The Coming Internet Monopolies

scrm writes "'The Federal Communications Commission is quietly handing over control of the broadband Internet to a handful of massive corporations according to this Salon article." Very important stuff; Slashdot has covered this before, but this is a great article which sums up everything that has gone on over the past few years.

Comments

fp!

[Anonymous Coward]

Long live Big Brother!

Mirror of the important bits of the article

[Anonymous Coward]

Friday, 7 June, 2002, 13:21 GMT 14:21 UK
England's sweet revenge

Argentina 0-1 England

England took a giant step towards qualification from Group F with a stirring victory that went a long way to avenging defeat to Argentina at France '98.

Once again captain David Beckham was the hero, stroking home a Michael Owen-earned penalty in the first half.

Argentina mounted waves of attack in the second half but the English defence stood firm to claim a memorable victory.

Sven-Goran Eriksson lost Owen Hargreaves to injury during a cagey opening 20 minutes and the first chance fell to the South Americans.

Juan Pablo Sorin's clever backheel teed up Kily Gonzalez, who fired wide of David Seaman's left post.

England's men, who had been made to work hard for opportunities, won a few dangerous free-kicks for Beckham and grew in confidence on the ball.

With increased possession came their first good chance of the game, created by Nicky Butt and almost converted by attacking ace Owen.

The Liverpool man latched on to an immaculate through ball and slotted though Pablo Cavallero's legs only to watch his shot rebound off the Argentine post.

Gonzalez had his second good chance of the game on the half hour, blasting his shot over the bar from the edge of the box.

But England pushed on and were rewarded for their aggression in the 44th minute when Owen won a penalty minute after being tripped by Mauricio Pochettino.

Captain Beckham stepped up and scored emphatically.

England stepped further into the ascendency after the restart and should have been rewarded with a scond goal.

Michael Owen stole half a yard and should have done better with the goal at his mercy. Then, Beckham wriggled free in the Argentine box, shooting wide with only Cavallero to beat.

Teddy Sheringham - on as a substitute for the excellent Heskey - had the next chance.

Paul Scholes floated a pin-point cross over and the Tottenham striker volleyed fiercely at Cavallero from 15 yards.

After Sheringham had spurned a second opportunity, Argentina upped the pressure only to be denied by spirited defending.

Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell stood particularly tall and David Seaman pulled off a couple of spectacular saves.

Waves of South American pressure paid no dividends.

There may yet be life for England after the World Cup's "Group of Death".

YHBT. YHL. HAND.

[Anonymous Coward]

YHBT. YHL. HAND.

No apologies for hating soccer

[Anonymous Coward]

The United States has come to a standstill waiting for the country's next action in the World Cup, which I believe is at 2:30 a.m. Sunday in Bangladesh. Or something like that.

The World Cup might not get big television ratings among human beings in this country, but roosters and werewolves are crazy about it.

I have come to accept that soccer is probably here to stay, although I occasionally have a dream where a man in a dark suit takes airplanes full of soccer balls and drops them into the Pacific Ocean.

Since the United States is one of 32 teams in the World Cup, I figure we might as well win the thing.

But pardon me if I'm not all worked up over our 3-2 win over Portugal, a small western European country of just more than 10 million people that is famous for its wine and its fishing ports.

The U.S. victory has brought soccer enthusiasts out of the woodwork. I have been bombarded with e-mails and phone calls proclaiming the U.S. upset of Portugal as the greatest accomplishment for soccer in America since Brandi Chastain took off her shirt in celebration of the U.S. women winning the World Cup in 1999.

People ask me questions about my distaste for soccer all the time. Let me try to explain:

Bob, you didn't play soccer when you were a kid, did you?

No, I played football, basketball and baseball all hours of the day. A bunch of us would meet at the elementary school and get up a game of something. Soccer was never an option. I'm not sure any of us heard of soccer in those days.

So, you have no understanding of the sport?

That is an understatement. When I watch soccer, all I see is a bunch of people at midfield, kicking the ball around without any intention of moving it toward a goal. That's all I see. I'm not seeing the nuances, but I'm not really convinced there are any.

You're such a big baseball fan. You realize that there is nothing more boring than a low-scoring baseball game?

I disagree. Low-scoring baseball games can be fascinating. But if every baseball game was low-scoring, as every soccer game is, then baseball would suffer tremendously. This is America. We want things to move fast. We want action.

The problem with baseball is that there are too many high-scoring games. When all the games look the same, that's when you have trouble.

Your cavalier attitude rubs us the wrong way. Don't you realize that thousands of young people in this country play soccer?

Yes, I do. And I don't understand that, either, except that soccer is an inexpensive game. And it's over in 90 minutes. Soccer is probably a good sport for kids' cardiovascular health. I just can't believe they're having fun out there.

Don't you recognize that in the next 50 years soccer will become the most popular, and prevalent, sport in the United States?

Are you kidding? Soccer will always be what it is in America -- a fringe sport not taken seriously by the mainstream. Why? Because our sports plate is full with the big three, as well as hockey, golf, tennis and many other sports. Soccer will never be anything more than a side dish.

C'mon, Bob, won't you join us at a watch party for the next U.S. game?

Not unless hair overtakes my body and my teeth get sharp. If that happens, I'll be there. But I can't promise I'll be in a good mood.

Re:Not here

[Beliskner]

and forces the corporations to pay a massive financial tribute to the government (corporate taxes far exceeed corporate welfare).

Trash, if you look at it overall corporations don't pay taxes.

For more details read this, what's that? Shall I quote it? Mmmmmmkay

the federal budget is top-heavy with corporate welfare. Counting tax breaks and expenditures, corporations and the rich snuffle up over $400 billion a year-- compare that to the $1400 billion in total expenditures, or to the $116 billion spent on programs for the poor.

Where's all that money go? There's direct subsidies to agribusiness ($18 billion a year), to export companies, to maritime shippers, and to various industries-- airlines, nuclear power companies, timber companies, mining companies, automakers, drug companies. There's billions of dollars in military waste and fraud. And there's untold billions in tax credits, deductions, and loopholes. Accelerated depreciation alone, for instance, is estimated to cost the Treasury $37 billion a year-- billions more than the mortgage interest deduction. (Which itself benefits the people with the biggest mortgages. But we should encourage home ownership, shouldn't we? Well, Canada has no interest deduction, but has about the same rate of home ownership.)

So, since corporate welfare goes only to big corporations that means it's entirely possible (qualitatively) that their tax bill is zero.