MORE 'HAVES /HAVE-NOTS' DIVISION

It is never surprising that voting some not terribly bright people into Washington elected and appointed offices has them has them assuming powers never granted them.  They easily become the fox in the hen house.  The FCC has been a disgrace for many years, totally ignoring guidelines for the media.  They have allowed a Murdoch take-over that in a sense, censors what the public might wish to know and hear.

The latest bit of chutzpah is a planed to ration the Internet high speed.  Maggie Shiels, a tech writer fromSilicon Valley says:  "The Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group, formed by AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Google, Intel and Microsoft, will "develop consensus on broadband network management practices or other related technical issues that can affect users' internet experience".  Those of us old enough to have had years of only telephone dial-up for our Internet access shudder at the thought that there are such insensitive and arrogant people who think they can make decisions as to who should get the highest speeds.

In Baltimore recently, Director of Consumer Research John Horrigan, dekivered a speech last week for delivery at the event "High Speed Fiber and Baltimore's Future" in Baltimore spreading the word about the National Broadband Plan.

Not surprisingly they had to reformulate a plan when the Court decided they could not legally ration speeds at their will, The plan followed a court decision that the FCC had no authority to stop ISPs slowing traffic to some users The ruling was a blow to a central tenet of the agency's broadband plan. It does make my suspicion and wonder rise at how much money might have changed hands as some FCC decisions were being made  clearly outside of all previous practice.  To read Spiels article in its entirety, click here.

Retirement communities, apartment complexes and some places with multiple units do not allow a choice of service  providers.  Move in with a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) acceptance.  You see, we are far from really having total control of our lives or free choices.