E-Media Tidbits

WeOwnTheNet.org "Richard P. Merryweather" explains why monopolies are your friend online.

Like it or not, so many people consider Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to be great news/commentary sources for a reason: They poke fun at dry, dismal current events and issues we'd rather ignore if we could. That's the beauty of it: Funny = accessible, especially if you're trying to stir interest in a largely disengaged community.

I've been nudging news organizations on the net neutrality issue for some time, since it seems to me that news orgs have much to lose -- financially and otherwise -- if the principle of net neutrality gets undermined. (I'd love to see some discussion/debate of that here, please comment below.)

But I know -- it's an arcane, geeky sounding issue, difficult to get interested in. Point taken.

If you haven't yet managed to start caring about net neutrality, check out this hilarious advocacy site: We Own the Internet. It features several great bits of Flash video -- enthusiastic speeches by "Richard P. Merryweather, president & CEO of CT&TCOM American Communications."

A few choice excerpts from "Merryweather's" home page speech:

"[We're] the largest telephone company in the U.S. I want to make one thing perfectly clear: We own the internet. We acquired it last year with the help of the federal government, and now we're about to make some exciting changes. Some people object to this. ...But you see, an open internet is just too confusing for consumers, and not nearly as profitable for us. ...Who better to provide you with a 21st-century technology than a 19th-century monopoly?"

And that's just the home page! Definitely explore the site to see more videos. Regardless of your views on net neutrality, these videos are a riot. Especially the "Why You Really Count" page, and the phrasing of the references to real recent news coverage of this issue on the "Latest News" page.

I needed a laugh this morning, and this did just the trick.

(Thanks to Gray Miller of Satori Media for the tip.)