Senator To AT&T: You Don't Own The Net

AT&T, Verizon and other telcos have been warning that they're going to demand money from Google and other sites if those sites want adequate bandwidth. But now a senator is proposing to ban the practice, and is standing up to the telcos, who are acting more like a cybermafia than legitimate businesses. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon today introduced legslation that would ban network operators from charging sites for extra bandwidth. The law would also ban the practice of favoring some content providers over others. That, according to the New York Times.

Other Congressman are kowtowing to the telcos because the telcos are big campaign contributors. They'd let the telcos do what they want, and turn the Internet into their own private network.

The Wyden bill, called the Internet Non-Discrimination Act of 2006, faces tough sledding. Money talks, and the telcos are doing a lot of talking.

In addition, the FCC has made it clear it won't take any action on the matter, so we can't look to them for help.

So if you care about the future of the Internet, let your Congressmen know about it -- tell them to support Wyden's bill.