Media is Whack

The recent ruling of the Supreme Court, District of Columbia v. Heller (07-290) establishing a constitutional right to have a gun for self-defense in one’s own home, struck down a 32 year ban on handguns in DC.  The SCOTUS ruled that the 2nd amendment guarantees an individuals right to keep an bear arms, but in the majority opinion said that reasonable restrictions like disallowing convicted criminals from owning guns is permissible.

This set the stage for allowing residents of DC to own handguns.  Unfortunately, DC believes they are above the law.  Dick Heller, one of the first to try to register his handgun, was denied yet again.  This time it was because his semi-automatic handgun is classified as a machine gun.

DC Law Statute 7.2501.1 defines a machine gun as:

Although, Heller’s gun had a 7shot clip, it could readily accept a larger clip and thus would be a machine gun under this definition (B). 

Furthermore, DC has creates a new set of firearms provisions which effectively make it impossible to own anything except a revolver and to keep it in such as way that it would be useless in an emergency.  The new law can be found here:

Firearms Control Act of 1975 Amendments

And here is how the police are to handle the new regulations:

New Police Regulations

Full articles can be found here:

http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=74036&catid=158

and here:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/07/14/national/a142106D15.DTL&hw=gun&sn=009&sc=660

 FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is said to be handing out sanctions against Comcast, these sanctions are not even mentioned.  It is noted that “Martin said he is not recommending a fine against Comcast because he wants to use the case as a means of laying out agency policy.”  So what sanctions are there?  “Comcast was accused by consumer groups of blocking “peer-to-peer” Internet traffic”.  Comcast admits no blame, as they don’t see any wrongdoing in their actions.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080711/ap_on_hi_te/internet_regulation_17

The biggest problem is in any sort of limit or tiered service when it come to the Internet.  The Internet is now as ubiquitous as any other form of communication including television, newspaper and radio.  Furthermore, the Internet allows people to connect, share and entertain.  By putting limits on the way people use the internet, we limit the way people can express themselves. 

The Internet service provider is becoming one of the most relied upon services.  When Comcast filters “peer-to-peer” data, they are effectively censoring certain types of communication.  While Comcast may stop this practice, it will not stop them from introducing new limiting technologies like data limits, domain limits, or speed limits. 

Cox Communications uses a speed limiting technology to offer a tiered service:

	Premier Tier Speeds up to 20 Mbps download with PowerBoost™ and 2 Mbps upload.		$59.95/month
	Preferred Tier Speeds up to 12 Mbps download with PowerBoost™ and 1 Mbps upload.		$44.95/month
	Value Tier Speeds up to 1.5 Mbps download and 256 Kbps upload.		$29.95/month

This tiered service is just a new way to charge for the current technology.  As the Internet matures, higher-bandwidth applications come on line like UTube and online gaming.  It is my understanding of the technology that they are not so much speeding anybody up, but rather governing the lower tiers to their slower speed.  What is the difference in cost for Cox to offer the “Value Tier” versus the “Premier Tier”?  I would venture it’s not much.

What the media is missing is that the cable internet service providers hold a monopoly and are are looking at new ways of squeezing money out of the consumer for a necessary commodity.