Don't Let My Media Empire Die Before It Starts!

Please listen: this is one of those seemingly tiny, but crucially important, issues that none of us ever care enough about.

But it's going to bite us in the behind if we're not careful.

It's called "Net Neutrality" and the idea is that the corporations that run computer networks should not be allowed to charge more for 'priority access.' Whether you want to download LOST from iTunes or watch a viral video of Chinese kids doing Backstreet Boys impersonations.

Read the ranty version of the story at Pop Culture Junkies.
Read the cleaner version at Boing Boing. They also point out what a transparent pack of liars the corporations are.

So what does "Net Neutrality" mean in reality? And by that I mean: "What does it mean for me?"

It means that Jeff Zucker can pay off Comcast (my ISP) so that only NBC-Universal shows download quickly on my computer. BitTorrent would be slowed to a crawl for me, as would YouTube, Google Video, Revver and all of the other video hosting sites that aren't corporatized and rich. Any site or company that doesn't pay up could get slowed down to the point of extinction. Bye-bye New Media empire, hello corporate slavery [again].

Fortunately, Zucker isn't quite this smart, but that crafty, rafty Les Moonves just might do it.

So here's what you can do. Visit Save the Internet.com. Add your name to the petition. Learn about what your representatives are doing-- there's even a helpful color-coded map!
Please, join me in supporting an Internet that unleashes creative freedom all over the world-- not one where giant telecom companies can decide what you see.

It's one of those little things.

TECHNORATI TAGS: freedom, Net Neutrality, New Media, monopoly