This Guy's Trying to DO Something About the Media

[snot]

Just think how important the internet has been to Dems, starting with Howard Dean and continuing through Obama -- I really think McCain might be Prez. now if we hadn't had the internet to help counter the so-called "news" from the corporate media.

But conservatives have been hard at work colonizing the internet as well, and have already succeeded to a frightening degree, using a number of different tactics.

If big business is allowed to charge more for higher usage and cap users who don't pay up, it could become too difficult or expensive for many of our constituents to get the real news on the 'net.

We can't afford to ignore this issue, since without meaningfully functioning news media, we'll be powerless to do anything else.

Here's one rep. in Congress who's actually trying to help.

I posted this item previously and it sank like a stone. Please rec, and pls consider doing something to support this representative's efforts!

Congressman Wants to Ban Download Caps
By Ryan Singel
April 14, 2009

"Time Warner Cable plans to test its controversial, new scheme to have users pay by the gigabyte in Rochester, New York, but the area's freshman congressman calls usage caps greedy and plans to introduce legislation to stop it.

"New York Democratic Rep. Eric Massa called TWC's proposal to switch its 8.4 million cable broadband customers to metered internet billing an "outrageous plan to tax the American people."

"Massa, a longtime blogger at the liberal site DailyKos, says he will be joined by a "legion of activists" and called the fight against usage caps a "national issue of generational consequences." However, Massa's fight will not get far without support from powerful House members, including Virginia Democrat Rick Boucher who now controls a key committee on telecoms and the internet.

"Critics say usage caps will cost users more and hurt innovation on the net — especially in new video services, as subscribers begin to calorie-count their internet usage."

(More at http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/04/congressman-to.html )