The US House of Representatives have killed the "Democratic backed" Net Neutrality amendment by a 269-152 vote along party lines. While the Senate has yet to play their hand in this game, the feeling appears to be that Internet freedom as we knew it in the USA is now over.
Already much has changed with the Internet. It's different than it was in the 1990's, when it was insanely carefree and everybody was having a blast experimenting with all the new ways to communicate with each other.
When my parents discovered they could join the same email groups as me and especially when my mother learned how to IM, well. Now there was something different and unique. Mom popping up at the office. Mom sharing her opinion in the same places I was. When I called myself "Dancing Thunder", she went along with that too. Mom is very cool.
The gist of the new age of the Internet is that people will no longer have as many choices or even a say about how we get the Internet, or what we get from our ISP's. Everything has been threatened by greed, and we knew that would happen. Eventually.
Now it's here. Some people say that now, what I'm able to get from the Internet may be up to how much I can afford to pay for, or who my Internet provider is and what sites and services they intend on letting me have access to.
I wonder how long this control will last.
Somewhere in every politican remains a teeny fleck of a wild, carefree and sexy person. Eventually they will squeeze the freedom and choice out of everything so much that even they will not be able to get away with anything anymore.
" While the debate over Net neutrality started over whether broadband providers could block certain Web sites, it has moved on to whether they should be permitted to create a "fast lane" that could be reserved for video or other specialized content.
Prohibiting that is "not a road we want to go down, but that's what the Markey amendment would do," said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican. "The next thing is going to be having a secretary of Internet Access (in the federal government)."
:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 6/09/2006 06:36:00 PM
Kim is a Member of the Usability Professionals
Association
About Kim's Web Site Usability Reviews
"This report exceeded my expectations. After reading it a
few times, I went through and highlighted those parts of your actionable
advice that I want to implement right away... I ended up highlighting
most of the report. Stellar job. I won't hesitate to recommend you
to one of my own clients." -- Andy
Hagans of AndyHagans.com
"I have implemented the most obvious changes and I suppose the fact that we've seen an immediate increase
in sales/conversions is no coincidence. I'd highly recommend your service to anyone running a serious web based business."
-- Steve Clay, Plumeriabay.com
"As soon as we get our hands on one of her usability
studies, my clients and I have a better understanding of what needs
to be done with their sites to make them the best they can be from their
site visitors' perspective."
-- Jill Whalen,
HighRankings.com
::
Cre8pc on Web Site Usability and Holistic SEO :: 
