Comcast and SORBS

[richb at pioneer.ci.net (Rich Braun)]

David Kramer <david at thekramers.net> asked:
> are you saying that
> the fiber and copper and switches and relays, etc that make the internet
> work are public property?

No, I am saying that the public has an ownership interest in the rights of way
and/or spectrum required by any ISP to reach its residential customers.  At
least here in the USA, that means the government can stipulate conditions on
services deployed over them.

From: "Don Levey" <lug at the-leveys.us>
> Certainly if you've got a
> business relying on that service, you should have a business account with
> the ISP, which normally includes a fixed IP.

No, I have no business.  I like to post to public forums.  I like to talk with
friends.  I like to exercise my right to freedom of association, and I want to
be able to do so without Big Brother watching over me the way so many gigantic
corporations eavesdrop on people's desktop PCs.

My argument is essential the same as that against installing video cameras in
public locations.  Would you want to live in a city where your every movement
is recorded by the local police department?

> 1) The public *may* have an ownership right to utility rights-of-way; that's
> not what we're talking about.
> 2) There is no "broadcast" - unless you're
> talking about sattelite communication.
> 3) The internet is a collection of (in
> the US) private networks, along with some public ones, that gather together
> for a common purpose.  Unless you get service from a government-owned
> utility, your ISP certainly does use its private property to transmit your
> traffic.

Points to be refuted:

1) There is no "may" about rights of way; such rights are codified in law.
2) Internet services are increasingly being made available via wireless
technologies (wi-fi, cellular, etc).  ISPs shouldn't believe they can make an
end-run around civil liberties by choosing one technology over another.
3) Layering privately owned facilities over the top of public rights of way
does not abrogate the public's interest.

Are y'all buying into the Bush "Ownership Society" mythology?  It's just a
bunch of propaganda designed to gloss over the fact that the richest 0.1% of
the fat cats want to control everything the rest of us 99.9% get to do.

Question Authority.  I do, every day.

-rich
P.S.  We're *really* getting off-topic here... but while I'm at it, is anyone
interested in developing an open-source solution for global democracy?  (That
is, a voting machine that isn't controlled by any corporate empire?)