Nation-Building >> Howard Dean and Saving the Net | return to front page

This is an astounding editorial by Doc Searls, the editor of Linux Journal. Searls ties together the FCC consolidation rulings, the real reason why broadband is still not widespread, the real reason we lost the Eldred vs Ashcroft case, and even throws in commentary about the different attitudes of liberals and conservatives and how this shapes the ongoing struggle to save the Internet. At the end, Searls invokes Howard Dean - and points us in the same direction as Lessig did a few days ago. (I'm not going to excerpt - the whole thing is essential reading).

The discussion thread on Slashdot is buzzing - and Howard Dean is mentioned repeatedly (including calls for an interview). I don't know if the campaign realizes just how attuned the Slashdot demographic is towards Dean right now - as Searls points out, Dean's campaign use of the Internet is exactly the kind of nascent innovation that poses a real threat to those who oppose the user-centric ideals that the Internet embodies.

I cannot stop beating this drum. A slashdot interview is critical - but before it can happen, Dean needs to get up to speed. And this article by Searls is a great, great start.