Working at Home on the Internet Webpage Archive

(from the Working at Home on the Internet Web Page) 

This is what Robert Litan from the Brookings Institute wrote for the Washington Post and my rebuttal to his perception of what Net Neutrality means to us all.
By Robert E. Litan
Special to washingtonpost.com
Tuesday, May 2, 2006; 12:00 AM

Imagine a world in which millions of senior citizens and disabled Americans, among others, can have, if they want, their medical conditions monitored continuously by devices that communicate over high speed, broadband networks that can automatically alert them if they require immediate medical attention.
 
Such “remote disease management” systems not only would be highly convenient for patients, but based on evidence from the Veterans Administration’s use of systems that do not yet make extensive use of broadband, could lead to huge savings in health care costs.
 
I have calculated in a recent report that the health care cost savings and the reduced need for institutionalizing seniors and the disabled could top $1 trillion over the next 25 years.

My Rebuttal:

Imagine that, you are going to kill your Grandmom, and get rid of all those Pesky Veterans, and the Disabled AND Save the Government $1 Trillion.

How dare you want to keep the internet neutral. Just to save yourself a couple of bucks.

If you take that seriously, you must be part of the Brookings Institute, or AT&T, or Verizon, or Adelphia Cable or Comcast Cable… or any of the other myriad of service providers that ALREADY CHARGE for high speed service but want to make premium service a surcharge.

Even if the premium service were available for an additional price, would your grandparents be able to afford it? That assumes that they can afford and use DSL or Cable in the first place.

I think that this is probably one of the worst arguments for premium service I have ever heard. The Government doesn’t take care of the Vets Now, so who will pay for their new and improved internet access?

The Government made a law to give access to the disabled, and they got ramps at the end of the block to cross the street.

Gramps can’t afford his medicine Now, how is he supposed to pay extra for his medical monitor over the internet once the broadband providers start charging more for the service?

We can’t let this happen, if the Cable and Telephone companies charge premium prices for internet access, the only ones who will benefit is them.

Source:
The Washington Post

(from the Working at Home on the Internet WebPage) 

I read more than one post today regarding Net Neutrality. I actually wrote a post my self on my PolBlog. This could be a Big Problem if you Work at Home on the Internet, or do anything else there at a reasonable price.

I know I said, that I would keep the Political Rantings on the other Blog, but this could be more important than any of us realize. I will include quotes and links to these other Blogs so that you can find out more on the subject.

My entry into the fray:

Back on March 28th I wrote an article for the PolBlog, SuperHighway or Toll Road*. In it I mentioned that the Broadband, Cable and DSL providers wanted to charge extra for additional speed and preferred access.
 
There is a fledgling movement underfoot. Some of the more important ( in my eyes ) Bloggers and internet users are starting to bring the problem to light.

ME “Liz” Strauss of Successful Blog** writes of Blogging and Country Stores:

So hear me whisper this. Some folks don’t care about country stores and communities. They care about pipelines that carry bits and bytes and how much they can charge for that service. . .
 
Would you read what I read today by a man named Jeff Pulver? He’s running a contest for ideas to help make people aware. Here are the rules.
 
I really like our country stores a lot. My life would be less without all of you. What if WE Go the Way of the Old Country Store?

Brian Clark of CopyBlogger*** writes of the Four Horsemen of the Internet Apocalypse:

The US Congress is pushing a law that would abandon Network Neutrality, the Internet’s First Amendment. Network neutrality currently prevents companies like AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner from deciding which Web sites work best for you based on what site pays them the most. Without Network Neutrality, the scenarios outlined above are just the beginning. And it will affect people all over the world, not just in the States.

Jeff Pulver has started Viral Marketing to Save the Internet+ inviting anyone who can write or put a video together (in a professional manner), to enter his contest++ to Help Save the Internet.

If you care that you are probably going to be wedged off the internet by Big Business, with Congress’ help, then try to do something that will keep the Internet Neutral and open to everyone.

I personally plan on writing more that one E-mail to various portions of the MSM (Main Stream Media) in order to get the word out to stop Congress and the Phone and Cable companies from infringing on the Neutrality of the Internet.

Update: There is a petition at MoveOn.org to send to Congress. If this is important to you, you may want to stop by and sign it… and be sure to send an E-mail to your friends.

Referrals:
* SuperHighway or Toll Road
** Successful-Blog
*** CopyBlogger
+ Jeff Pulver’s Virial Marketing to Save the Internet
++ Rules of contest

(from the Working at Home on the Internet WebPage) 

It seems that now Singapore is getting in on the act. They are threatening Bloggers not to write any political commentary.

See, they are going to have an election soon.

Speaking in parliament, Senior Minister of State Balaji Sadasivan said anyone using the Internet to persistently propagate, promote or circulate political issues about Singapore during election periods was breaking the law
 
In a free-for-all Internet environment, where there are no rules, political debate could easily degenerate into an unhealthy, unreliable and dangerous discourse, flush with rumors and distortions to mislead and confuse the public, Sadasivan said. (from ZDNet)

It looks like just ANOTHER Government that wants to muzzle the Citizens of their country and prevent them from using the blogosphere to voice their opinion before an election period.

From my PloBlog: World Politics and the Internet

Rice Lake High School in Rice Lake,Wisconsin is considering expelling a student after the discovery of a “hate list” naming 19 fellow students on his blog. The list was just that, a hate list, posted from the students home which made no threats against others. Now the high school student is also subject to a police investigation.

WQOW, a Wisconsin radio station, quotes Dr. David Gordon, a professor who deals with free speech issues, who said that a student’s First Amendment rights end at the school gates, as long as the school can prove the speech is a disruption to the smooth operation of the facility.
“There are very clear Supreme Court decisions that say the school can, in fact, restrict First Amendment rights if it’s necessary to maintain proper order in the school” he said.

“If the student is making vulgar comments about classmates, I think we probably agree that he shouldn’t be doing it, but he probably does have a legal right to be irresponsible”.

The only thing the kid did was write a post on his blog saying that he hated some other students, and he did so from the privacy of his own home, on his own time. He didn’t threaten anyone, or suggest that he was seeking to hurt anyone.

What we have here is an interesting case involving freedom of speech for students inside or outside of school.