New articles and cites to be updated continuously The Last Bastion of Freedom is Falling posted 05-29-06 revised 05-30-06 MPG If you’ve read any of my stuff, you’ll know I’ve endlessly complained about how 90% of this nation's media outlets are controlled by five corporate conglomerates. How these conglomerates have systematically strangled any diversity in content. How these disgraceful progenitors and prestituted lackeys of the once noble “forth estate” have completely failed to live up to their privileges and obligations granted to them in our nation’s constitution. How they treat "freedom of the press" as just an archaic phrase belonging to a bygone era and not relevant to their collective bottom lines. How they’ve consistently and steadily printed the same identical, self-serving, patently false, garbage, spewed out by this administration to justify it’s murderous and self-aggrandizing policies to benefit the wealthy elites of this country. And yet as deeply concerned as I am by the decline and fall of our nations ‘mass media' I knew the truth would prevail as it steadily has over the last five years because all of us, everyone one of us, young or old, conservative or liberal, rich or poor, American or foreigner, all of us have access to the Internet. The one source of information not yet completely controlled by the wealthy elites……. Until now. Here I am, on my own web site….. finally established May 21, 2006 and what happens? As soon as I set it up, the ‘big’ three of the telecommunications industry, Verizon, Bell South, and AT&T decide that not only are they going to charge you for each call you make, every connection you set up, and the type of service you have… oh no, that’s not enough for these guys, they’re going to charge you for using the web itself. Naturally enough the details are shrouded in mystery, (aren’t they always), but does it really matter what these details may be? Any contract entered into by these guys, any laws passed by our government to regulate them WILL NEVER BE HONORED by these companies. In the end, once the principle of web neutrality is violated they will do WHATEVER they want to. Why? Because they can. Just as they have with our ‘mass media’ our ‘representatutes’ have allowed just a few big companies to gain control of the telecommunications industry. The companies listed above control the phone and cable lines of over 200 million Americans. With this oligopoly power they’ll eventually charge you for each site you contact, each packet of mail you send, each transaction you engage in over the internet. And of course at the other end they’ll rake off ‘their fair share' from all the businesses doing business on the World Wide Web. And how do I know these companies will violate whatever agreements they sign or laws enacted to regulate them. Because my dear fellow Americans, they already have. These are EXACTLY the SAME THREE companies who violated your privacy and gave your phone records to the NSA, directly contravening numerous Federal State and local laws, as well as various statutes and regulations. My fellow Americans aren’t you TIRED of this reprehensible behavior. Aren’t you TIRED of buying an insurance contract and having that ‘contract’ become only a chance to sue your insurance provider for a decent settlement when your house burns down? Aren’t you TIRED of signing for a credit card at seven percent and a day later having it jump to twenty seven percent because you forgot to pay your electric bill? Aren’t you TIRED of contributing twenty or thirty years of your hard labor to a pension plan and having it disappear because it was under funded by some over-compensated jerk ass bozo of a company president? Aren't you TIRED of having signed up with numerous communaction providers who gave you lenghthy detailed contracts which described your 'rights' to privacy, only to have them betray these rights? Aren’t you TIRED of having every contract you sign, every promise made to you, every agreement entered into, not being worth the paper it’s written on? Well here’s your chance to complain and maybe: just maybe, you can do something about it. If you wish to lodge a protest about these companies taking over the Internet, go to MoveOn.org's web site to file a complaint . If you wish to lodge a protest about these companies invading your privacy you can go to the A.C.L.U's web site to file a complaint. If you wish to find out more about these issues go to Electronic Frontier, to find out what their doing and how you can participate to protect your rights Also check out E.F.F.'s class action lawsuit. In addition you should take a look at E.F.F.'s list of related links. They've collated an enormous amount of additional information that could be quite helpful. If you're technically inclined, take a gander at how some recently disclosed documents (detailed at PC Mag) give a graphic illistration of how AT&T taps your phone and computer lines. UPDATE : 09-21-2006 - To be updated continuously. More people who are fighting to save the last bastion of freedom Save the Internet dot Com CDD - Center for Digital Democracy Free Press More articles Attempts to Control the Internet - article list Attempts to Control the Internet - article list - complete cites mpg |