Posted on 03/14/2011 12:45:51 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
Al Franken: ‘They're coming after the Internet’
By: Mike Zapler March 14, 2011 01:43 PM EDT
AUSTIN, Texas — Sen. Al Franken claimed Monday that big corporations are "hoping to destroy" the Internet and issued a call to arms to several hundred tech-savvy South by Southwest attendees to preserve net neutrality.
"I came here to warn you, the party may be over," Franken said. "They're coming after the Internet hoping to destroy the very thing that makes it such an important [medium] for independent artists and entrepreneurs: its openness and freedom.”
Net neutrality, he added, is "the First Amendment issue of our time."
Receiving a hero's welcome from the liberal crowd, Franken took repeated shots at big telecoms, singling out Comcast.
He said Comcast is looking to change the basic architecture of the Web by implementing a pricing scheme that allows moneyed interests to pay for faster speeds, leaving everyone else behind. That would be a particularly bad development for the independent musicians and artists gathered here, he said.
"The real end for Comcast is to put Netflix out of business entirely," Franken said, because of the threat that Netflix's streaming video business could pose to Comcast's cable franchise. "In the end, the American people will end up paying a lot more for worse service."
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
How does he feel about taxing internet purchases?
The Democrats are going to go after the Internet. Watch for it.
Ummmmm..... What???
I was under the impression that net neutrality and the “Internet Kill Switch” came from the WH?
I hope Comcast remembers!
Al Franken touting ‘Net Neutrality’ is a hoot. His deep concern for internet users is as phony as fat millionaire Michael Moore’s concern for ‘the middle class’. Please.
I hate to admit it, but the big moron has finally said something I might agree with. There should be just enough “neutrality” on the net to keep Comcast (or any other ISP) from putting Neflix, Vonage, or other emerging competitors out of business.
You're right. It should be axiomatic that anything Franken supports is the exact opposite of what's good for sane people. The Left is expert at turning plain English into Newspeak.
So, Franken is in Texas today, hmm? I *thought* I smelled something outside this morning.
Yes, the Evil corporations want to “destroy” the Interweb, so government must take it over to save it.
Its technology’s Obamacare.
I thought it was the angry troll and his ilk who wanted to shut the internet down with taxes and regulations. Did I miss something?
I always wondered how the Cubans felt. Now I know.
Don’t be surprised if he runs against Sarah in 2016
I hope a large bear comes for Al some night.
No man's wallet is safe while Congress is in session.ML/NJ
Al Franken couldn’t pass a class on “basic”. The internet (and the lowest of its functions) are beyond this moron’s ability comprehend. Leave the internet to we geeks - who invented and maintain it.
He has the ideal job for someone who’s clueless in every dimension and has never produced anything useful in life.
Stay in the senate, Al, with the rest of your idiot compatriots.
I can’t stand this creep.
And you would be wrong...
Companies like Netflix are hogging the bandwidth that you would normally use therefore it costs the cable companies more money to upgrade their services.
Instead of passing those costs to Netflix [which is raking in millions] they will be forced to pass the coasts onto everyone [that means YOU pay more]...
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