The Save the Internet coalition is trying to prevent a hijacking of our future. The robber barons of the Information Age — the phone and cable giants — are trying to wrest control of this absolutely essential infrastructure away from the edges of the networks, and put that control back in the center where they can tell us what to do and how.
Please understand: This is not an abstract argument over theory.
The future of citizen media, at least in the United States, will depend in significant degree upon whether our elected officials continue to do the bidding of the phone and cable companies, or whether they recognize the danger inherent in this power grab. Sadly, almost all of the signs are the wrong ones, forcing me to conclude that the political powers-that-be are much more comfortable on the side of the control freaks than on the side of genuine freedom and innovation. Perhaps that is nothing new, but it is disheartening.
Add your voice to the debate, however you feel.
- See also my colleague David Weinberger’s excellent explanation of why this matters.