Wozniak started his letter to the FCC with personal anecdotes from his life on how phone, cable, and DSL network restrictions have worked against him as a consumer. Back in 1972, Wozniak has a “dial-a-joke” service but was forced to shut it down because the restrictions from his phone company (which also had a monopoly of services) made it too expensive to continue.

Wozniak claims in the letter that he has never had a cable or DSL service in any of the four homes he has owned. As stated in the letter, “The local phone providers don’t have any obligation to serve all of their phone customers with DSL,” Wozniak wrote, “They also have no requirement to service everyone living in the geographic area for which they have a monopoly.” Wozniak claimed that he even offered to cover the cost of laying the three quarters of a mile of cable to run to his home, but was turned down by the cable company because they decided that  the company couldn’t make up the costs of the monthly rental for “running their cable on telephone poles.”

Wozniak also brings up the Constitution and Bill of Rights that are not being held up as they should. Wozniak explains, “The early Internet was so accidental, it also was free and open in this sense,” Wozniak continued. “The Internet has become as important as anything man has ever created. But those freedoms are being chipped away.” He then begs the FCC to keep the Internet as free as they possibly can. He strongly feels that the Internet should not be restricted on what consumers can watch and for how long they can watch it.

Net Neutrality is not the way to go, at least according to Wozniak who realized that “every time and in every way that the telecommunications careers have had power or control, we the people wind up getting screwed.”

He still has hopes that the FCC will be the good guy for the people it is supposed to be looking after. Wozniak concluded his letter by stating that, “Not only is current action on Net Neutrality one of the most important times ever for the FCC, it’s probably the most momentous and watched action of any government agency in memorable times in terms of setting our perception of whether the government represents the wealthy powers or the average citizen, of whether the government is good or is bad.”

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Defends Free Internet was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

• Purchase a digital converter box and connect it to a television set that is not digitally capable
• Purchase a new television that is equipped to handle the new digital signal
• Subscribe to a cable or satellite television service, who will automatically convert the proper signal

Depending on the age of your television, a simple converter box will be all you need to make a smooth transition. All new televisions sold in the United States as of May 25, 2007 should have a digital tuner already incorporated into the system. Otherwise, the package must clearly state it does not. Your manual will provide information about the specifics of the set you purchased and will use terms such as DTV, ATSC, HDTV, Digital Tuner, or Digital Receiver to describe the digital capabilities of your set. However, descriptions that include only the words HDTV Monitor, Digital Ready, or HDTV Ready will likely require you to purchase the converter box.

As of January 2008, the federal government made two coupons available to each household in the amount of $40 each to be used towards the purchase of a basic digital converter box. The coupons will last for only 90 after your initial request so you must use them as soon as possible. More information about the coupon program can be found here https://www.dtv2009.gov/

To find out more information about the transition from analog to digital, visit the FCC’s website here http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/digitaltv.html

FIND OUT HOW TO GET $80 WORTH OF COUPONS TOWARD GOING DIGITAL was created by and is property of American Consumer News.