Photo by DC Metroblogger

It is 8am in Zurich and I am about to have beer for breakfast, poured by a fellow Washingtonian.

Ingrid is a wonderful Swiss-American view. Especially when she does not blink at my breakfast choice.

In fact, one of the reasons she left the States was our movement towards the nanny state. She prefers the Swiss neutrality on most things.

As the guy next to me lights up, the joy of Zurich starts to fade. We might not be the land of absolute freedom, but I do miss Smoke Free DC.

By now you have heard the shocking news:

SWITZERLAND INVADES LIECHTENSTEIN

While the world slept, the Swiss were pretending that their beige hearts bled with neutrality. The truth is it was just an act designed to get the world’s guard down. Now that Liechtenstein has fallen the specter of Swiss tyranny over Europe is at hand. If we don’t stop the Swiss, Luxembourg will surely be the next to fall under the so-called “Helvetic Co-prosperity Sphere.”

There are rumors of a candlelight vigil at the Liechtenstein embassy, followed by a march on the Swiss embassy. More details as we learn them.

“Go to it not thru it”

Source: AP/WTOP

There’s an issue lurking out there, and chances are, if you’re reading this weblog, you could be affected. Blaine Zuver is the City Captain for Metroblogging Miami, and he’s got an excellent post about Net Neutrality and what’s at stake. Everywhere I go, I see ads by the cable companies conveniently placed on their own network about how this is about content providers paying for appropriate bandwidth, that’s a load of bull, pure and simple.

Content providers pay for their internet access the same as you pay for your home access, except they tend to pay a lot more for the big pipes that they need to send large amounts of data through. Most of these groups would raise their rates, which would seem like the obvious solution, except that these large companies would then seek other providers of fast internet access and could potentially lose their contract. So, instead, they’re seeking to double bill content providers. This is a load of crap. It’s like the power company charging you not just for the power that they use, but also for the convenience of having it most of the time, too. This is a load of crap.

As the internet is about freely available speech, I don’t want to have to pay the monopolies just so I can get my site on the “approved list” for available bandwidth. If Cox is blocking Craigslist because they have their own ad service, how long is it going to be before your site is replaced by one that your ISP prefers? Giving the Telcos the power to decide what is important and when is unacceptable to a free-thinking society. Tell your Senator “No!”

The bill comes before a vote in the Commerce Committee on Tuesday, and it needs to pass. Contact any of the members of the commerce committee, but in specific, Sen. George Allen is on that list and he’s up for re-election this Fall. Drop him a note and tell him to vote FOR the Net Neutrality Bill on Tuesday.

As the world watches Rep. Jefferson try to justify the $90,000 in his freezer, I have to stop and laugh. First, at Rep. Jefferson for trying to deny the story in public, despite FBI video, wiretap results, and all manner of other evidence. Second, at Congress for keeping people like Jefferson, Ney, and Duke Cunnigham amongst their membership without firmly kicking their sorry asses back to their home states in handcuffs. Third, at the American people and the voters who elected these sad-sacks to come to our town and commit their crimes here.

As it seems a good percentage of the House is on the take, and the Senate can’t get off their asses to do anything about the wiretapping scandals that are rocking this country, and while the House Communications Committee can’t seem to tell why Network Neutrality is a must for the internet, all I can do is laugh.

With Congressional Approval Ratings at 27%, once has to ask, are we going to get a whole new crop of grafters?

Congress is now pushing a law that would end the free and open Internet as we know it. Internet providers like AT&T and Verizon are lobbying Congress hard to gut Network Neutrality, the Internet’s First Amendment and the key to Internet freedom. Net Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which websites open most easily for you based on which site pays AT&T more.

Sign the Petition at MoveOn.org.
More info at the Save the Internet FAQ.