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by
Joe - jgand@pcfootball.net
5-30-06
Originally I was going
to write my thoughts about the new RPG that has popped up on
the internet - Super
Columbine Massacre RPG.
However, my wife has pointed out a development to me that has
grabbed my attention, and I would hope that it would grab your
attention as well.
In
fact, I am asking you to actually do something that I have
never asked any of you to do before, and I hope that I will
never have to ask you to do again…
…I
am asking all of you to get involved somehow with what I am
about to tell you.
Earlier
today my wife received an e-mail from the President and CEO of
eBay, Meg
Whitman. Now admittedly this was sent out to millions upon
millions of eBay subscribers, however it describes a situation
that will effect all of us who surf the internet. Here is that
letter, I have blacked out my wife’s eBay username at her
request:
Dear
*********,
As
you know, I almost never reach out to you personally with a
request to get involved in a debate in the
U.S.
Congress. However, today I feel I must.
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 ==> http://click3.ebay.com/75020553.63932.0.94684
right now to send a message to your representatives in
Congress before it is too late. You can make the difference.
Thank
you for reading this note. I hope you'll make your voice heard
today.
Sincerely,
Meg
Whitman
President
and CEO
eBay
Inc.
Now
when I heard about this I was in shock. Pay-to-play? I would
have to pay an additional fee to some suit to be able to get
on the Internet? I have to pay some bean-counter at Cable One
more money every single month to be able to check in at my
favorite sites, to maintain my sites, to shop?
Here’s
another thing that pisses me off. If this does happen a lot of
small businesses out there that depend on the internet for
their very survival will no longer be able to operate. If they
can’t afford the higher fees for the better access, then you
won’t be able to survive for very long.
This
last part affects my wife and I personally. My wife runs a
small business on eBay, and for the past few months it has
been our sole support. My own business has not been going very
well the past few months and right now her eBay sales are the
only things that are keeping the lights on and keeping us fed.
If Congress caves in
to the phone and cable companies then say good-bye to eBay.
People will not be able to access the site without paying an
additional fee, and they would not be able to sell on eBay
without paying an additional tax.
Yes, I said T – A
– X.
To be a little more
specific, here is something that I found on the still free
internet:
The
giant phone and cable companies are trying to take control of
the Internet away from the public and convert it into their
own private, corporate network.
Consumers
If
you are a consumer – a Mom looking for healthcare
information to protect your family; a home-school parent using
the Internet as part of your education plan; an email user
staying in touch with your family and friends – you will
have a degraded slower Internet experience with certain Web
sites. Some Web sites will even be unavailable unless
additional fees are paid.
Small
Business
If
you are a small business, you may not be able to survive
online. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, you may be
impeded from provided the “next big thing” on the
Internet.
Schools
& Churches
If
you are a small non-profit organization, like a church or a
school, you may not be able to get your messages out to
congregants or student families without paying more.
This
fall, if Congress does not act, all of those things could
happen.
Where
did I find this? At another site that wifey pointed me to - http://www.itsournet.org/
According
to itsournet, last year,
the phone and cable companies convinced the Federal
Communications Commission and the Courts to change how the
Internet is operated, making a few unelected officials
responsible for a decision with billions of dollars of impact
for millions of Internet consumers. These decisions reversed
the safeguards that made the Internet so great – the freedom
known as “Net Neutrality,” which allows you to go anywhere
you want to go on the Internet.
Right
now there are a number of businesses and grassroots
organizations that have banded together and are members and
supporters of what the site is trying to accomplish.
Among
those organizations are some very impressive names: Adobe,
Amazon.com, Ask.com, Christian Coalition, CinemaNow,
CitySearch, Earthlink, eBay, Excite, Expedia, Gifts.com,
Google, Home Shopping Network, Hotels.com, Hotwire, Intel,
iWon, LendingTree, Match.com, Microsoft, RealEstate.com, Sony
Electronics Inc, Symantec, Ticketmaster, Travelocity and
Yahoo! This is not the complete list, just some of the more
impressive names on it.
Now
if the phone and cable companies are successful in their
attempt to monopolize the Internet, there are going to be a
lot of sites out there that will have to shut down because
they cannot afford the fees.
Imagine
if you will the internet without the following sites:
pcfootball.net, maddenmania.com, blindsideblitz.com,
mvpmods.com, ebay.com, weather.com, nhldepot.net, bestbuy.com,
alienware.com, disney.go.com, maddenplanet.com, maximum-football.com,
greydogsoftware.com, 1up.com, easports.ea.com, gamespot.com,
ign.com, scifi.com, and so on…
Because
if the majority of internet users are shut out of the internet
because they don’t want to pay the additional fees, then a
lot of sites will lose traffic very quickly. And if they lose
traffic, why stay up and running?
This
is an issue that affects all of us who use the internet. Right
now it doesn’t matter who said what or who did what to whom
oh so many years ago. This is a fight that involves all of us.
The internet is a way of meeting new friends, exchanging ideas
and provides some entertaining diversions which enriches our
otherwise humm-drumm lives.
I
am not saying this in an attempt to scare anybody. Far from
it, in fact if you are reading this I don’t want you to get
scared…
…I
want you to get angry.
I
want you to get as angry as I am right now at the prospect
that my cable company could slap an additional fee onto mine
and yours monthly cable bill just for checking my e-mail or
downloading the latest roster file or game patch.
I
want you to be angry enough that if this does happen that you
would be more than willing to cancel your cable subscription
and call either the Dish Network or Direct TV to inquire how
much it would cost to be hooked up with them.
I
want you to be angry enough to call your phone company and
tell them to shut off your service. Don’t need your
land-line, thanks. I’ll just use my cell phone.
I
want you to be angry enough to write your congressman/woman
and tell them that if they cave in to the phone and cable
companies’ demands that they will be out of a job come
Election Day. Because you will go to work for their opponent,
whomever it may be, no matter if they belong to your party or
not, and you will do whatever it takes to make sure that they
are fired!
That’s
how angry I want you to be, because right now, I am pissed!!!
So
Pissed that I am going to do something that I have never done
before…I am going to not only post this up at pcfootball.net,
but I am also going to send this in e-mail form to the owners
and operators of MaddenMania.com, BlindSideBlitz.com,
MVPMods.com, GreyDogSoftware.com, SciFi.com, GameSpot.com and
1up.com.
I
am asking all of you to please tell your membership about
this. I am asking all of you to get involved yourselves. Write
your Congressman/Woman, go to itsournet.org and register, and
spread the word to what is happening to your personal e-mail
lists. Tell them that we need to start fighting for what is
ours.
Because
if we don’t, very soon it could all be taken away from us.
Until
next time…
http://www.itsournet.org/
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