RSSMoby, Musicians Join Net Neutrality Fight
By Ed Oswald | Published May 19, 2006, 3:14 PM
Musician Moby joined forces with net neutrality supporters Thursday, demanding alongside Massachusetts Democratic Representative Edward Markey that Congress pass some type of legislation that would ensure the free flow of data through the Internet.
Other musicians, including R.E.M., Q-Tip, the Indigo Girls, Jill Sobule, Wilco, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, the Roots, the Dixie Chicks and Moby have formed a new group called Artists and Musicians for Internet Freedom.
The artists' group would join a broader group known as the SaveTheInternet.com Coalition, which consists of some 600 organizations and members.
"If Congress guts Net Neutrality, independent music and news sites would be choked off, consumer choice would be limited, and the Internet will be become a private toll road auctioned off by companies like AT&T," Moby warned. "We need to stand up for Internet freedom now. Congress must uphold Network Neutrality."
Rep. Markey is the author of HR 5273, the so-called "Save the Internet Act of 2006." The bill would legally prohibit telecos that own Internet pipes from downgrading and discriminating regarding Internet access and services. Such an action is fiercely opposed by the telecommunications industry, which says access through their pipes shouldn't be "free."
"Right now we are heading down a dangerous road that will stifle the openness of the Internet, endanger our global competitiveness, and warp the web into a tiered Internet of bandwidth haves and have-nots," Markey said.
Attendance at a Thursday afternoon press conference was sparse, and the event was briefly interrupted by a minor altercation. According to press reports, a Save The Internet picketer hit a rival FreedomWorks demonstrator in the head with his foam sign. The man was removed and the event continued.
Save The Internet later said that the man was not associated with the group.
http://www.handsoff.org/
I think it's sad that things even came to this. Oh well. No matter what we do it's in the hands of the Gov't/Corps, that's how it always is. So all we can do is wait and see how it affects us.
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|Such an action is fiercely opposed by the telecommunications industry, which says access through their pipes shouldn't be "free."
NOW TELL US, JUST WHAT IS FREE ABOUT PAYING A MONTHLY SERVICE CHARGE FOR INTERNET ACCESS?
Don't be full of $h!+ in attempts to defend your so-called turf...
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|Most internet "users" are clueless. They won't understand any of this. They click right past all this rhetoric to click on the poker ads, and forwarding the e-mails that say "forward this message to everyone you know!" This effort to thwart corporate takeover will fail. The success of AOL only proves that the majority of users are idiots.
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|"The success of AOL only proves that the majority of users are idiots."
LMAO, that's the funniest, true thing i've heard in a while.
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|This is weird as heck...the Christian Coalition *and* some of the most far-left musicians unified on an issue? Both of these groups must think their particular message will be the one that gets blocked by the new gatekeepers..which means it probably IS a bad piece of legislation. I hate to see anyone's viewpoint being stifled or controlled, but the mass media does this every single day. The 'net is about the only way for the little guy to get the word out, and there are plenty of power and money mongers dying to control that new medium. If this bill promotes that control, it needs to be killed immediately. I do NOT want to see the Internet being controlled by the likes of Ted Turner and Rupert Mudoch.
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|"I hate to see anyone's viewpoint being stifled or controlled, but the mass media does this every single day. The 'net is about the only way for the little guy to get the word out, and there are plenty of power and money mongers dying to control that new medium. If this bill promotes that control, it needs to be killed immediately. I do NOT want to see the Internet being controlled by the likes of Ted Turner and Rupert Mudoch."
In theory that is exactly what this bill is supposed to do. Prevent, through legislation, the control of information on the internet.
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|blahblahblah...
Like they're going to listen to musicians instead of heads of Internet companies.
Oh look! It's another publicity stunt!
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|Exactly.
Like this is going to make any difference at all.
They probably make up like 3% of the industry. Not only that but they are musicians that nobody cares about anymore.
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|They probably make up like 3% of the industry.
At their current popularity levels, I'm guessing more like .03%...
Not only that but they are musicians that nobody cares about anymore.
Hence the need for a publicity stunt. Just another version of "The Surreal Life".
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|"Exactly.
Like this is going to make any difference at all.
They probably make up like 3% of the industry. Not only that but they are musicians that nobody cares about anymore."
I guess that just shows that the more 'popular' musicians out there today are too busy with trying to 'out-bling' their peers to pull their heads out of their respective rear-ends and get involved with anything important. I may not like all of those artists mentioned, but I admire their advocacy of net neutrality. instead of just making silly internet banter that's common to most discussion sites or just giving up and saying, "we can't do anything," why don't we try to do something to help with this issue? A very EASY thing we can do is to go to this link at the Petition Site and sign this petition asking congress not to side with corperate interests on internet neutrality: http://www.thepetitionsi...35672945?ltl=1148274475 . It's very easy, and it can help.
EDIT: Thanks for your link GCoder.
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|do they even have a clue what they are fighting for? i mean what excactly are they trying to save the internet from? of did they just sign where the agent told them to?
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|This "Save the internet Act of 2006", simply will not pass.It goes deeper than what you read here. I agree that No company or GOVERNMENT should have control over the internet, but it is inevitable. Just browse through the history books and you will see that every great communication tool in history comes under the control of government sooner or later.Usually through big corporations.
Its a matter of NATIONAL SECURITY is what they will say.
IF we dont take action now, we'll settle for nothing later.
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|Geez, I'll actually have to go buy something from one of them now.
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|We ALL need to take steps to ensure Net Nutrality.
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|I totally agree. We need more action so that the government takes notice. If we do not speak up, the government will pass laws that we have no control over.
ACT NOW!
http://www.savetheinternet.com
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|if you really wanted true net neutrality you would be lobbying for the un to control icann and not the us gov.
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|Deleted...need to read up more on this subject before posting next time :(
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|*The Christian Coalition and a group of musicians were among the groups coming out in support of a net neutrality law this week, as the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee began a series of hearings on a telecom reform bill that largely ignores calls for prohibiting broadband providers from blocking or impairing Web content from competitors.
Moby, the techno musician, was scheduled to appear at a net neutrality rally on Capitol Hill Thursday. R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe said efforts to kill net neutrality provisions are “yet another attempt by corporations and their congressional buddies to pull our society backward.”
“The nation’s largest phone and cable companies are spending millions pressuring Congress to let them decide which Web sites work best on your computer based on which corporations pay them the most!” R.E.M. said on its Web site. “If Congress caves, consumer choice will be limited, the free flow of information will be choked off, and the free and open Internet will become a private toll road managed by these large companies.”*
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