There’s a couple of nice quotes from my colleague Ben Scott, policy director at the media reform group Free Press, in a Salon.com story on Net Neutrality entitled "The Telecom Slayers":
In his Capitol Hill office, Scott keeps a small framed photo from the movie "Cool Hand Luke." It is the famous scene where the defiant Luke, played by Paul Newman, tries to eat 50 eggs in one hour to win a bet. In the photo, Newman looks fatigued and in pain, with bits of egg all over his face, yet facing a heap of eggs sitting on the table. "This is just like Net neutrality," says Scott. "No one thinks we can beat the telecoms, everyone is betting against us. So every day I have to go out and eat 50 eggs in an hour." He pauses, realizing the hugeness of his challenge, but relishing his victory so far. "The bloggers have really changed the debate on Net neutrality," he says. "Had there not been a massive public push on this issue, I am quite confident it would already be over."
Read the full story here.
Rik, I work with Hands Off, and I thought I’d share the letter we posted in response to the Salon piece: http://handsoff.org/tiered-service/hands-offs-response-to-salon/
It was not a bad overview, but we certainly had some disagreements with some parts.
Of course, our disagreements are strongest with Save The Interent, particularly in how they are make QoS and content discrimination out to sound like the same thing, which they certainly are not.
Thanks for the astroturf perspective. Can’t AT&T and Alcatel defend themselves without inventing citizens groups that aren’t actually citizens groups?
Riko, we’ve always had our list of members prominently displayed in the sidebar — Alcatel and AT&T among them.
Either you’re wrong to call us “astroturf” or the term has become a cheap insult without definition.