Should the cable & phone companies have the right to control and block internet content and access?

There is a bill (sponsored by one of Alaska's Republican senators) that will allow major corporations like cable companies and phone companies to block or slow down internet content they don't like -- for example, BellSouth blocking customers from myspace.com this past summer.





Is this a good thing, or should we help the ACLU in their opposition to this?





See more info here:


http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/internet/鈥?/a>Should the cable %26amp; phone companies have the right to control and block internet content and access?
nothing should be blocked. The internet should be a completely free exchange of ideas and information. Some of it you may like, some of it you may not, but it should be open. No government or private company should police it.Should the cable %26amp; phone companies have the right to control and block internet content and access?
I don't see anything wrong with it. If you don't like the fact that your ISP blocks or slows down certain content there are always other ISPs to choose from.





My theory is that if the communication giants are allowed to do this, other companies will pop up that allow unrestricted access, eventually forcing the others to do the same or putting them out of business.
Of course they shouldn't be allowed to do this and if there is anything you can do to help the ACLU, you should do it. I am sure they would more then appreciate the help. They have allot of work to do lately with this goverment trying to take our rights away everytime we blink.





Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar.





Vote Ray Cook for President
A private company can block anything it wants to. Only government is restricted from doing so.





UPDATE: What part of that deserved a thumbs down? What you idiots fail to understand is that the Bill of RIghts and the civil liberties therein only restrict GOVERNMENT's actions, not those of private industry. It's a fact. If that's too inconvenient for you, then get an education!
If and when selective blocking is discovered by a carrier like Bell South it should be exposed to every person possible. The first reaction should be to cancel their service and get another service provider鈥攖hat is a very powerful vote. Second, tell all of your friends and acquaintances鈥攇et them as excited as you are about it. Third, write your Local, State and Federal representatives and protest. Fourth, vote out the government representatives that don鈥檛 support your views.





There is no need to involve the ACLU鈥攖hey have their own agenda and most of it isn鈥檛 good for America.
Absolutely not. We, as individuals, are quite capable of making that decision for ourselves.
no i don,t think they have a right to do this,however if it is adult content they might.
Just more bull-hit out of big business ! If we pay our internet bill it is none of there business what sites we go on as long as we arn`t breaking any laws. Why don`t they spend there money on something more moral and worth while like getting the child porn and child molesters off the internet
Just because they don't like it doesn't mean it should be blocked or restricted in anyway.





I guess he didn't learn his lesson from Nazi Germany.