Bloggers bumming over Net neutrality blow

Bloggers, who tout their medium first and foremost for its ability to empower the individual on a level playing field, are not surprisingly bummed out about a Senate committee's rejection Wednesday of a Net neutrality amendment.

The Senate Commerce Committee failed to approve an amendment to a major telecom bill that would have ensured network neutrality, or that all Internet traffic is treated the same regardless of origin or destination. Broadband providers, including AT&T and Verizon argued the rules were unnecessary and burdensome, and carried the day with Republican committee members.

Companies like eBay, Google and Amazon.com, which had made enacting Net neutrality laws a top political priority this year, are certainly not the only unhappy online campers on this one.

Blog community response:

"The Senate Commerce Committee, splitting 11 to 11 and therefore rejecting compromise language, set the stage for a carrier-controlled Internet. If the bill passes the Senate and is signed by the President, you can kiss the Net you know 'goodbye.' Farewell, open networks and open standards. Soon every packet will be subject to inspection and surcharges based on what it carries and who sent it or where it is going."
--ZDNet's Rational rants

"The Internet's neutrality is what made it great, and allowing for this brand of favoritism for those gifted with monetary resources will seriously jeopardize that fascinating aspect. The successful innovations of the digital age should be determined by the quality of the innovations, services, and ideas themselves. They should not be dictated by who has the most resources at startup."
--Silverstarhawk

"So now Google and Microsoft will have to pay proportionate fees for all the bandwidth they use. It's about time, as we've been subsidizing them for way too long."
--Michael Martinez on High Rankings.com

"This could mean the death of small internet businesses. This could mean the revocation to express our First Amendment rights to free speech on the internet. Sites that were designed to be free will now either be abolished or become fee based."
--Alex on MySpace.com