If the Internet is useful to you now and you care about its future, it's time to pay attention (maybe past time) to the upcoming meeting of the FCC. At the meeting on 12/21 the FCC will (probably) vote on rules that will affect the future of the Internet. (There's an unlikely possibility that Chairman Genachowski may still pull the item from the agenda.) While no one aside from FCC members have actually seen the rules, rumors indicate there may be cause for concern.
If you're new to the issue, here's ALA's overview and here is Library Journal on the pending rules.
Here's a link to Commissioner Clyburn's statement about what needs to be in the proposed rules. And, here's a link to Commissioner Baker's statement about why the FCC doesn't belong in this discussion.
It's a complicated issue and Tim Wu's new book, The Master Switch; the Rise and Fall of Information Empires, does an excellent job of explaining what's at risk and why.
One last link, to a site that has suggestions to improve the proposed rule and links to make it easy to contact Chairman Genachowski and the other commissioners.
On tech sites there's a lot about the proposed rules. Take some time, do a search, read about it, make up your mind and let the FCC know how you feel.
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