Thanks +Peter McDermott

linkWrapper”>+Peter McDermott. Interesting to think how 2012 election will use social media to engage users/voters/me.

Reshared post from +Peter McDermott

CAN YOU ACTUALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE USING YOUR BLOG OR SOCIAL MEDIA?
The Internet as you know it is in danger, will you help me save it?

Anytime politics are bought up on the Internet things can get ugly. Most consider it a taboo conversation topic at watering holes and is seldom seen in social networks. However, I think there is one political issue that we can all agree on. The future of the Internet, how we access it and how we use it.

Media conglomerate and Internet service provider lobbyists are pressuring congress to limit the FCC regulations that pertain to providing Internet service to US residents. The regulations that are in place basically guarantee that ISP's will not begin censoring certain sites or limiting you to only seeing certain parts of the web.

Since the 90's, Internet access in the United States has been untouched. We are free to roam about as we please, meet people from other countries, obtain our news from any source we desire and share our own thoughts and opinions without any filter or restrictions. Recently different types of traffic have been "throttled" and even that has caused uproar. But it only caused an uproar because people felt the pain of what was happening.

Someone posted a link to an article in the Huffington Post (link below) that led me to conduct a lot of research this morning, particularly about US Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and her plan to tear down the FCC's "Iron Curtain." You won't find Marsha Blackburn on Google+, but you will find one of her aides, +Don Johnson. He is a field representative for the Republican Party in Memphis, Tennessee.

SO WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?

It goes something like this: Marsha Blackburn has duped her Republican constituents into thinking that the FCC is trying to control the Internet and asking for support to revoke their power to regulate and to tear down the "Iron Curtain" they hold over the Internet. This sounds good, no? Freedom for the Internet, right? No more regulation, the government steps out. Sounds like a very novel libertarian concept.

It's not. If the FCC were to stop regulating the way Internet providers operate, private companies would be able to censor access to certain sites and realms, charge premiums for different types of data being sent and control and monitor ways you access the Internet that James Orwell wouldn't have even dreamt of.

So what can we do about it? Well, we can dispel the lie. We can continue to share this story with our friends, with people that use the Internet every day. This is an issue that crosses party lines and our freedom is in serious jeopardy.

I have submitted a request to the Office of Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn to have a Google+ hangout interview with her to find out why she is taking this stance and to see how the lobbyists have twisted her arm into telling the American public nothing but deceiving lies. NET NEUTRALITY FOR ALL!

If you haven't read up on the issues, here are a couple of good articles to start with. Please leave your comments below and feel free to re-share!

High Noon for Internet Freedom – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/high-noon-for-internet-fr_b_988510.html

Resolution of Disapproval – http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=sj112-6

*From vampires to communism: net neutrality an "Internet Iron Curtain" – http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/09/from-vampires-to-communism-net-neutrality-an-internet-iron-curtain.ars?comments=1#comments-bar

Photo via +Kevin Staff

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