What is happening to our beloved internet? It is almost a sure thing that the internet will not exist much longer as a free enterprise unless a miracle happens. Just as oil and medicine have become a monopoly with huge rising prices and almost no controls, the internet is headed the same way. There have been greedy eyes looking at the internet and doing their damndest to figure out how they could get away with taking it over and charging for what is known as bandwidth. Bandwidth, put simply, is the amount of people that can get onto a site at one time without anyone being shut out. It is also the maximum data transfer rate for those of us at home getting onto a site. If you think that you don't download anything, think again. Those sites that you get on are downloading text and pictures to your web browser. From what I have heard, the more you "download" or more sites you visit, the more it will cost the home user. The site will have to pay a premium just for the privilege of using a reasonably fast connection.

So how is this going to work exactly? There will be electronic devices that will assign priorities for data transfer to sites on the web. The sites that pay the highest premium will be at the top of the priority list to use the wires and connections that companies like Verizon and Bell South provide. At the bottom of the priority list will be those sites that didn't pay, like this site. These sites will become slower and slower and people will get annoyed and finally, they will just disappear. I know that when the law, which is before the Senate, is passed allowing this, it will only be a matter of time before a site that makes no profit, such as this one, will not be able to compete.

It will not only be my site that suffers, but millions of sites across the board. The big boys can afford to pay anything to get visitors. Small sites, specially ones that don't carry advertising and already bear the brunt of paying all the expenses will be finished. It is not only sites that will be lost here, but free speech will be taking a beating. The internet is the last great bastion of free speech and I am sure that everyone has noticed that. This will be great for the politicians. Think of all those things that people have found out over the years about what was going on in the world that we never hear of again. Yes this is great for the politicians. Can you imagine with a prize like the internet how much lobbyists are sinking into political funds? It has been reported that tens of millions of dollars have already passed hands. In the eyes of the big communications giants, getting the internet is like an oil company finding an oil field that will never run dry, it is the mother lode.

We can easily see how this benefits both giant companies and the politicians, will they gain anything else from this? Sure, the big companies on the net will lose some of the competition that they would have had. Remember that many companies that are connected with the internet started out very small. These small startup companies may not be able to start up under the new scheme because it will be too expensive. Another thing that may happen is that people may become disgusted with having to pay and not getting access to the smaller sites that they liked and internet user ship may fall off somewhat. I know that if I only had access to the large sites, I would not be so apt to go on the internet.

We have all become used to email, but would you use it as much if you had to pay PER PIECE for private email messages when cell phone minutes have gotten so cheap? Yes email uses bandwidth. Remember we are probably going to be charged by the amount of bandwidth we use. This will include everything. This might make you think twice about downloading that photo from NASA or that reference for home work. It might turn out that some people will even get stuck with huge bills because their kids got on the computer and downloaded some "free" programs.

Is there anything that any of us can do to try and stop this? It seems like a done deal, but if there was an over whelming wave of people demanding that the net stay free and Congress was deluged with mail, it might work. Millions upon millions of pieces of mail would be needed to even get their attention, remember there are lobbyists with huge bankrolls working for the media kings. About the only thing that might get their attention is the threat of not getting reelected. It is even too late for this.

The bill has already passed the House of Representatives, it is named the Communications Opportunity Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006. What a joke calling the bill that. It may be opportunity promotion but the opportunity is certainly not for the average citizen. Along with passing this bill, the house defeated a bill that would have prevented the big companies from blocking or impeding, degrading or discriminating against anyone on the net. Great representation isn't it? Imagine your are a representative that takes away the internet from the people you represent. Hypocrisy has reached new heights. The bill that was passed is called the COPE Act for short.

The internet is like a highway, a freeway that all are free to drive on. It is now going to become a toll road. This Thursday the bill goes before the Senate and since the vote was yes in the House by every Republican and a majority of Democrats it is most unlikely that it can be defeated in the Senate. Say goodbye to the internet as you knew it folks, it has just been ruined by your government officials. I wonder how much stock was purchased in multimedia companies by our so called representatives?