In order to form more perfect financials…

Check out Katherine Seelye’s column in the Times today and the website it discusses:

Worth pointing out here two of Internet for Everyone’s guiding principles, as listed on their About page. Quote, “To make sure every American can benefit from the new economy and guarantee all citizens play an active role in our democracy our nation must embark on a national campaign to connect every American to a fast, affordable and open Internet.” And, “Every Internet user should have the right to freedom of speech and commerce online in an open market without gatekeepers or discrimination.” (italics mine)

That harnessing liberal rhetoric to the cause of the internet is nothing new makes it no less striking here. The question is: who’s making these connections and are our individual freedoms really at the top of their priority list? eBay and Google are two members of the large initiative. In 2007 they raked in nearly $6 billion and $10 billion in gross profits, respectively. It doesn’t take an economist to theorize that wider access to broadband would inflate those numbers even more. Nor does it take a psychologist to perceive that those figures – more than democracy, freedom of speech or the public interest – are what really concern the Internet for Everyone alliance.

Populists or robber barons?

For new heights in disingenuousness, give them credit for the following:

“Open Internet access makes free speech a reality for everyone. Freedom of the press extends only to those who own one — or so the saying goes… But the Internet has changed all that, delivering the press — and in theory its freedoms — to any person with a good idea and a connection. Yet powerful political and economic interests are exploring new ways to filter or block user information on the free-flowing Web.”

In theory, indeed.

-T

~ by tridge on June 25, 2008.