At first, I was skeptical that an email being circulated really did start with Meg Whitman, President and CEO of eBay. Despite references to the email on seemingly credible websites, some of the language in Whitman’s message just didn’t seem to be right. I tend to be concerned that these things start out from the same people who send emails telling you that your pet will die from your household cleaning with a Swiffer [false].
So my antennae are still on alert, but given the presence of an eBay Government Relations website with similar themes, I suspect that Meg has thrown her two-cents on Net Neutrality into the fray.
Right now, the telephone and cable companies in control of Internet access are trying to use their enormous political muscle to dramatically change the Internet. It might be hard to believe, but lawmakers in Washington are seriously debating whether consumers should be free to use the Internet as they want in the future.
The phone and cable companies now control more than 95% of all Internet access. These large corporations are spending millions of dollars to promote legislation that would divide the Internet into a two-tiered system.
The top tier would be a “Pay-to-Play” high-speed toll-road restricted to only the largest companies that can afford to pay high fees for preferential access to the Net.
The bottom tier – the slow lane – would be what is left for everyone else. If the fast lane is the information “super-highway,” the slow lane will operate more like a dirt road.
Today’s Internet is an incredible open marketplace for goods, services, information and ideas. We can’t give that up. A two lane system will restrict innovation because start-ups and small companies – the companies that can’t afford the high fees – will be unable to succeed, and we’ll lose out on the jobs, creativity and inspiration that come with them.
The power belongs with Internet users, not the big phone and cable companies. Let’s use that power to send as many messages as possible to our elected officials in Washington. Please join me by clicking here right now to send a message to your representatives in Congress before it is too late. You can make the difference.
Powerful words. An empassioned plea to battle the evil empire – the converged cabal of anti-competitive collaboration: apparently, on eBay you can find a partnership between telephone and cable companies.
Looking for a response? Watch for Net Neutrality to be addressed at The Canadian Telecom Summit, next week.