🚀 go-pugleaf

	I think there's going to be a lot of frustrating "netsplits" to
soften us up for Sen. Daniel Inouye's bill to "regulate and meter"
Internet.  That way they'll be able to say they can "improve the service"
if we pay higher rates.
	His bill that would let the government "regulate and meter"
the Internet.  The pretext is that it would improve service or keep
out slimeballs.  The reality is that the big communication companies
like ATT want us to pay if we're going to talk to someone in Cambridge,
England or Cambridge, Massachussetts..
	How many billions of dollars in free phone calls do you think
Internet represents?  How many billions of dollars in unused government
stamps on letters that go by e-mail?  And what is your real experience
with large corporations deprived of revenues they have come to expect?
	They pressure politicians to "regulate" us in the name of public
safety or public convenience, but it's really just a way to get their hands
into our pockets.
	 Most people will rationalize away various restrictions on the
freedom we now enjoy here on IRC and elsewhere in the net.  They will
be "reasonable."
	They'll say, after a dozen netsplits a day, "Stop!  I'll do anything
you want!  I'll pay anything!  Just let me have my Internet chat!"
	The politics behind the move against Internet is too abstract for
most of the users, who may turn out to be as malleable as any other sheep.
	But that's the real story behind the stories about Internet hacking
and all the rest.  The phone companies and the global communications
providers want a big piece of change for our privilege of freedom.

-- 
                                             joeshea@netcom.com