A Sunday Read: “The End of the Internet?”

If you’re one of those who like to spend part of your Sunday drinking coffee and reading an interesting piece that you might be too busy to consider during the work week, I’ve got a pretty good read to offer up.

Jeff Chester, writing in The Nation, has published an article that ties together pieces from different issues of the day. It starts with net neutrality–and gives a good overview of the movement to rob us all of the open internet–but ranges from there into the 1996 telecom act, astroturf research-for-hire, internet porn, warrantless wiretaps, media convergence, political advertising, and deep packet inspection. He makes a good case that these are all parts of the same story and he’s got me, at least, agreeing.

Worth chewing over: The End of the Internet?

Lagniappe: You know those newly available “directors cuts” and the commentary and “additional scenes” on more interesting DVDs? If you are one of the sorts who likes to see and try to understand the difference between the “edited for mass distribution” and the “artist’s vision,” you might want to compare the Nation’s version of this essay with the version the author posted on his own work website at the Center For Digital Democracy, “Hijacking the Internet: How Big Cable and Phone Companies’ Plans for Broadband Threaten Democracy.” If it’s too cold to get yard work done you could easily fritter away another 45 minutes making that comparison.