AT&T's Whitacre: We'll charge Web sites for admission to the Internet
- IT TOPICS:Government & Regulation, Internet, Networking
Looking for a good laugh? Then check out this satire, highlighted in the Save the Internet Blog. In the satire, Ed Whitacre, in his final speech as AT&T Chairman, made it clear that he still believes in the Tony Soprano business plan of essentially extorting money from Web sites if they want to receive adequate bandwidth.
"There’s a problem," he says in the satire. "It’s called Net Neutrality. Well, frankly, we say to hell with that. We’re gonna put up some toll booths and start charging admission."
"Will Congress let us do it?" pseudo-Whitacre asks in the satire. "You bet they will -- cuz we don't call it cashin' in. We call it 'deregulation.'"
The speech may be a satire, but AT&T is applying intense pressure to Congress to allow the company to charge Web sites extra fees if they want enough bandwidth.
This clearly goes against the history and nature of the Internet, and will help kill innovation. The Internet, in fact, has become history's largest innovation engine because of its very openness. New startups know they won't be discriminated against by ISPs if they don't have as much cash as the big boys.
But if Whitacre and his successor gets their way, that will be a thing of the past. The Internet will be broken up by toll booths -- very expensive ones -- and only those with the most money will be able to pay...and play.
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