McCain wants to control the Whitespace Spectrum and auction it at a premium. Obama wants it to be unlicensed. McCain is historically repeatedly against network neutrality. Obama is strongly aggressively for it. Full Story »
Posted by Jon Raymond
This is my analysis of the differences of the candidates positions on Net Neutrality and freedom of the internet. It focuses on a recent WNYC NPR report looking at all sides of the issues and incorporating expert opinions.
…The U.S. has fallen to a position of 15th in the world in certain internet access measures like broadband penetration, according to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). 80% of Japan’s population can get fiber optic broadband at speeds 20 to 50 times what Americans get….
The US is in danger of becoming a communist elitist state with the advent of control over the internet by a small group of big companies.
It is because the Internet is a neutral platform that I can put out this podcast and transmit it over the Internet without having to go through any corporate media middleman. I can say what I want without censorship or without having to pay a special charge. But the big telephone and cable companies want to change the Internet as we know it.
This Obama quote cites the importance of this issue.
John McCain does not believe in prescriptive regulation like “net-neutrality,” but rather he believes that an open marketplace with a variety of consumer choices is the best deterrent against unfair practices. John McCain has always believed the government’s role must be rooted in protecting consumers.
this McCain statement cites McCain’s complacency on the issue.
Net Neutrality or Internet Freedom is a very important issue and freedom we enjoy and take for granted with complacency. But this freedom is in grave jeopardy.