AT&T considering Internet filtering

[Thrax]

<p>AT&T in its obtuse and pompous wisdom, has likened the ability to <a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g0ySrafwZ3OnGSnsi1-fHB7OMhfwD8UBLMK80">filter the internet</a> as they please to the obligation of reporting someone stealing a DVD from the store. As we all know, companies like AT&T and Comcast see only dollar signs. How long is it until they stop blocking copyrighted materials, and instead start blocking whole protocols?</p>
<p>Wait...</p>
<p>Randall Stephenson, AT&T CEO was speaking at the World Economic Forum and had this to say:</p>

<blockquote>It's like being in a store and watching someone steal a DVD. Do you act?</blockquote>
<p>The potential for damage and abuse when approaching IP and copyright with such an obtuse analogy is mind-bending. While we can all agree that US law strictly forbids distribution of copyrighted materials, leaving corporate America to police the internet is an utterly terrible option.</p>
<p>In the United States, ISPs are already shielded from responsibility in the actions of its users, so we wonder what the fat, swollen beast that is AT&T has to gain. The cynic in me jumps immediately to money, as AT&T is already in bed with numerous studios to power its MEdiaNet OTA offering. AT&T has also been called upon by the media industry to provide the infrastructure for webcasting concerts, such as the ill-fated <a href="http://isen.com/blog/2007/08/at-censors-pearl-jam-and.html">Pearl Jam concert</a> where AT&T thought themselves a moral authority and censored the lyrics of the band. Whatever your opinion on the lyrics that were intended, we all must admit that it is Machiavellian when an ISP feels fit and proper in censoring a medium that has long been free to say what it wishes.</p>
<p>The truth of the matter is that the United States is in <a href="http://advice.cio.com/themes/CIO.com/cache/Internet_map_labels_0.pdf">infrastructure gridlock</a>. In the chart, we can see that a handful of companies (Verizon, AT&T and Qwest) are the most far-reaching influences in the industry. Most towns are locked into a single provider, and those that are not are simply line-leasing from major telcos or cablecos. With few or no alternatives to turn to, consumers would be hard-pressed to vote with their dollar, and surely the media industry could more than make up for the void that the bold few leave in their switch. </p>
<p>But what do those brave few receive for their switch? Why, nothing more than an ISP who's borrowing AT&T's, Verizon's or Qwest's lines. We can begin to see what sort of dangerous net has been woven, with a group of rich spiders in the center. Who knows what the future holds, but I'm sure it will be filtered all the same.</p>

[the_technocrat]

It's like being in a store and watching someone steal a DVD. Do you act?


It's not your store.
You're not the police.


So no, you don't act. Feel free to inform someone who has the right to act, but no, that isn't you.

[CB]

Exactly, even in their own analogy, your correct action would be to inform the store manager, not confront the thief yourself.

I'm honestly more offended by the terrible analogy than I am by the censorship. So AT&T wants to sensor stuff? Okay, good thing I have no part of my life in which I do any business with AT&T. Now, if they were a monopoly, or if all of the ISPs were doing it, then I would be outraged, but otherwise it's their ISP, they can do whatever they want with it.

[airbornflght]

CB Droege, Apathy is a dangerous thing.

[mas0n]

CB Droege, Apathy is a dangerous thing.

Being a responsible consumer and putting your money where your values are is NOT APATHY. The best thing you can do to a corporation with which you disagree is punish them in the market by dumping their stocks and relieving all ties to their products. It certainly gets things done faster than politics.

So long as we ensure that there is free entry to the market, the AT&Ts of the world will get what's coming to them especially as wireless ISPs start to pick up speed.

[CB]

Exactly. I'm voting with my dollar. It's all I can do at this level.

[Thrax]

The problem with AT&T filtering the internet is that they own a <i>huge chunk of it</i>. It won't matter if you're not <i>using</i> them as an ISP, you're still going through their filtered lines.

[CB]

They might own the lines, but they cannot filter the traffic that moves through their entire infrastructure. Packet switching streams simply can't be constrained, or even interpreted, just because you physically own the cables.