This is an important issue for all of us, not just web site owners. If the big communications companies get their way, they will decide which pages load fast, slow, or not at all. This hurts you too. What’s after that – a ‘protection money’ scam where people have to pay to get their pages to load? This is a slippery slope and I’m not inclined to get on it.

Here are some facts from :

What is Network Neutrality?

Network Neutrality — or “Net Neutrality” for short — is the guiding principle that preserves the free and open Internet.

Net Neutrality ensures that all users can access the content or run the applications and devices of their choice. With Net Neutrality, the network’s only job is to move data — not choose which data to privilege with higher quality service. Net Neutrality prevents the companies that control the wires from discriminating against content based on its source or ownership.

Net Neutrality is the reason why the Internet has driven economic innovation, democratic participation, and free speech online. It’s why the Internet has become an unrivaled environment for open communications, civic involvement and free speech.

And what will happen:

Who wants to get rid of Net Neutrality?

The nation’s largest telephone and cable companies — including AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner — want to be Internet gatekeepers, deciding which Web sites go fast or slow and which won’t load at all.

They want to tax content providers to guarantee speedy delivery of their data. They want to discriminate in favor of their own search engines, Internet phone services, and streaming video — while slowing down or blocking their competitors.

These companies have a new vision for the Internet. Instead of an even playing field, they want to reserve express lanes for their own content and services — or those from big corporations that can afford the steep tolls — and leave the rest of us on a winding dirt road.

What’s at stake?

Decisions being made now will shape the future of the Internet for a generation. Before long, all media — TV, phone and the Web — will come to your home via the same broadband connection. The dispute over Net Neutrality is about who’ll control access to new and emerging technologies.

On the Internet, consumers are in ultimate control — deciding between content, applications and services available anywhere, no matter who owns the network. There’s no middleman. But without Net Neutrality, the Internet will look more like cable TV. Network owners will decide which channels, content and applications are available; consumers will have to choose from their menu.

The Internet has always been driven by innovation. Web sites and services succeeded or failed on their own merit. Without Net Neutrality, decisions now made collectively by millions of users will be made in corporate boardrooms. The choice we face now is whether we can choose the content and services we want, or whether the broadband barons will choose for us.

It’s time to stand up and be counted. Visit this site and get involved before your government gives the internet to big business.

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Post from: EveryJoe

Net Neutrality

RIAA’s new royalty rates will kill online radio!!

The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has recently released a revised fee schedule for internet radio. Left unchanged, these rates will end internet radio, period. The RIAA has effectively convinced this federal committee to establish rates that make online radio a non-viable business.

It’s an utterly ridiculous ruling that renders any form of internet radio non-economic. We are continuing in the belief that sanity will return as everyone involved, including the 50 million avid online radio listeners, realize just how outrageous this is.

You can probably tell by this post that I feel strongly about this. Online radio has opened up a new world for musicians and listeners alike. It has brought millions of otherwise disconnected music-lovers back to music radio, and has opened up tremendous access and promotion for thousands of musicians – both obscure and well known.

We are striving very hard to build a business. We employ eleven full time people in our ad sales team, and despite very high licensing and streaming costs, believed that we could make it work over the next several years if internet advertising continues to grow. This ruling drives the licensing fees (fees that are NOT paid by terrestrial broadcasters) completely out of reach, and makes our goal impossible.

This is a terribly ill-conceived attempt to crush a powerful and positive grassroots movement that is sweeping across the music world. The record labels’ struggles have nothing to do with online radio and killing it will further hurt their business, not help it.

We need your help. If you’d like to get involved please write your congressperson. Below is a link to point you to the right person. If you can, please send a letter or a fax that asks for a reply (emails are too easily ignored).

Congressional Directory by Zip Code

If you want to learn more details, try this informative blog post from an attorney familiar with the process:

Now more than ever, thanks for your support.

Tim (Founder)

I’ve been listening to Pandora every day for a long, long time and I love it. My only problem is deciding which of ‘my’ radio stations to play!

For those of you not familiar with Pandora, check out The Music Genome Project for an excellent explanation of just what Tim has done and why he did it. This is a fascinating project – one which should not be killed by government interference.

Whether you are a fan of online music or not, this should be a warning to us all. The government is coming to regulate the internet. Who is speaking for us? We have no lobby in Washington so we must speak for ourselves. Get involved in this now – before it’s too late.

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Post from: EveryJoe

Your Government Is At It Again!

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FeedBlendr – A Clarification

To start, there are two articles in the directory but more will be added almost daily. Be sure to check the directory often to see its progress as more articles and features are added.

This service is provided by A Feed Is Born to help you better understand and use the evolving technology of RSS.

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Post from: EveryJoe

A Feed Is Born Announcement

Welcome to Firefox Add-ons

Add-ons extend Firefox, letting you personalize your browsing experience. They can make a tiny tweak, or bring a whole new range of features to your favorite browser. Take a look around and make Firefox your own.

this is how the new Firefox Add-ons page begins. Today, Mozilla gave its add-ons page a new look and I like it. Check out the Recommended Add-ons Page and you’ll get the full picture of this re-design. The layout is clean and it has snazzy Ajax graphic previews for screenshots. This makes it a lot easier to see just what an add-on will do and how it should look when it’s installed.

All in all this will make it much easier for new users of Firefox as well as some of us who have been Firefox fans for a long time.

Kudos to Mozilla!

Post from: EveryJoe

Firefox Add-Ons Gets a Snazzy New Look

If you haven’t already, sign up to get A Feed Is Born Daily News – your own newspaper from Simply Headlines with A Feed Is Born news plus news from other sources that you just can’t live without!

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A Feed Is Born Poll and News

Finally – all Canucks fans can get their Canucks news as it happens. Canucks.com has added an RSS Feed to their site.

They very kindly explain what RSS is and what it can do for you. Here’s all you need to know to get started:

How can I sign up to RSS feeds from canuck.com?

To sign up for RSS feeds from canucks.com, click on the link below and follow the instructions for your particular news reader to subscribe to RSS feeds. If you have Firefox and would like the feeds to be used as a bookmark, follow the instructions above.

Click here to connect to the Vancouver Canucks RSS News Feed

How do I add Vancouver Canucks news to my Gmail account?

To add the Vancouver Canucks RSS News Feed to your Gmail account using Gmail Clips:
1. Log in to your Gmail account.
2. Click “Settings” at the top right corner of any Gmail page.
3. Open the Web Clips tab.
4. For Canucks news, enter www.canucks.com/rss/canucksrss.xml in the field under “Search by topic or url”.

Life is GOOD!

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Post from: EveryJoe

Canucks Fans – Listen Up!

Apparently GMail is now available without an invitation – sort of. If you give Google your cell phone number they will text you with an invitation.

If you don’t want Google to have your number (I’m sure they have your ‘number’ anyway), e-mail me, I’ll send you an invitation and you don’t even have to give me your cell number – or any other number for that matter!

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GMail With No Invitation? Not Quite!

Click anywhere on the flow chart to see a larger version. This is too funny! They encourage people to print this ‘must-have’ document. I think I will!

Post from: EveryJoe

Windows Vista – Should You or Shouldn’t You

… the official website of Dolphin Stadium has been compromised with malicious code. The Dolphin Stadium is currently experiencing a large number of visitors, as it is the home of Sunday’s Super Bowl XLI. The site is linked from numerous official Super Bowl websites and various Super Bowl-related search terms return links to the site.

A link to a malicious javascript file has been inserted into the header of the front page of the site. Visitors to the site execute the script, which attempts to exploit two vulnerabilities: MS06-014 and MS07-004. Both of these exploits attempt to download and execute a malicious file.

So, if you are surfing around looking for SuperBowl ’stuff’, don’t go to the site of the Dolphin’s stadium.

If it is fixed before tomorrow, I’ll let you know!

Post from: EveryJoe

Beware – Super Bowl Site Hacked!