Net Neutrality for Dummies

On Wednesday night, PBS aired "The Net @ Risk," the third in a series of documentaries produced for the "Moyers on America" series, featuring veteran journalist Bill Moyers. As comprehensive as it is cogently argued, the investigative report – available for viewing online – offers an analysis of the "net neutrality" debate that even your grandparents would understand.

As the issue of Net Neutrality began to gain ground this summer, one of the chief difficulties for proponents was coming up with an easy way to explain the issues. With "The Net @ Risk," advocates such as SaveTheInternet.com now have a strong and detailed visual aid that outlines the David and Goliath-type fight that citizens are currently waging against the telecommunication giants.

The report paints a scathing picture of callous cable and telephone companies, who have broken their promise to provide fiber-optic technology to Americans, and instead spent their money lobbying Congress to allow them to regulate how material flows to users based on a tiered pay system. While opponents of Net Neutrality, which calls for government intervention to keep the web free and equitable, have their say, the documentary's allegiances are patently clear.

"At stake is the most promising breakthrough for democracy in our time," says Moyers in opening remarks. "Today you have a situation where a blog can take on the major cable news networks based on quality," says one pundit. "But that could change," explains Moyers, "as big corporations battle to control the information superhighway."