the internet

OK I want to start by stating that I don't believe all technology is truly neutral while I can't think of any tech that I would be comfortable banning all together. I believe some tech lends itself naturally to societal or individual progress and comfort, and some tech lends itself to a more destructive nature and good can come from that tech with discipline and control.

Now the reason I'm bringing this up is because ATnT's cap isn't a unique thing, Canada has to deal with a lot of bandwidth cap, you add to the fact that net neutrality is something that still pops up from time to time  (the most recent attempt at ending net neutrality being the aptly named internet freedom bill). and these trends scare me, I know has a tech geek this may seem a bit cliche but I truly belive the internet is one of the greatest things people have ever made (possibly the greatest). i've seen it allow people a voice to people who otherwise wouldn't, I've seen unite communities of people who might otherwise think they were completely alone.  it has been a true force of change, and has allowed information of all sorts to become easily assessable. and I belive we are only scratchign the surface of the impact it might have in our world (possibly one of the reasons I'm a cyberpunk fan).

these policies are a direct detriment to that, companies who start charging per bit instead of upgrading the network slow down the evolution and growth of the internet, possibly to the point of halting it altogether.
the effects of ending net neutrality could be even worse, if the architecture of the net is changed so that only large corporations are capable of significant web presence then the beauty I see in the net will quickly be lost, possibly even converted into a detrimental force in the world at large.

sorry for the lecture, and I'll try to have something less soap boxy next week, but this has been on my mind for a while, and it feels great to get it off my chest.