How Washington Will Shape the Internet

WebHostingGuy writes "As reported by MSNBC, 'The most potent force shaping the future of the Internet is neither Mountain View's Googleplex nor the Microsoft campus in Redmond. It's rather a small army of Gucci-shod lobbyists on Washington's K Street and the powerful legislators whose favor they curry.' The article examines several pieces of legislation and lobbying initiatives which are poised to affect you and your rights online. Topics covered include Net Neutrality, fiber to the home, the Universal Service Fund, codecs, and WiFi bandwidth usage." From the article: "After years of benign neglect, the Federal government is finally involved in the Internet — big time. And the decisions being made over the next few months will impact not just the future of the Web, but that of mass media and consumer electronics as well. Yet it's safe to say that far more Americans have heard about flag burning than the laws that may soon reshape cyberspace."

Comments

Intarwebs

[Doc Ruby]

It's interesting that now that the Internet is becoming a credible alternative to mass media for news and commerce that the government is regulating it big time.

Universal Service Fund

[NeuroAcid]

As far as the USF is concerned, I say get rid of it for rural areas, leave it for schools and libraries. If you want to support urban sprawl and live in the middle of nowhere, fine, but don't ask me to pay for your communication access. If a company wants to do it for you and charge you a lot and you bitch about the cost to you and only you, too bad, move someplace you can afford. I think the way the USF is written now, people in urban areas like NYC are paying for some log cabin in the middle of nowhere Alaska to have internet connection.