From: "Nick Wood" <that.ska.kid@gmail.com>
To: <DNSTransition@ntia.doc.gov>
Date: Mon, Jul 3, 2006 2:05 AM
Subject: The State of the Internet


To Whom it May Concern:
My name is Nick Wood. i am i seventeen year old living in Washington
State, and i hope that my age does not discount this email. I am very
pleased with the current state of the Internet, and believe that, while
there are currently no laws supporting Net Neutrality, it is an unspoken
rule that the Internet's users and providers have lived by since the
creation in 1969 of what would be called the ARPANET for what would then
become DARPA, an organization I'm sure you know of. When, for example,
Canadian company Telus decided to block access of a rival's site to
subscribers, Net Neutrality was threatened. The response from the public
who encountered this called it
everything from plain "wrong" to censorship. Many were simply outraged.
With the House of Representatives decision to strike down the idea of
Net Neutrality, and the proposed COPE act, Net Neutrality, and indeed, the
Internet's first amendment right, is being threatened. if the COPE act
succeeds, and those backing it change the Internet to serve their needs,
then all of the power goes from the people to the telcomm companies, who
will change and skew their customers' Internet
and options simply to bring in more revenue. This is simple fact; don't
let the idea of "streamlined video" change your concept. Communications
companies will be able to charge money for faster Internet, and the highest
paying customer will get the most access to the Internet. This places the
faster Internet into the hands of big companies, who will choke the already
slow Internet that the average person can afford.
The bottom line is this: the Internet must stay the way it is. it can
not be taxed, it can not be filtered, it can not be changed. all Internet
is equal Internet, and it needs to stay this way. an amendment such as the
Net Neutrality amendment, must be passed so that the government protects
Internet from greedy telcomm companies. with the power in the hands of the
people, the Internet will be put to use in the way that our founding fathers
would have liked it. I remain,

Sincerely Yours,
Nick Wood