Today Tim Wu has a good article in Slate comparing the split between the Republicans and Barack Obama on media policies. He observes,
The Obama camp starts from the premise that the media and information industries are special—that like the transportation, energy, or financial industries, they are deeply entwined with the public interest. That means they warrant a level of scrutiny beyond that accorded the market for low-alcohol beer. Why? Control over media and communications, the argument goes, translates too readily into political power and influence over speech. If a few companies have the power to control who and what gets heard, they can suppress or amplify news and wield a private control over democracy of the kind that terrified Thomas Jefferson. The public might also want a little more from their media than what the private sector delivers without oversight. Reasoned debate or shows like Sesame Street don’t always generate the ad revenues of, say, Dancing With the Stars.
The net neutrality struggle is certainly not over, and Barack Obama is squarely on the side of those of us who understand that “…basic anti-discrimination rules (a modern version of the ‘common carriage’ rules that make phone companies and innkeepers serve all comers) will preserve the open nature of the Internet—and keep it safe for unapproved speech and surprising innovations like Wikipedia and YouTube.”
According to the Republicans, the Internet is “more like cable television on steroids than some imaginary commons of the ether. What channels should be on cable is mostly a question for Time-Warner and Comcast—so why shouldn’t Internet providers make the same kinds of decisions?”
Wu says, “That’s the view McCain pushed in 2005, when he co-sponsored a bill that allowed Internet blocking ‘on notice.’ If McCain’s bill had become law, a cable or phone company could in theory block, say, the video site Hulu.com by providing notice in the ’service plan.’”
Reasoned media policies and the importance of free speech and an open Internet are among the many reasons we support Barack Obama in my house.
[tags]free keith olbermann, free all political prisoners, pit bull bitch, free to good home, loves children[/tags]
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