another railroad
tommyEditor’s note: This stuff is not very exciting, but please read this entire post…
Since the local history peeps brought up commuter rail, I thought I’d let you know what Tampa Bay’s best blog is up to. Tampa Rail is now showing an error page, but make no mistake. Dave Pinero is trying to make a point with his website:
Error 666
Telecommunications Fee Unpaid.
Your web provider has not paid us to allow access to this website at this time.
Please switch ISPs, or visit a paying provider such as FOX or NBC to view similar content regarding Tampa Rail issues in Tampa. Professional media networks are established institutions and can provide you much better news and information regarding urban rail developments in Tampa than David Pinero.
We apologize for this inconvenience, but eventually, you’ll get used it.
Further explanation can be found on his personal blog:
I have taken Tampa Rail offline temporarily to demonstrate the impact of what will happen if Net Neutrality is not preserved. Last week the House of Representatives voted against protecting Net Neutrality.
Tampa Rail is a small website that can expect to be blocked or severly (sic) degraded if your ISP does not pay the telcos the appropriate fees - even if it can’t. Your website or blog is no different. So if you don’t get serious and stand up to this threat, get used to the error message that led you here.
To learn more about Net Neutrality and the possible effects on small content sites like Sticks of Fire, visit Save The Internet. According to the website, “No corporation, trade group or political party funds the SavetheInternet campaign.” They do list over 700 individuals and other small entities that support them.
For an opposing point of view, check Hands Off The Internet. Membership organizations include AT&T, BellSouth, and Cingular.
In theory, less regulation would be preferred. But that position assumes that corporations and individuals will always do the right thing. Unfortunately, we’ve already seen how companies react when given the choice between “good for consumers” or “good for the company” (AOL Blocks Critics’ Emails, all email from Gmail.com trapped by AOL spam filters, more examples here). Put simply, left to their own devices, AOL and other corporations will always put their own self interest ahead of the public interest.
Again, I know this stuff is not very exciting, but I encourage you to understand and get involved. Here’s how your representatives voted recently. If you want to do something, there are some easy ways you can help.
Tags: online, politics, tampa, utilities
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June 14th, 2006 at 2:23 pm
This might look like a job for political activists alone, but it’s not.
Do you (the reader) like coming to independent web sites such as Sticks of Fire? Maybe Tampa Rail? Do you go and play on independent web sites like Ebaum’s World? Or laugh at the guys at Penny-arcade.com? Do you talk on message board web sites or do anything on the web on web sites that aren’t owned by a large private entity with deep pockets? Odds are you do.
Now imagine if these sites had to start paying in order for ISP’s (companies who give you internet access) to permit those sites to show up for their users? Or charge web sites a fee for their pages to show up at regular speed for users and not a snails pace. You could say goodbye to TampaBlab, Boltsmag, My Addled Brain, Ranting Right Wing Howler and so many other web sites it boggles the mind.
Basically the open information superhighway that is the Intenet would turn into a closed-door affair. Your information would be from those who can afford to pay each ISP for the privledge of being accessible to their users.
June 14th, 2006 at 4:39 pm
Way to go SOF!, if anyone should be on board for NN I’d have hoped it would definetely be you guys!
June 14th, 2006 at 5:05 pm
Hate to be the wet blanket here, but asking the FCC to oversee net neutrality (savetheinternet.com) is probably not going to help — not during this administration, anyway. The net will most likely end up under corporate control whether it uses an FCC veneer or not. IMHO we have two options: hope that the free market will prompt some net-neutral competitors, or go back to the days of BBS and build our own net.
June 14th, 2006 at 5:55 pm
I dislike the FCC as much as the next. But to do nothing and just hope corporations act in the best interest of the public is naive at best.
The business world has gotten too powerful not because of “this administration,” but because the general population is too busy (or too lazy) to cause a serious stink. Corporations hope your attitude will be “doesn’t matter what we do” - they save money if there’s no fight.
There’s always another option: If you don’t want the FCC overseeing the internet, show me a better plan. Or get real creative, and come up with a new one.
June 15th, 2006 at 12:19 am
Tommy says, “Or get real creative, and come up with a new one.”
That’s my second option. Napster and Linux are good examples. Suppose someone comes up with a method to surreptitiously speed up transmission rates on “slow lane” connections. Demand drives development.
The FCC meets tomorrow to relax media ownership regulations (http://www.freepress.net/news/15885) which will make media monopolists very happy. I don’t hold out much hope that the FCC will suddenly stand up for the consumer, given their current direction.