I wanted to title this piece 'Jello Biaframust be Pissed!' but could not find the supporting documentation. Jello was a vocal opponent of the practice 'Pay to Play' which a number of LA clubs began to use the late 80's. In short aband would have to insure a minimum number of people attending a show by purchasing a number of tickets which they would have to resell. Tough luck to the band that could not meet the minimums and don't even think you'll get any part of the bar take -(minus what the band drank). It is similar to the bar gig scene in ' The Blues Brothers':
Jake: Uh, Bob, about the money for tonight.
Bob: Oh, yeah, $200, and you boys drank $300 worth of beer
As you may have heard in the ubiquitous news reports, the FCC has posited the idea of a nation wide network for free Internet access. The effort is not altruistic but a carrot to spur on the growth and implementation of the 'White Spaces' frequency spectrum -(the 300 to 400 MHz range). Several reports have mentioned that the free portion would be 'adult content ' prohibited which those over 18 can opt in to, for a price. We have seen several attempts at Muni-Fi systems but only the small township and hamlet systems appear to have any lasting life. Philadelphia struggled to build and maintain their free access system only to finally shut it down then re-start, sort of.
A truly free access nationwide Internet is a grand thing. Just the effect of bridging the 'digital divide' would be significant in and of itself. My question is just what price this freedom. Unlike the NY Public Library show, this price of freedom may just inhibit your access to it. If anyone thinks that the entire Net Neutrality debate will not be finally fought out in this venue are to be sadly shocked.
Who will determine what is adult content?
How will it avoid the blocking of terms like Breast Cancer rather than just Breast? (recall the gaffs the content protection software many public libraries faced?)
Who will determine which sites and which content will require a premium subscription?
Just how long before demand 'forces' providers to lobby the FCC to reduce the amount of free content to just a bare minimum? There is only so much bandwidth you know.
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