ok, so sue me, I haven't been posting here much lately on net neutrality issues.
However, if you go to www.commonblog.org and look around, you will find recent posts like this one:

http://www.commonblog.com/story/2008/7/28/141854/134

Also soon to be up will be one about the Comcast ruling by the FCC.

..jon

Instead of writing everything anew here, I would direct people to my blog posting at the Common Cause Blog about yesterday's FCC hearing in Cambridge. Read all the comments there because I kept updating the story via the comments.

One of the most disgusting things was how Comcast paid people to fill seats so that people like me who really care about the issue couldn't get in. Disgusting.

Ok, so this blog has been quiet for some time. Things have been percolating, and now it's hitting the fan!

the House Net Neutrality bill has been introduced in Congress. Read my post on it.

Also check out a very cool analysis by Harold Feld of the bill.
Harold is an awesome writer and quite entertaining.

And in developing news, there is going to be a hearing by the FCC in Cambridge either on Feb. 25th or 26th. More info on that as the date gets officially nailed down.

Even people previously opposed to net neutrality are seeing now that it is needed...

Get Your Hands Off the Web
Interference in Web content by AT&T and Verizon shows that more regulation is needed
by Stephen H. Wildstrom

A bit over a year ago, I wrote a column arguing that innovation on the Internet would be best served if the government mostly kept its hands off. I've changed my mind. The behavior of the top telecommunications companies, especially Verizon Communications (VZ) and AT&T (T), has convinced me that more government involvement is needed to keep communications free of corporate interference.

The Associated Press today broke a story proving that Comcast is not following Net Neutrality principles.

This case is specifically with a file sharing program called BitTorrent. If you are using BitTorrent, this is what happens if you are a Comcast subscriber, "Each PC gets a message invisible to the user that looks like it comes from the other computer, telling it to stop communicating. But neither message originated from the other computer -- it comes from Comcast. If it were a telephone conversation, it would be like the operator breaking into the conversation, telling each talker in the voice of the other: "Sorry, I have to hang up. Good bye.""

Can You Hear Us Now?
Verizon Shouldn't Be A Cellphone Censor

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/16/AR2007101601536.html

By Nancy Keenan and Roberta Combs
Wednesday, October 17, 2007; A17

As the presidents of NARAL Pro-Choice America and the Christian Coalition of America, we are on opposite sides of almost every issue. But when it comes to the fundamental right of citizens to participate in the political process, we're united -- and very, very worried.

Free speech shouldn't stop when you turn on your computer or pick up your cellphone. But recent actions by the nation's biggest communications corporations should be of grave concern to all who care about public participation in our democracy, particularly our leaders in Congress.

Verizon just showed us plainly and clearly what they might do if we don't pass a law requiring net neutrality.

They blocked a political text message from NARAL to Verizon customers who had opted in to receiving messages from NARAL.

Verizon deemed the message too "controversial or unsavory."

Who is Verizon to determine that? Are they going to start restricting what we can say on our phones too?

The scary thing is that they could right now start blocking access to NARAL's website if they wanted, since they control large sections of the internet backbone. They could extort massive fees from any political organization on the right or on the left just so you could get their email alerts or visit their website.

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/09/the-united-stat.html

The United States of AT&T
by emptywheel

Back in June, the Bush Administration invited one of AT&T's key lobbyists, Ed Gillespie, to serve as White House counselor. A few weeks after that, BushCo expanded AT&T's resident lobbyist's role to include most of Karl Rove's portfolio. Just days after Gillespie took over that role, the DOJ made an unusual intervention into the FCC's request for comments on Net Neutrality, weighing against Net Neutrality.

Well today, one of AT&T's former key attorneys, Peter Keisler, just took over the Department of Justice.

September 12, 2007

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Jen Howard, Free Press, (202) 265-1490, x22

Free Press Questions Justice Department's Late Hit Against Net Neutrality
FOIA request seeks to shed light on motivations behind long-delayed DOJ filing at the FCC
WASHINGTON -- Public interest advocates are seeking to uncover whether industry lobbyists or White House politics unduly influenced a recent Justice Department filing against Net Neutrality -- the longstanding principle that prevents phone and cable companies from discriminating against Web sites and services.

Free Press, the national, nonpartisan media reform group that coordinates the SavetheInternet.com Coalition, today submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act to uncover the underlying factors that led to the Justice Department's Sept. 6 filing at the Federal Communications Commission -- which came months after the FCC's formal comment period had closed.

July 13, 2007

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Jen Howard, Free Press, (202) 265-1490, x22
Public Floods FCC with Net Neutrality Support
Over 95 percent of comments filed at agency demand a free and open Internet

WASHINGTON -- Tens of thousands of public comments supporting Net Neutrality flooded the Federal Communications Commission before the close of the agency's official inquiry yesterday. In a landslide, well over 95 percent of the comments called for rules that prohibit phone and cable companies from discriminating against Web sites or services.

People from different backgrounds, living in every corner of the country, demand this basic Internet freedom. Internet users from all 435 congressional districts used SavetheInternet.com's online tools to send personal messages to the FCC.