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igotthisguitar

Joined: 08 Apr 2003 Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 4:09 am Post subject: The End of the Internet? |
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The End of the Internet?
Jeff Chester
February 1, 2006
The nation's largest telephone and cable companies are crafting an alarming set of strategies that would transform the free, open and nondiscriminatory Internet of today to a privately run and branded service that would charge a fee for virtually everything we do online.
Verizon, Comcast, Bell South and other communications giants are developing strategies that would track and store information on our every move in cyberspace in a vast data-collection and marketing system, the scope of which could rival the National Security Agency.
According to white papers now being circulated in the cable, telephone and telecommunications industries, those with the deepest pockets--corporations, special-interest groups and major advertisers--would get preferred treatment. Content from these providers would have first priority on our computer and television screens, while information seen as undesirable, such as peer-to-peer communications, could be relegated to a slow lane or simply shut out.
http://www.democraticmedia.org/issues/netneutrality.html
Under the plans they are considering, all of us--from content providers to individual users--would pay more to surf online, stream videos or even send e-mail.
Industry planners are mulling new subscription plans that would further limit the online experience, establishing "platinum," "gold" and "silver" levels of Internet access that would set limits on the number of downloads, media streams or even e-mail messages that could be sent or received.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060213/chester |
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marcus

Joined: 12 Sep 2005
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Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 6:58 pm Post subject: |
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You should do a search on Google about what Google is planning to do with all of the dark fibre lines it's buying up. |
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igotthisguitar

Joined: 08 Apr 2003 Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 11:10 pm Post subject: |
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marcus wrote: |
You should do a search on Google about what Google is planning to do with all of the dark fibre lines it's buying up. |
Why don't you save us the trouble of making the effort & clearly spell it out for us. |
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The Lemon

Joined: 11 Jan 2003
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Wrench
Joined: 07 Apr 2005
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Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 11:45 pm Post subject: Re: The End of the Internet? |
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igotthisguitar wrote: |
The End of the Internet?
Jeff Chester
February 1, 2006
The nation's largest telephone and cable companies are crafting an alarming set of strategies that would transform the free, open and nondiscriminatory Internet of today to a privately run and branded service that would charge a fee for virtually everything we do online.
Verizon, Comcast, Bell South and other communications giants are developing strategies that would track and store information on our every move in cyberspace in a vast data-collection and marketing system, the scope of which could rival the National Security Agency.
According to white papers now being circulated in the cable, telephone and telecommunications industries, those with the deepest pockets--corporations, special-interest groups and major advertisers--would get preferred treatment. Content from these providers would have first priority on our computer and television screens, while information seen as undesirable, such as peer-to-peer communications, could be relegated to a slow lane or simply shut out.
http://www.democraticmedia.org/issues/netneutrality.html
Under the plans they are considering, all of us--from content providers to individual users--would pay more to surf online, stream videos or even send e-mail.
Industry planners are mulling new subscription plans that would further limit the online experience, establishing "platinum," "gold" and "silver" levels of Internet access that would set limits on the number of downloads, media streams or even e-mail messages that could be sent or received.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060213/chester |
It will never fly. |
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igotthisguitar

Joined: 08 Apr 2003 Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 8:45 pm Post subject: |
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Here's one more ( for all you skeptics )
Opinion
Support Net Neutrality
Peter Rothberg
Fri Feb 10, 6:09 PM ET
The Nation -- Think the Internet will always be the freewheeling, democratic information superhighway you've grown to rely on? Well, think again. Corporate media giants are working hard behind the scenes to convince a clueless and compliant Congress to privatize the Internet.
The telecom and cable giants want to fence off the Internet with one area for the haves--who will pay a premium to enjoy life in the fast lane--and the other for the have-nots.
As digital democracy expert Jeff Chester wrote on The Nation's site, "The nation's largest telephone and cable companies are crafting an alarming set of strategies that would transform the free, open and nondiscriminatory Internet of today to a privately run and branded service that would charge a fee for virtually everything we do online."
To ward off the prospect of "virtual toll booths on the information highway," an interesting coalition of public-interest groups like Common Cause and Free Press, along with new media companies like Amazon.com, are calling for new federal policies requiring "network neutrality" on the Internet. This would prohibit broadband providers from discriminating against any forms of digital content. In this way internet service providers would be regulated like telephone companies, and couldn't simply decide to block their customers' access to legal websites.
Net neutrality wouldn't completely neuter the threat of Internet privatization but it would be an important victory in maintaining the Internet's public sphere. Congressional hearings took place last week.
Congress will vote on the issue sometime relatively soon. Now is the time to make your voice heard.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20060210/cm_thenation/459002
Refusing to take our heads out of the sand isn't going to make this one go away.
If you like the idea of a PRIVATE internet with toll-booth charges assigned to every click of the mouse, fine, stay silent.
Self-professed Republicans or Democrats, converts to the left or right, yellow, pink, blue or green, if you value your access to net information i'd suggest you start to speak up.
Personally, i'm starting with sending this story to everyone on my mailing list. |
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mithridates

Joined: 03 Mar 2003 Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:04 pm Post subject: |
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Speak up where?
BTW this is from another thread but I don't feel like trying to find it. My place is too small for a cat right now so I just hang out with it in the parking lot and give it whatever I feel like every day, usually ham or tuna. Apparently she's been living in the parking lot for a year now and especially now when the weather's getting warmer she just chills on the blanket on the chair or off in the pile of leaves in the corner and seems to be living the good life. A little bit overweight too, actually, and the guys that work at the parking lot are in their 20s and feed her too. I'll see what happens when I move to a bigger place. |
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Ryst Helmut

Joined: 26 Apr 2003 Location: In search of the elusive signature...
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Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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mithridates wrote: |
Speak up where?
BTW this is from another thread but I don't feel like trying to find it. My place is too small for a cat right now so I just hang out with it in the parking lot and give it whatever I feel like every day, usually ham or tuna. Apparently she's been living in the parking lot for a year now and especially now when the weather's getting warmer she just chills on the blanket on the chair or off in the pile of leaves in the corner and seems to be living the good life. A little bit overweight too, actually, and the guys that work at the parking lot are in their 20s and feed her too. I'll see what happens when I move to a bigger place. |
thank you, Mith. Several moments AFTER I read this..... I cackled. WTF? Only had two beers, but swore I thought I was drunk.
My new thing to amuse me...I am going to, on a daily round, visit one thread on each forum and post something that has nothing to do with the current thread OR whilst reading "thread A" I'll submit my post on "thread F".
Glorious.
And only I will be laughing....
How sad.
!shoosh
Ryst
PS: Here I go...mods, don't delete them, let my lame life a bit 'o fun! |
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mithridates

Joined: 03 Mar 2003 Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 12:03 am Post subject: |
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Well, it's a tiny bit related. Igtg asked me something about a cat last week and I have no idea where the thread's gone.
You know what though, maybe it is a bit more related than I just thought. Remember stuffonmycat.com? It's not there anymore. Perhaps the first victim?  |
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Bulsajo

Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:07 am Post subject: |
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FREEMASON ALERT!!!
FREE-MASON-ALERT!!!
A Freemason posting in this thread!!!
What does it mean????
Are we doomed?
This message has been brought to you by igotthisguitar's brain [I logged onto Dave's without my tinfoil beanie and igotthisguitar's braincasts have been amplified through the filings in my teeth] |
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canuckistan Mod Team


Joined: 17 Jun 2003 Location: Training future GS competitors.....
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Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 12:27 pm Post subject: |
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....given the title of this thread I thought it was going to be that joke site which says:
"Congratulations, you have reached the end of the internet!" |
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Bulsajo

Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 5:02 pm Post subject: |
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YOU HAVE REACHED
THE END OF THE INTERNET.
You will have to turn around.
Use your browser's BACK button to do so.
This is the final directory entry of the easternmost web server
located in the City of St. John's, Newfoundland [circled].
The Internet's fiber optic junction nodes [drawn in orange]
of North America all have ingoing/outgoing limbs
numbering more than one. Except for Newfoundland.
You can find out all kinds of neat stuff about Newfoundland
on the internet.
But not here, because you've reached the end.
Sorry.
http://www.onzin.nl/internetend/The%20End%20of%20the%20Internet.htm |
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igotthisguitar

Joined: 08 Apr 2003 Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 3:57 am Post subject: |
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Future of the Internet Highway Debated
By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer
Sat Feb 25, 7:04 PM ET
NEW YORK - On the Internet, the traffic cops are blind — they don't look at the data they're directing,
and they don't give preferential treatment.
That's something operators of the Internet "highway", the major U.S. phone companies, want to change by effectively
adding a toll lane: They want to be able to give priority treatment to those who pay to get through faster.
Naturally, consumer advocates and the Web companies that would be paying the toll are calling it highway robbery.
"Allowing broadband carriers to control what people see and do online would
fundamentally undermine the principles that have made the Internet such a success,"
Vinton Cerf told a Senate committee recently.
Cerf, who played a key role in building the Internet, is now the "Chief Internet Evangelist" at Google Inc.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/net_neutrality;_ylt=Ainh9m6x59VSwU0Bdzmo78cDW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl |
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The Bobster

Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 4:36 am Post subject: |
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marcus wrote: |
You should do a search on Google about what Google is planning to do with all of the dark fibre lines it's buying up. |
Dark fibre lines ... makes goosebumps go up and down my spine. Oooohhh. |
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igotthisguitar

Joined: 08 Apr 2003 Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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Thank God for places / concepts like the "Memory Hole".
My advice to ALL is to download as much useful files / webpages etc. now as possible & store them on your
"non" - internet computer hard drive at home, before it's too late  |
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