uforn
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Post by uforn on Jan 18, 2012 15:05:56 GMT 1
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Post by ronologic on Jan 18, 2012 18:08:54 GMT 1
Net Neutrality Updated: Dec. 22, 2010 The concept of “net neutrality" holds that companies providing Internet service should treat all sources of data equally. It has been the center of a debate over whether those companies can give preferential treatment to content providers who pay for faster transmission, or to their own content, in effect creating a two-tier Web, and about whether they can block or impede content representing controversial points of view. Currently, Internet users get access to any Web site on an equal basis. Foreign and domestic sites, big corporate home pages and low-traffic blogs all show up on a user’s screen in the same way when their addresses are typed into a browser. The Federal Communications Commission had come out in favor of keeping things that way, but its ability to do so was put in doubt by a federal appeals decision in April 2010 that restricted its authority over broadband service. On Dec. 21, 2010, the F.C.C. approved a compromise that would broadly create two classes of Internet access, one for fixed-line providers and the other for the wireless Net. The vote was 3 to 2, with the Democratic commissioners supporting it and the Republican commissioners against. topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/n/net_neutrality/index.html------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The above article can be read in its entirity at the web site. I am presenting the first three paragraphs as the article is quite lenghty and the first three paragraphs give a good view as to the nature of the subject matter.
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uforn
Administrator
Investigator In Training
In Search For The Truth
Posts: 5,400
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Post by uforn on Jan 21, 2012 14:29:59 GMT 1
Backdown on internet censorship People gather on Third Avenue in New York to protest the proposed PIPA bill. Photo: AFP JUST days before a critical vote, US senators are abandoning an anti-piracy bill after an outpouring of online opposition to tinkering with internet freedoms. Senate Democratic Party leaders still plan to vote on Tuesday on taking up the Protect International Property Act and supporters are scrambling to make changes before then to answer some of the critics, but it is questionable whether they have the 60 votes needed. Half-a-dozen of the 40 original co-sponsors of what is known as the PIPA bill withdrew their support after a one-day protest blackout by Wikipedia and protests by other web giants and a flood of emails to US politicians. More than 7 million signed a petition on Google saying the Senate bill and its counterpart in the House would censor the web and impose burdensome regulations on US businesses. ''The overwhelming input I've received from New Hampshire citizens makes it clear there are many legitimate concerns that deserve further consideration before Congress moves forward with this legislation,'' said Republican senator Kelly Ayotte, one of the politicians who pulled back her support of the bill. Nearly all those who dropped support cited the earful that they were getting from constituents. Several Democratic co-sponsors also now say they oppose the bill as it is written. Source: www.smh.com.au/world/backdown-on-internet-censorship-20120120-1qabk.html#ixzz1k6DGEtHW
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