I am a strong supporter of net neutrality," said Obama. "What you've been seeing is some lobbying that says [Internet providers] should be able to be gatekeepers and able to charge different rates to different websites...so you could get much better quality from the Fox News site and you'd be getting rotten service from the mom and pop sites. And that I think destroys one of the best things about the Internet -- which is that there is this incredible equality there...as president I'm going to make sure that is the principle that my FCC commissioners are applying as we move forward."
Nearly six months into office, the president clearly has a lot of enormous national problems on his plate - and his promises of Net neutrality seems to have been all but forgotten. Until last Friday... amidst a lot of discussion and news about increasing national cybersecurity, Obama let this fly:
"Let me also be clear about what we will not do. Our pursuit of cyber-security will not -- I repeat, will not include -- monitoring private sector networks or Internet traffic. We will preserve and protect the personal privacy and civil liberties that we cherish as Americans. Indeed, I remain firmly committed to net neutrality so we can keep the Internet as it should be -- open and free."Reassuring news for those of us who believe in Net neutrality - while some of its staunchest legislator advocates like Rep. Ed Markey (D-Massachussetts) have turned their attention to other hot button issues like the carbon cap-and-trade legislation, it's clear the president doesn't think the issue of keeping "series of tubes" (as one sad Alaskan senator once described the internet) equally accessible to all who log on is an isolated lobbying point - it's part and parcel of the way a country conducts its national security and its citizens communicate with each other.
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