[asterisk-biz] Re: Netroots Net Neutrality "Lobbying"

[Matthew Rubenstein]

On Sat, 2006-12-16 at 19:09 +0200, Dovid Bender wrote:
> <snip>
> The next Congress probably won't pass any but a really temporary
> stopgap telecom bill, instead concentrating on "cleaning up" from the
> last (Republican) Congress, and "setting up" for the next (they hope
> Democratic) presidential election in late 2008. So there's 2 years to
> convince our reps that freedom and commerce, not monopoly, depend on
> equitable access to networks. After that, it'll be too late. For a
> decade, maybe a lifetime, probably a career.
> </snip>
>  
> If I can bribe my kid to get bed early with a candy whats gona stop
> congress from accepting BIG bribes ??? I used to work for a large
> telecom company. They had an exec on a  large salary that was a former
> member of congress. I was new to the world of business at the time and
> I had to ask why. The response: A friend of capitol hill ? Need I say
> more. I used to be a die hard republican and believe in the system. I
> gave up long ago..... (I dont want this to turn into a political
> fight). The one thing that I realized is that the most important thing
> to people on capitol hill is that they are there. Thier number two
> priority is money etc. So if they do see that a lot of people have to
> write then they will. Anyone know the info for the reps. from NJ ? I
> am willing to write in. If some one has time if you can please compile
> a list of all the reps. that are involved. Also if anyone wants to
> post the letters that they send in and we can post it online so others
> can get an idea of what to write in.

	At http://opensecrets.org/ you can find your (or anyone else's)
representatives by ZIPcode, name, or browsing the Congressional
structure. OS.o specializes in tracking political bribes^Wcontributions.
They monitor various ways to watch the grease, including by issue many
others. At http://www.newsmeat.com/ you can look at political news and
bribers^Wcontributors a different way.

	I believe in the system of accountability: competing branches, members
and candidates with vested interests in exposing their competition's bad
work. Agency/committee oversight and media investigation. The main
unsustainable breakdown is the collusion between media and officials to
report badly, falsely, or even on a specific agenda. The mass media is
so corporate that corporate interests rule, rather than the people's
interests (other than corporate people).

	Which is why the Internet is so important. Because it levels the
playing field. It interactivates people and the government. It's harder
to control, so accountability is more available, even to anyone with a
Net connection (or a friend with one). Which is why Net Neutrality is so
important. And why "official publishers" are working against it:
corporations need to control the media again before everyone expects to
be more of the media themself.

 
> Dovid
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(C) Matthew Rubenstein