political agenda. Both industries oppose giving local communities the right to create their own local Internet wireless or wi-fi networks.

Nightshade wrote:Goddamn money-grubbing corporate douchebags.

dzjepp wrote:There's no way this is going to happen.

Nightshade wrote:Goddamn money-grubbing corporate douchebags.

Foo wrote:I remember when the net used to be pretty much game sites, porn and universities.

As Ed Whitacre, chairman and CEO of AT&T, told Business Week in November, "Why should they be allowed to use my pipes? The Internet can't be free in that sense, because we and the cable companies have made an investment, and for a Google or Yahoo! or Vonage or anybody to expect to use these pipes [for] free is nuts!"

In a bid to protect its members from e-mail fraud and phishing, and to offer consistency to commercial e-mail senders, AOL today will begin implementing Goodmail's cryptographic CertifiedEmail program and phasing out its IP-based Enhanced Whitelist.

"Our focus and goal here is to provide a safer and more secure environment for our consumers, and restore some trust in the e-mail inbox," Charles Stiles, AOL's postmaster, told ClickZ News.

CertifiedEmail will cost senders a fraction of a cent per message sent, which Gingras said will be offset by the ROI it generates in the form of assured delivery, improved open rates, and enhanced click-through rate. Rates have not been set in stone, and Goodmail expects to offer senders significant discounts through 2006 under its charter program, he added.