I was forced out of my job as an appliance salesperson at Kmart a few months ago. To add insult to injury, the company contested my unemployment, and got me denied benefits (this, after I was already receiving partial benefits because of their last hours cuts). Any business that mistreats employees and customers as badly as Sears/Kmart does (man, could I tell you stories), has to aim at the suckers. The suckers are all they have left. Oh, and the people who don't or can't read labels (did you know most of the Craftsman line is now made in China?).
Those who are variously referred to as progressives, globalists, socialists, and the "New World Order", among other less polite things, have belatedly recognized the threat the web represents to their agenda, and they are now trying to correct that error. Like it or not, this cabal of industrialists and polititians will succeed, because they own the hardware. They own all the devices that make up the internet's backbone, and they control who gets access to it, so they can set the rules.
I still say we, the little people, need to start building Internet 3.0. I have no idea what form it can take, probably some sort of decentralized WAN, but I do know that if we want a truly neutral 'net, we have to control the hardware.
Just as the Medieval nobility of Europe failed to recognize the rise of the merchant class as a threat to their power until it was too late, the current crop of would-be royalty, who's growing power is based on the control of both raw resources and the flow of information, did not recognize the threat that information technology poses to that power until recently. They are now attempting to correct that error, and like it or not, unless we do more than yell, they will succeed.
We cannot stop the eventual regulation of the internet in its current form, for one reason: we don't own it. You own and control the device through which you are reading this, but the equipment which provides your means of accessing it, and the rest of the 'net, is owned by a collection of private and public companies. The backbone of the web is owned by the telecom giants, who's largest shareholders and officers are so intertwined with lobbyists, politicians and bureaucrats that they may as well be a part of the government.
So, since you don't own the means of accessing the internet and have to "pay to play", what the so-called elites can't do legislatively or by judicial activism, they will be able to do through layers of contractual obligations. In other words, anyone who wants web access for any reason will be forced to accept content filtering by an outside agency as part of the deal when they sign up with an ISP. Don't blame your ISP. They will have had to accept the same deal to get access to the internet's backbone.
What we need is Internet III. A real network, built by us, the little people. I have no idea what form it would need to take. I imagine it could be based on WY-FY connections, or perhaps be as simple as neighbors agreeing to get together and run fiber optic from house to house. Individual security would have to be a matter of personal responsibility (much as it is now). Your access to the 'net and the quality of that access would be based entirely on your ability, financial or otherwise, to maintain your equipment. As this network expanded, it could eventually bypass, surpass, and supplant the telecom-based internet.
I lack the technical expertise to flesh this idea out, but there are millions of people out there who do have the skills. I'm hoping a few of you will take this idea up and run with it. The possibilities are endless. A whole new world awaits, if we can take it.
Just as the Medieval nobility of Europe failed to recognize the rise of the merchant class as a threat to their power until it was too late, the current crop of would-be royalty, who's growing power is based on the control of both raw resources and the flow of information, did not recognize the threat that information technology poses to that power until recently. They are now attempting to correct that error, and like it or not, unless we do more than yell, they will succeed.
We cannot stop the eventual regulation of the internet in its current form, for one reason: we don't own it. You own and control the device through which you are reading this, but the equipment which provides your means of accessing it, and the rest of the 'net, is owned by a collection of private and public companies. The backbone of the web is owned by the telecom giants, who's largest shareholders and officers are so intertwined with lobbyists, politicians and bureaucrats that they may as well be a part of the government.
So, since you don't own the means of accessing the internet and have to "pay to play", what the so-called elites can't do legislatively or by judicial activism, they will be able to do through layers of contractual obligations. In other words, anyone who wants web access for any reason will be forced to accept content filtering by an outside agency as part of the deal when they sign up with an ISP. Don't blame your ISP. They will have had to accept the same deal to get access to the internet's backbone.
What we need is Internet III. A real network, built by us, the little people. I have no idea what form it would need to take. I imagine it could be based on WY-FY connections, or perhaps be as simple as neighbors agreeing to get together and run fiber optic from house to house. Individual security would have to be a matter of personal responsibility (much as it is now). Your access to the 'net and the quality of that access would be based entirely on your ability, financial or otherwise, to maintain your equipment. As this network expanded, it could eventually bypass, surpass, and supplant the telecom-based internet.
I lack the technical expertise to flesh this idea out, but there are millions of people out there who do have the skills. I'm hoping a few of you will take this idea up and run with it. The possibilities are endless. A whole new world awaits, if we can take it.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by John D..
Re: You get the customers you deserve
I was forced out of my job as an appliance salesperson at Kmart a few months ago. To add insult to injury, the company contested my unemployment, and got me denied benefits (this, after I was already receiving partial benefits because of their last hours cuts). Any business that mistreats employees and customers as badly as Sears/Kmart does (man, could I tell you stories), has to aim at the suckers. The suckers are all they have left. Oh, and the people who don't or can't read labels (did you know most of the Craftsman line is now made in China?).
Re: Fascism
Oops, sorry. Politicians.
Fascism
Those who are variously referred to as progressives, globalists, socialists, and the "New World Order", among other less polite things, have belatedly recognized the threat the web represents to their agenda, and they are now trying to correct that error. Like it or not, this cabal of industrialists and polititians will succeed, because they own the hardware. They own all the devices that make up the internet's backbone, and they control who gets access to it, so they can set the rules.
I still say we, the little people, need to start building Internet 3.0. I have no idea what form it can take, probably some sort of decentralized WAN, but I do know that if we want a truly neutral 'net, we have to control the hardware.
Internet regulation
Just as the Medieval nobility of Europe failed to recognize the rise of the merchant class as a threat to their power until it was too late, the current crop of would-be royalty, who's growing power is based on the control of both raw resources and the flow of information, did not recognize the threat that information technology poses to that power until recently. They are now attempting to correct that error, and like it or not, unless we do more than yell, they will succeed.
We cannot stop the eventual regulation of the internet in its current form, for one reason: we don't own it. You own and control the device through which you are reading this, but the equipment which provides your means of accessing it, and the rest of the 'net, is owned by a collection of private and public companies. The backbone of the web is owned by the telecom giants, who's largest shareholders and officers are so intertwined with lobbyists, politicians and bureaucrats that they may as well be a part of the government.
So, since you don't own the means of accessing the internet and have to "pay to play", what the so-called elites can't do legislatively or by judicial activism, they will be able to do through layers of contractual obligations. In other words, anyone who wants web access for any reason will be forced to accept content filtering by an outside agency as part of the deal when they sign up with an ISP. Don't blame your ISP. They will have had to accept the same deal to get access to the internet's backbone.
What we need is Internet III. A real network, built by us, the little people. I have no idea what form it would need to take. I imagine it could be based on WY-FY connections, or perhaps be as simple as neighbors agreeing to get together and run fiber optic from house to house. Individual security would have to be a matter of personal responsibility (much as it is now). Your access to the 'net and the quality of that access would be based entirely on your ability, financial or otherwise, to maintain your equipment. As this network expanded, it could eventually bypass, surpass, and supplant the telecom-based internet.
I lack the technical expertise to flesh this idea out, but there are millions of people out there who do have the skills. I'm hoping a few of you will take this idea up and run with it. The possibilities are endless. A whole new world awaits, if we can take it.
Internet regulation
Just as the Medieval nobility of Europe failed to recognize the rise of the merchant class as a threat to their power until it was too late, the current crop of would-be royalty, who's growing power is based on the control of both raw resources and the flow of information, did not recognize the threat that information technology poses to that power until recently. They are now attempting to correct that error, and like it or not, unless we do more than yell, they will succeed.
We cannot stop the eventual regulation of the internet in its current form, for one reason: we don't own it. You own and control the device through which you are reading this, but the equipment which provides your means of accessing it, and the rest of the 'net, is owned by a collection of private and public companies. The backbone of the web is owned by the telecom giants, who's largest shareholders and officers are so intertwined with lobbyists, politicians and bureaucrats that they may as well be a part of the government.
So, since you don't own the means of accessing the internet and have to "pay to play", what the so-called elites can't do legislatively or by judicial activism, they will be able to do through layers of contractual obligations. In other words, anyone who wants web access for any reason will be forced to accept content filtering by an outside agency as part of the deal when they sign up with an ISP. Don't blame your ISP. They will have had to accept the same deal to get access to the internet's backbone.
What we need is Internet III. A real network, built by us, the little people. I have no idea what form it would need to take. I imagine it could be based on WY-FY connections, or perhaps be as simple as neighbors agreeing to get together and run fiber optic from house to house. Individual security would have to be a matter of personal responsibility (much as it is now). Your access to the 'net and the quality of that access would be based entirely on your ability, financial or otherwise, to maintain your equipment. As this network expanded, it could eventually bypass, surpass, and supplant the telecom-based internet.
I lack the technical expertise to flesh this idea out, but there are millions of people out there who do have the skills. I'm hoping a few of you will take this idea up and run with it. The possibilities are endless. A whole new world awaits, if we can take it.