Weighing in on "Net Neutrality" or...

... it takes a liberal to want to trade his freedoms for justice.

What a shabbily constructed piece. ABC must be awfully proud to have employed this guy. I know I promised not to write angry anymore, and I'm not. I'm not angry, just contemptuous of this guy's critical thinking skills (or rather, lack thereof.)

Silicon Insider: Go Net Neutrality
As Corporations Crack Down on Internet Speech, Net Neutrality Offers Freedom
Michael S. Malone

That does it: I am now a full-fledged convert to net neutrality.

Michael's fed up with it all. Done. Finito. It's over. Mike's not gonna take it anymore. He wasn't always so excersized about this issue. In fact, he used to be "sleepy":

It would be nice to be committed, one way or another, to all of the important issues we face, but frankly, with the proliferation of news sources from the daily paper, and a handful of TV stations, to thousands of Web sites, bloggers, cable news and satellite radio, I (and probably you, too) just don't have enough time, energy or passion to spread that far around.

Empathy fatigue has become a very real factor in our lives.

And that brings me to net neutrality. I know that, as someone who has made his career writing about technology, that I should have, long ago, taken a side in the debate over a free and open Internet. But the very thought of getting involved, like a lot of disputes over theory, rather than reality, just made me sleepy.

What, pray tell, caused Mike to awaken?

AT&T bleeped Eddie Vedder's political rant. [Hot Air had the video] Mike calls it...

Strike one.

Verizon turned down NARAL's 'short code' application. Mike calls it...

Strike two.

Comcast cracked down on file-sharing. [Which is news to me.] According to Mike that's...

Strike three.

[...] it is now patently obvious that the corporate world, and especially those firms assuming the role of common carriers, cannot be trusted with managing the Internet fairly and responsibly.

It is? Mike's solution? Take the power of individual choice away from me and you and cede it to the federal government. They have police and guns with which to enforce the rules, unlike those "irresponsible" corporations. Sheesh. Unfortunately, Mike, the feds are nothing more than the exact same flawed human beings as the evil corporations, but with police and guns with which to enforce their will!

Think about that for a hot second.

Personal liberty means that other people's actions may occasionally offend your sensibilities. It's hard being free. I hope I'm not the first person to tell you that, Mr. Malone.

(Via: LGF)

Related: Mike is the flip side to socialism's people who wish to rule. Some people also pine to be enslaved.

More by way of background: Net Neutral = Bad Idea