commanderW - 7:37 am on Jul 27, 2006 (gmt 0)

Hey AgmLauncher,
I hate to disagree here, but i'd like to clarify my thoughts. I'm just not a big fan of making corporations pay for things just because their making money. As for their cost of doing business, well, when i 1st got on the web, i had Earthlink on the phone everytime my connection went out for an hour. That's about 1/4 - 1/3 of an hours wages per week they spent to save me from a mental breakdown. What's left of my 10$, then 20$ per month fee? Same w/ Applecare. I paid 300$ for 3 years of unlimited tech support. I had them on the phone every week or 2 for long stretches. Most of those problems i solve now by restarting my computer-duh (Of course, nobody told me that till i spent 50$ on a Ted Landau manual.). So, if everyone is as ignorant & nervous as i was when i 1st got on the net, that's alot of sacagaweas spent just to educate & handhold new users. A necessary investment perhaps, but there you are.

-What worries me is that some companies seem to be intending to seize the authority to penalize & possibly block web sites based on content served, ostensibly to solve a technical problem. I don't trust it. At all. ISPs can lock out websites just for the benefit of their parent or subsidiary companies, & worse, it sets the stage for covert censorship. This is because at this point, there's no competition for high-speed cable connections in most areas. The only way i might accept such an intrusion is if providers were forced to give up their various monopolies. At least then another company has the chance to offer the disputed content. But even then, a website would be limited to serving only those subscribers of the less restricitive provider. It gives a way out to joe6pack, but muzzles the web publisher. Still no good. On the other hand, i don't like the idea of congress dictating 'net neutrality' either. 'The road to hell is paved w/ good intentions" they say. I've lived long enough to know this is true. You can't feed a pigeon, or pick up a stone on a beach anymore. So, if this dilemma is real, & things like 'the Venice Project' are going to blow digital gaskets up & down the east coast & the west coast, well then, i just hope that somebody comes up w/ a solution that is mo' betta'. that's all. Otherwise, we are screwed. All of us. So, hooray for Microsoft. Don't let these ISPs pull new rules out of their, um, hats.