Yes, things move at a slow rural redneck pace here in the UK, at least as far as undertsanding US politics. However, I have just found out about “net neutrality” and why it is no longer going to exist.

No less a person than St. Tim Berners-Lee voiced concerns over this, reported  on the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5063072.stm. He said that this would be a dark period for the Internet.

The so-called COPE Act (What is with laws having to have snappy names now?) was passed by 321-101 votes. This will basically make it OK to have two levels of Internet – the good bit for the companies that can pay and the duff bit for the rest of us. The bill was opposed by Google, E-Bay and Amazon (and a “film star” I’ve never heard of.) They unsuccessfully tried to get support for an amendment that would guarantee equal access.

Having only just heard about this and understanding as little as I normally do about US politics, let alone the business imperatives underlying the Internet, it seems ominous. I need to look into it. If anyone can explain it better, please write to us here.