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  1. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  2. │                                                                             │
  3. │                                                                             │
  4. │              Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 7  Num. 81                           │
  5. │             ======================================                          │
  6. │                    ("Quid coniuratio est?")                                 │
  7. │                                                                             │
  8. │                                                                             │
  9. │-----------------------------------------------------------------            │
  10. │                                                                             │
  11. │THE PRIVATIZATION OF THE INTERNET                                            │
  12. │=================================                                            │
  13. │                                                                             │
  14. │In  CN  7.72  the  "Privatization  of  the  Internet"  story  was            │
  15. │mentioned.  According to  *The  1996  Project Censored Yearbook*,            │
  16. │the Internet  "was  essentially  sold  last  year.   The  federal            │
  17. │government  has  been  gradually transferring the backbone of the            │
  18. │U.S. portion of the global  computer network to companies such as            │
  19. │IBM and MCI as part of a larger plan to privatize cyberspace."               │
  20. │                                                                             │
  21. │Let's  see...   We  pay  taxes  out  of  our  pockets;  the  U.S.            │
  22. │government uses that money to build the Internet; the  government            │
  23. │then gives the Internet to big corporations; then finally the big            │
  24. │corporations  start  charging  us  more  and  more bucks for them            │
  25. │letting us use "their" Internet!                                             │
  26. │                                                                             │
  27. │This past week on C-Span they had Ralph Nader speaking to a crowd            │
  28. │in an auditorium somewhere.  And one thing that Mr. Nader brought            │
  29. │up was how we pay  taxes  that  help keep the universities going;            │
  30. │the universities conduct research on drugs; the  results  of  the            │
  31. │research  go  to  major  pharmaceutical  giants; then finally the            │
  32. │major pharmaceutical giants charge  us  big  bucks to use "their"            │
  33. │drugs!                                                                       │
  34. │                                                                             │
  35. │Yesterday,  in the local paper, they had an article about how the            │
  36. │University  of  Illinois  has  developed  new  software  they are            │
  37. │calling "Vosaic"; Vosaic, "a name derived from another popular UI            │
  38. │product, Mosaic -- makes sending  video  across  the  Internet  a            │
  39. │breeze,"  says  Julie Wurth, News-Gazette staff writer.  This new            │
  40. │technology  is   slated   to   be   marketed   by  Digital  Video            │
  41. │Communications, based in Chicago and Los Angeles.   The  question            │
  42. │arises:   since  the  American  people  have  helped pay for this            │
  43. │already, they're not going to have to pay again, are they??                  │
  44. │                                                                             │
  45. │But the point I have in this is that old concern of, How are they            │
  46. │going to shut down free expression on Internet?  They are working            │
  47. │at it from  "liberal"  Billy  Clinton's  angle  of his tremendous            │
  48. │concern about "indecency."  Another attack could be  coming  from            │
  49. │the  corporados,  closely aligned with the U.S. government if not            │
  50. │in fact the actual puppet masters  of  same.  I see in the May 6,            │
  51. │1996 *Newsweek* (p.  12) that, indeed, "[Internet]  Traffic  once            │
  52. │carried  on the backbone has been transferred to private networks            │
  53. │owned by  companies  like  MCI  and  Sprint..."   (See  also *The            │
  54. │Nation*, 07/03/95, "Keeping On-Line Speech Free:  Street  Corners            │
  55. │in Cyberspace," by Andrew L. Shapiro.)                                       │
  56. │                                                                             │
  57. │You  know  these  corporados:   first  they  give  America  their            │
  58. │stunning  architecture  --  McDonalds,  Arbys,  K-Mart,  etc. now            │
  59. │blighting the landscape -- and next they give us the shaft.   How            │
  60. │soon  before  they  start charging us for what we've already paid            │
  61. │for?  How soon  before  "some  people"  don't  get  as  good of a            │
  62. │connection to "their" Internet?                                              │
  63. │                                                                             │
  64. │-----------------------------------------------------------------            │
  65. │     I encourage distribution of "Conspiracy Nation."                        │
  66. │-----------------------------------------------------------------            │
  67. │If you would like "Conspiracy Nation" sent to your e-mail                    │
  68. │address, send a message in the form "subscribe cn-l My Name" to              │
  69. │listproc@cornell.edu          (Note: that is "CN-L" *not* "CN-1")            │
  70. │-----------------------------------------------------------------            │
  71. │    For information on how to receive the improved Conspiracy                │
  72. │  Nation Newsletter, send an e-mail message to bigred@shout.net              │
  73. │-----------------------------------------------------------------            │
  74. │Want to know more about Whitewater, Oklahoma City bombing, etc?              │
  75. │(1) telnet prairienet.org (2) logon as "visitor" (3) go citcom               │
  76. │-----------------------------------------------------------------            │
  77. │       See also: http://www.europa.com/~johnlf/cn.html                       │
  78. │-----------------------------------------------------------------            │
  79. │          See also: ftp.shout.net  pub/users/bigred                          │
  80. │-----------------------------------------------------------------            │
  81. │Aperi os tuum muto, et causis omnium filiorum qui pertranseunt.              │
  82. │Aperi os tuum, decerne quod justum est, et judica inopem et                  │
  83. │  pauperem.                    -- Liber Proverbiorum  XXXI: 8-9              │
  84. │                                                                             │
  85. └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
  86.