AT&T's Net neutrality doublethink

[Renew Deal]

George Orwell would be proud of AT&T's latest series of ads.

The company is attempting to convince us that it favors Net neutrality and an open Internet, when in fact it is lobbying hard for the opposite result. The strategy was foreshadowed in October when Sen. John McCain, the recipient of more telco money in the last two years than anybody in the U.S. Senate, authored a bill disingenuously labeled "The Internet Freedom Act of 2009." But if McCain and AT&T were being honest, they would have called it "The Internet Robber Baron Act."

More than semantics are at stake here. The new chairman of the FCC is moving to put teeth into a series of rules that would do much to guarantee real Net neutrality. Naturally, the big carriers oppose this. But given the political climate in the country and their companies' record of alienating consumers and businesses that need an open Internet, AT&T's spinmeisters know that it can't just come out and say what it really means.

Instead, the company cleverly disguises its real intent with a campaign aimed at convincing the public that, as Orwell put it in "1984," ignorance is strength. OK, that's a bit harsh. But there is going to be a big fight about this in 2010, and whether we are IT professionals, consumers, or both, we need to know exactly what's going on.
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Much more: http://www.infoworld.com/t/regulation/atts-net-neutrality-doublethink-636

[onehandle]

1. Screw them and Comcast and McCain.

We aren't buying it.

[Sentath]

2. I don't know what AT&T is up to

But, down in the trenches at a small ISP, we are trying to prevent a tragedy of the commons.

( I never know whether I should use commas like that second one or not. )

A lot depends on just how Net Neutrality is codified.

[AdHocSolver]

3. If you want DU to be viable and continue, you had better be concerned about Net neutrality. n/t