[ NNSquad ] Re: Sen. Franken to the Netroots: Only You Can Stop the Corporate Takeover of Free Speech

[Richard Bennett <richard@bennett.com>]

Franken's remarks stand the First Amendment on its head. The First Amendment protects the citizens from violations of our speech rights by the government, while net neutrality laws are attempts to have the government limit the services and business models of a group of companies. If there is any connection between the First Amendment and net neutrality laws, it goes the other direction. Net neutrality would limit the ability of the citizens to make effective use of broadband networks for voice and video communication. reserving good Quality of Service opportunities to companies who can afford to build or use Content Delivery Networks.

This speech sounds like a comedy routine because it's so disconnected from the facts.

RB

On 7/26/2010 10:46 AM, Tim Karr wrote:

I know the carriers and their paid proxies get their briefs in a bind whenever we posit this as a free speech issue [which is pretty telling in and of itself]

So here goes:

 

Sen. Franken to the Netroots: Only You Can Stop the Corporate Takeover of Free Speech

By Timothy Karr
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/sen-franken-to-the-netroo_b_659337.html

Over the weekend, Sen. Al Franken (D.-Minn.) made the corporate takeover of our media, and the government's acquiescence to these corporations, frighteningly clear.  

[VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ODV5U87yps]

Franken told more than 2,000 bloggers and organizers attending the Netroots Nation conference in Las Vegas that our media system is at risk everywhere we turn -- from our free speech online to the growing power of companies who own a massive number of media outlets.

"Tonight I want to tell you that I believe Net Neutrality is the First Amendment issue of our time," Franken said during a closing keynote address to conference-goers. He went on to warn of the looming merger between cable giant Comcast and NBC-Universal, saying:

-- 
Richard Bennett
Senior Research Fellow
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
Washington, DC