Net neutrality again.

One feature of a corrupt public sphere is sloganizing. As in 'she's a tax and spend liberal.' Or as in 'we tried throwing money at the problem.' So in a complex debate like the one about net neutrality, it's interesting to see the jockeying over which side gets to claim 'freedom' in some fashion in its slogans. I'm rooting for the good guys, of course, who are calling net neutrality 'the internet's first amendment.' This encapsulates the argument nicely.

It also begs a question about the first amendment. It has happened that the first amendment, which originally was meant to protect the rights of ordinary citizens to participate in the public sphere, has come to be owned by 'the press,' which wields in like a fetish.

Or, to paraphrase Anatole France, the majestic equality of first amendment law, which prevents the government from infringing on the right of the poor as well as the rich to sell your children Disney products.

But, like I say, I'm just dabbling with this one, and not following it closely. It would make a good study in the politics of the social contruction of a technological system.