|
|
(Continued) The Rank for $ales Weekly Newsletter, Jan. 27, 2007. Page 18 Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 
Net Neutrality, again...I don't know if some of you have been following this issue at all, but I've been reading a lot about it and this is starting to worry me lately. This is off the beaten path a bit, but if you own a website or any kind of online business, you may want to continue reading this! Wednesday, Rep. Rick Boucher of Virginia, a key House Democrat told reporters his goals for this year are to enact legislation related to Net neutrality, patents and broadband regulation/taxation. Overall, the proposed new legislation would include authorizing local governments to offer their own Internet service! Yes, you've read this correctly! I nearly fell off my chair when I read that!! Now I know that Google is in a partnership with the City of San Francisco to provide wireless Internet access (Wi-Fi) service to the whole city, although that project could be in jeopardy, but to allow ALL local governments to become Internet Service Providers (ISPs) is a far-fetched idea I think! First, what kind of experience (if any) does a 'local government' have in providing Internet services? Last time I checked, they are in the business of providing their local citizens with municipal services, public schools, healthcare, public librairies and such... Lets go on with the story...  "Trying to negotiate a truce between Internet companies and network operators that have been battling over Net Neutrality legislation is a top priority, Boucher said in his kickoff speech at an annual conference organized by the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee." Boucher is a co-chairman of the caucus. In 2006, Rep. Boucher voted for an unsuccessful amendment that was fiercely opposed by broadband providers. The amendment would have imposed strict regulations on all ISPs and broadband providers. On Jan. 30, he moderated his tone a bit by saying, "I don't want to do anything in terms of a legislative remedy that ensures an open and accessible Internet, but has the effect of hobbling innovation inside the network." Boucher and Rep. Lee Terry, a Nebraska Republican, also plan to push hard over the next few months for passage of a proposal, introduced in 2005, that would create new broadband taxes. Their bill would formally allow companies that receive such subsidies to use them for deploying broadband service, which existing law does not. Currently, telecommunications companies that offer wireless, pay-phone, traditional-telephone (land line) and DSL services are taxed on a fixed percentage of their long-distance revenue and required to pay it into a multibillion-dollar fund. Worried that falling long-distance revenue has eroded the fund, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) last year extended a similar requirement to some VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) providers as well. Overall, Boucher told reporters his bill would spread the contribution requirements among "all who offer a network connection" and require companies to collect fees on local telephone calls as well. He said the new sources will "replenish the fund and enable it to be sustained." My take on all of this Let's go back a minute to the time before Amazon.com or even before Google were what they are today. If their initial start up project would have been severely hampered by network access fees and other such expenses maybe their projects would have failed, or at least could have been severely compromised.  But to authorize local governments to become ISPs is where I draw the line! I don't want to get involved into politics, this is not the forum nor the place for it, but Rep. Rick Boucher needs to rethink his strategy and get the 'real' pulse of the Internet by asking small businesses, the moms and pops types of businesses what THEY think about Net Neutrality before enacting ANY kind of legislation that could transform itself into a severe blow to the Internet as we know it today. My 2 cents. Well, that's it for this week. Have a pleasant and relaxing weekend, I will see you all next Saturday! Serge Thibodeau, Please note that I am available for SEO consultative work or to help you optimize your website for the major search engines. Feel free to contact me for an honest and fair assessment. Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors on this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the companies mentioned on any of these pages.  All logos, trade marks and service marks on this newsletter are the exclusive property of their respective owners. Note: Although I always try my best to answer each individual question that I receive, there are times when it's just impossible for me to answer every one I get, as the amount of emails sent to me keeps increasing all the time. Also, please note that, for confidentiality reasons, the names of people writing to us are never disclosed. Please send all your questions, comments or general enquiries to: questions@rankforsales.com Subscribe to the free Rank for Sales Weekly Newsletter <<< Previous page Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18  Bookmark the RFS Newsletter by simply clicking here. Search engine industry news corner: About Rank for $ales Rank for $ales can be reached via email at info@rankforsales.com or you can call from anywhere in the US or Canada, via our toll free number at 1-800-631-3221. Our offices are located near Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Visit our web site at www.rankforsales.com About Serge Thibodeau Pagina+™ is offered by Rank for $ale's parent company: GCIS Inc. Besides serving as editor and CEO of Rank for $ales, Serge Thibodeau currently writes professional search engine optimization articles in some of the following publications:
SEO Today (www.seotoday.com) Additionally, Serge Thibodeau has successfully developed and deployed Global Business Listing, a powerful and flexible 'paid inclusion' search engine that will further increase any company's rankings and visibility in the major search engines. On the Web, at: www.globalbusinesslisting.com Bookmark the Rank for $ales newsletter by simply clicking here. Legal Notice This newsletter is sponsored by Rank for Sales, a professional SEO firm in business since 1997. We suggest you bookmark our newsletter and place it in the list of your favorite websites by clicking here. Feel free to contact us if you need to have your website optimized by a professional SEO firm, or if you have any question on the subject of search engines. |
