Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Evil Capitalists!


The article from the SFGate really got me thinking- why shouldn't an ISP be able to charge different prices just like the postal services do? Oh yeah, because everything that is running through their super expensive(yet still dated when compared with the rest of the planet) fiber optic lines is all the exact same thing, little pulses of energy. Unlike physical mail which needs to be treated carefully, packages even more so, and depending on the contents only delivered in certain climates or conditions, data has no such restraints. 1s and 0s all cost the exact same to transmit, whether they be for facebook, pirating media, or personal blogging.

All I see from the perspective of those opposing net neutrality are the viewpoints of pure capitalists. They don't give a shit about freedom of information, ethics, or what people really want. They have an obligation as CEO or whatever else to get more money. Period. If they can get away with creating outrageous pricing schemes for the shoddy and already overpriced internet we get in this country, they certainly will.

They key word for all of this is hegemony. These corporations have the money, they control the cell towers, cable lines, and internet service to every single one of us. Why wouldn't they want to exercise their power to dominate us even further? They're milking us for all we're worth, and now they want to begin filtering what we can and cannot access on the internet. You know as well as I do it won't be "fair" or "equal". It will be all business deals between massive wealthy interests with ideologies to perpetuate and propaganda to pawn off on us.

Yes, in the end, they own the networks because they paid for and built them, and by capitalist ideals can do whatever they want with them. I can't help but think that capitalism itself is partially to blame here. We live and die by this system. Now it's killing our freedom of information.

1 comment:

  1. This whole thing reminds me of cable providers and their monopolies over certain geographic reasons..Because of my location I am forced to use Comcast. For my internet, and cable..I guess I could go with Dish Network, but why? I can't get U-Verse, Bright House, or WOW...We have been getting strong armed by these deals and monopolies for years, now it's moving to the Internet!

    ReplyDelete