Telcos/Cable Firms Seek Net Takeover, as Predicted

Telcos/Cable Firms Seek Net Takeover, as Predicted

July 07, 2006

I thought about writing a long post about the importance of winning the fight to keep the Internet “content neutral” but then came across this short video that lays out the issues better than I can.

On a related note, I well recall the widespread outrage generated by my February, 1994 piece for the New Democrat magazine which made the then-heretical, supposedly anti-market argument that the Clinton administration should not privatize public Internet nodes without an iron-clad promise that the new owners, mostly telcos, would not exploit their position in the future to control the flow of content.

“Turning the Information Superhighway over to a consortium of big companies,” I wrote, “would be like turning Route 66 over to the Teamsters, Amtrak and American Airlines.”

The publication was put out by the Democratic Leadership Council, which was often seen as a semi-official organ of the Clinton Administration. They never invited me back.

Well, here we are.

Not only could this Internet power grab have been predicted. It WAS predicted.

About the Author /

hplotkin@plotkin.com

My published work since 1985 has focused mostly on public policy, technology, science, education and business. I’ve written more than 600 articles for a variety of magazines, journals and newspapers on these often interrelated subjects. The topics I have covered include analysis of progressive approaches to higher education, entrepreneurial trends, e-learning strategies, business management, open source software, alternative energy research and development, voting technologies, streaming media platforms, online electioneering, biotech research, patent and tax law reform, federal nanotechnology policies and tech stocks.

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