Capitalism VS The Internet

One of the wonderful things about the internet is that it leveled the playing field for pretty much anybody and everybody. Joe Shcmoe could have just as nice of a retail web site as Walmart could, consumers could now skip the retailers completely and buy from manufacturers instead. It was almost a sort of digital revolution in the consumer market. But alas, it was just too good to last. As the internet commerce exploded, so too did the concerns of the coporate elite. Joe Schmoe was starting to get in on the action, and well they can't have equality getting in the way of profit. Web Sites and software like Napster probably sent them into shock when they realized the long term implications of a true Free Market system.
Their solution?
Power Grab.

www.investors.com...
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The chief technology officer for BellSouth Corp. said Internet service providers could charge Internet companies to deliver some Web sites faster than others....

Network operators can identify the digital "packets" of content moving through their wires from sites and services andcan block some or put others at the head of the stream.

But Smith was quick to say that Internet service providers should not be able to block or discriminate against Web content or services by degrading their performance.

Rather, he said, a pay-for-performance marketplace should be allowed to develop on top of a baseline service level that all content providers would enjoy

Watch out for the latest drafts of the new telecommunications bills bouncing around congress, Big Brother has finally begun to understand what a real free and open market society does to financial hierarchy. The internet could be a wonderful thing, but as control of it slowly slips back into the pockets of the ruling classes, I wonder now if it hasn't already seen it's golden age.

Great stuff, twitchy. We're synchronous on this issue.

The Internet in its current form threatens capitalism (and the global tax scheme which lies behind it's current form). The oligarchs simply must destroy the Internet as it stands. Person-to-person business cannot be allowed in an corporatocracy. People must be "consumers" which means buying from companies, not families or people. I expect this will happen in the form of legislation on ISP providers. They'll simply load the ISP provider down with more laws (to fight terrorists of course) than he/she can keep up with.

As for Yahoo paying SBC to deliver their page faster, well, that'd be pretty quickly spotted by most people who probably would change providers. The question is, will there be any other providers left?

Think about this: The technology to deliver high-speed internet is neither costly (anymore) nor expensive. All the R&D has been done. The crap comes over the two lines that come to everyone's house: Coax and POTS. Any restriction of the Internet by politicians now is 100% proof of conspiracy. How can anyone say otherwise? If humanity's improvement was the goal, they would be offering incentives so as to increase the number of Internet Service Providers of both small and medium scale. But no, such entities are the enemy of the powerful.

Also what bothers me is the communist/globalist aspect which lies beneath much of the anti-capitalist rhetoric about Internet, software and intellectual property rights. To me, this socialistic view of the Internet is just as dangerous.

A benison and blessing like the Internet should be held higher than a person's party affiliation or political/economic philosophy. Truly it is like a flower that has bloomed overnight and which could alter the face of humanity.

That flower is beginning to wilt. What shall we do to preserve it?


[edit on 2-12-2005 by smallpeeps]

first introduce Terror legislation (anti- intentionally omitted) meaning data storage, thereby making providers dependent from subsidies to support that eavesdropping infrastructure, then extend control once you got a foot in the door.


now, that's all easily understood, but how on earth can you stop it by any means short of using 2000 nukes when every single politician and coproatist supports such Orwellian delusions?

i'm afraid the only thing to stop them (other than war of annihilation) is bancrupty, communism style.

Holy SHIPS.

Great find twitchy.

I'm not surprised. But I am disgusted. ...Actually, I've already noticed what appears to be tinkering with search results. Muck. Makes sense now. They're just dotting their i's and crossing their t's to make sure they don't go to jail for doing what they're already doing. Life is so much easier when you own the government.

Originally posted by twitchy
I wonder now if it hasn't already seen it's golden age.

There's always a way over, under, or around twitchy.

It's a pain in the butt. That's all.


.

The SBC CEO actually was spewing this stuff beginning about four months ago, actually. It starting hitting news about six weeks ago:
www.geeknewscentral.com...
techdirt.com...
yro.slashdot.org.../10/31/1548247&from=rss

While alarming, it's mostly posturing and likely won't go anywhere. There are currently some not-so-minor laws that would prevent such monopolization of the mechanics of a communications medium.

Also, there are a number of differing efforts under way to "utilitize" Internet access to make as "vital" as electricity, water, and heat. These have slightly more headway than Edward Witacre (SBC CEO).

However, don't ever operate under the utopian illusion that the Internet ever leveled the playing field. It changed the angle, jumbled things a bit, confused some people, and created an illusion of equality... but that's it. Big telcos like SBC just had to wait things out, allow the dust to settle, and jump on opportunity that results from this kind of posturing.

There are some interesting and exciting opportunities for communications and sharing on the Internet that circumvent establish paradigms. These will always exist. But it's not level by any means. A different elite culture is emerging, one that all of you are part of... and it's very far from level.

In other news, Bellsouth and other communications giants are withdrawing their offer to the city of New Orleans. They were more than willing to help, right up until they found out that New Orleans was planning a city-owned internet Network. Taking back an offer like a building for a Police HQ to a ravaged city isn't going to look very nice, they must be pretty upset about something eh? It has little to do with donating a building. Typical greed, maybe, but I think they summed up their true reasoning pretty well in the following...

Source
Hours after New Orleans officials announced Tuesday that they would deploy a city-owned, wireless Internet network in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, regional phone giant BellSouth Corp. withdrew an offer to donate one of its damaged buildings that would have housed new police headquarters, city officials said yesterday.

According to the officials, the head of BellSouth's Louisiana operations, Bill Oliver, angrily rescinded the offer of the building in a conversation with New Orleans homeland security director Terry Ebbert, who oversees the roughly 1,650-member police force.

City officials said BellSouth was upset about the plan to bring high-speed Internet access for free to homes and businesses to help stimulate resettlement and relocation to the devastated city. Around the country, large telephone companies have aggressively lobbied against localities launching their own Internet networks, arguing that they amount to taxpayer-funded competition. Some states have laws prohibiting them.

God forbid someone other than a major telecommunications company build their own network especially when they are so close to pushing forwards on internet power grabbing legislation.

a reply to: twitchy

Wow man, a decade later it is going into effect with the whole net neutrality thing. I wish you were more active today, you were one great researcher.

Intern-et is like working for free.

Speaking of research, you give them everything they ever wanted,.right to their servers.

Market research. 60 bucks a month to be studied.

Wait until the ostrich folk find out their doctor's are reading your online contributions before deciding what kind of care you should recieve. "More sand please"