Judges Hear Arguments on Rules for Internet
Currently, companies that offer goods or services online do not have to pay anything to get their content to consumers. If Internet service providers started charging fees to reach customers more quickly, large, wealthy companies like Google and Facebook would have an edge, the F.C.C. says. The government argued that such a tiered service could cause small, start-up companies with little money to pay for their access — the next Google or Facebook, perhaps — to wither on the vine.
Revenue via regulation is the goal for excessively greedy telecom companies more interested in maximizing profits than continuing an extraordinary experiment allowing brilliance to emerge in unprecedented ways due to the low cost of sharing ideas that the Web enables.
Should telecom succeed, say goodbye to the Internet ecosystem as you know it. From a jungle to a gated garden.
So how few people and interests get to decide this for everyone? Do telecom cos really need more money? Really?