There may be hope yet for the idea that our government actually works for us. Two bills, one in the House, and one in the Senate Judiciary Committee, passed without giving blanket retroactive immunity to telephone companies that willingly aided the Bush Administration in illegally spying on the American people.
You might say it's a sort of monkey's paw that Hands Off the Internet, an AT&T-backed "grass roots" organization has called on the FCC to investigate Comcast for violating the four principles of Network Neutrality. On the surface, it looks like progress. But can it be trusted?
Something is starkly wrong when diametrically opposed ideologues join hands in public to protest something else. That something wrong, in a nutshell: the government and communications companies working in concert to erode the freedoms that made our country great.
The Middleman may never be terminated, but he is cruisin' for a bruisin' in the digital age. The latest assault will come, surprisingly, from China, as the government unveils plans to produce a 3D virtual world that allows consumers to order directly from the manufacturer.
The problem with open societies, free speech, and Web 2.0 is that any ol' jerk can believe and say anything they want. That you'd rather they didn't is kind of your problem. But it's a bigger problem for larger entities like YouTube and Google who provide the platform, or, since Microsoft's not using it, the soapbox for the jerks to stand upon.
So as state-funded university tuition rises faster than the inflation rate, grants are becoming nonexistent, and students are actually looking abroad to complete their education cheaper and in half the time, Congressmen cozy with the RIAA are threatening to cut their funding more if they don't play ball with the recording labels.
iEntry 10th Anniversary
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