We are just one day ahead before the final voting takes place tomorrow within the Spanish Senate on whether the controversial "Ley de Economía Sostenible"  or "Ley Sinde") will be passed or not, and the abundance of news articles, blog posts, tweets, etc. etc. keep flooding the Spanish Web from all over the place. Yet, it looks like things don't seem to have changed that much despite the uproar. People are even preparing to demonstrate publicly later on today to reject the passing of that law, which seems to be inevitable and which, in my opinion, will mark whether Spain is just one other modern, progressive country in the western world, where its Constitution is respected by all, or, alternatively, whether it will become *the* first banana republic in western Europe. What do you reckon?

Unfortunately, those with that power to listen to their constituents and act accordingly don't seem to want to keep doing the job for which they are getting paid for the last few years, which is serve your people, your voters, and it looks like we are just about to prepare for the worse, i.e. the law will be passed even without a discussion and just by a fraction of the entire Senate! Utterly disappointing, if you ask me!

Now, I do realise I am not an expert on politics, nor do I plan to be one; I basically do not know enough to make an educated opinion of what it is all about and how it basically works out, but I *do* pride myself on having that ability to read stuff AND think critically on information that gets thrown out to me. So when I saw the recently published article by Wikileaks under the title "10MADRID174: SPAIN: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH MINISTER OF" (In English) I just couldn't, but feel appalled AND gutted at how deteriorated politics has become in general as of late when your own government, and its people!, are governed by the markets from another country, because that's essentially what's at stake over here. Whether you are in agreement of "Ley Sinde" or not that's out of the question; laws get made and passed time and time again amongst a healthy discussion in most cases. Or perhaps not. However, things, this time around, are very different...

Here we are about to find out tomorrow whether my home country, Spain, will be capable of claiming to be an independent and free state as of December 22nd 2010, or, instead, that banana republic at the service of others, just because you would want to get along with them nicely and therefore become dependent on them enough that they dictate and mandate your own laws. You could certainly debate this particular law and how it come out in the first place; you could certainly debate the validity and the methods under which Wikileaks got access to that kind of information and publish it across; but, in my opinion, and, like I said, I may not know enough about politics in the present day, you can never debate, nor put into question, the sovereignty of a free, independent state just because you may have not only political interests, but also additional commercial ones.

I am very sorry to say this, but that's basically what's at stake in tomorrow's voting from a group of Spanish senators on whether "Ley Sinde" will be passed or not. If it doesn't make it through, Spain will continue to have its credibility intact as one of the most advanced and progressive democracies from the western world that we know of (Something to always feel very proud of, I can imagine!); it it does pass we will be witnessing how Spain will become a surrogate state at the mercy of others' interests and that nightmare of becoming that first banana republic of western Europe will then become a reality.

Tomorrow, as most of you folks reading this blog post already know, we will celebrate the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the whole year; tomorrow, if the voting goes in the wrong direction, we will be having not just the darkest night BUT the darkest of days, and years to come!, for us all, Spaniards, as well and for a long while. Tomorrow we will be able to witness how much worth the vote of each and every single Spaniard really is. Tomorrow, it may well be the last day that I would treasure that unique privilege of casting a vote hoping it does make a difference, as part of a healthy and strong democratic state. If the "Ley Sinde" gets approved tomorrow, that feeling will be gone. For good! It will probably even be pointless to have them rule this country. After all, it's no longer theirs anymore, but someone else's...

Doesn't that make you feel uncomfortable as much as it does to me? Goodness, I hope that tomorrow we can still THINK! and act accordingly! For the sake of all of us, dear senators, think about what you are going to do, before it is too late. 46 million people are watching you with great interest. Please, please, please, don't disappoint us/them!

I am sure that, at this point in time, you may have read the following couple of news articles: "Lo que de verdad ocultan los Gobiernos" by El País (In Spanish), and "Not-So-Gentle Persuasion: US Bullies Spain into Proposed Website Blocking Law" by Electronic Frontier Foundation that have just been recently published and which basically come to confirm how on December 21st, my home country, Spain, will become part of that exclusive bunch of countries known as banana republics, as that's the date when a bunch of Spanish politicians will be approving, and passing!, a law that's been imposed by the US government's pressure, which basically comes to violate nothing more sacred to any so-called democracy than its own Constitution itself. If you haven't read either of those articles, I would suggest you take a few minutes and do so. You would probably be just as appalled as I am that we are in this situation in the first place altogether!

I have never thought that in my 13 years of Internet life I would ever get to blog about one of those three subjects that all along I have stayed away from, on purpose. Yes, that's right! When I first started making use of the World Wide Web, all along, and from the very first beginning, I decided that there would be three topics I would stay away from, more than anything else because of perhaps how opinionated I am myself about each of them: Politics, Religion and Sports. Yet, recent events are making me re-think that position and change that opinion; maybe, because somehow I feel, very very soon, I might not even have an opportunity to share that opinion freely as one of my fundamental rights: that of my own voice. My own self.

You may be wondering that this may well be a bit too alarmist, melodramatic, controversial and everything, but again I would strongly encourage you all to read those two articles (There are zillions more on that very same topic out there already, by the way!) to see how it's no longer about being an alarmist, but simply the defining moment of individuals / citizens to start protecting themselves from the invisible government(s) that govern them. It all comes from the recent cablegate that Wikileaks has unleashed just recently, which certainly comes to bring to question a whole bunch of topics I will be touching base on soon enough, but one that comes to mind as of late: the sovereignty of states AND their own governments given the pressures from third party lobbies / organisms, including other state governments.

I know that this blog post is probably not going to change things that much, unfortunately, just like much of what's been said all over the place already; however, I would want to take this opportunity to encourage those politicians who will be passing the law next Tuesday 21st of December to think very carefully about that vote, so that they they, finally, put an end towards alienating their own constituencies for good. I know it's not going to be easy, given all of those pressures they have been submitted for a while already, but one thing for sure, is that if my home country, Spain, enters the realm of becoming the next banana republic, I will start questioning the validity not only of our own political system, but that of the so-called state of democracy. Because somehow it will stop existing any longer from that day onwards with that free spirit of how it was born over 30 years ago.

Thus, dear politicians,

Azpiazu Uriarte, Pedro María (GV (EAJ-PNV)) – pedro.azpiazu@diputado.congreso.es
Buenaventura Puig, María Nuria (GER-IU-ICV) – prensa.icv@gpiv.congreso.es
Colldeforns i Sol, Mª Montserrat (GS) – mcolldeforns@diputada.congreso.es
Gastón Menal, Marta (GS) – marta.gaston@diputada.congreso.es
Montoro Romero, Cristóbal Ricardo (GP) – cristobal.montoro@diputado.congreso.es
Oramas González-Moro, Ana María (GMx) - ana.oramas@diputada.congreso.es
Sánchez i Llibre, Josep (GC-CiU) – jsanchez@unio.cat
Tomé Muguruza, Baudilio (GP) – baudilio.tome@diputado.congreso.es

let me remind you with this blog post that the state of democracy your fathers envisioned back in the day will be at stake on December 21st 2010 when you cast your vote and decide whether to pass the law ... or not. Please do remember who voted for you in the first place; if you took an oath to represent AND to be truthful to your constituents, that would be the perfect time when you could demonstrate it once and for all. To all of us. Not them.

Please try to make an extra effort NOT TO  turn us off and away altogether from the world of politics and, for once, fight the good fight! Not just for you and your own integrity, but that one of all of us. Your voters.

Now that I am back from my last business trip (Of the year) to Madrid, where I conducted a rather interesting workshop on the topic of "Social Media for Nonprofits", which I will be talking about shortly as well, it's time to continue further with my regular blogging over here, in this blog, perhaps picking things up once again, right where it matters: Net Neutrality. How important is it for you (for us) as a business, as an organisation, as a society? Apparently, for us Spaniards it is rather important. As it should be!

Over the last few days there has been plenty of discussion on the topic of whether Net Neutrality should really exist, or not, in a country like Spain, amongst several others; the topic is not unique to this country either, since a bunch of others are questioning the very same thing. For us though we are entering that critical stage where a decision by our politicians is about to be made on whether the Internet would remain neutral, or not. And I can probably say that most of us are pretty sure that, eventually, the right decision will prevail, which is stating, very clearly, that the World Wide Web should remain open, free and accessible to everyone, with no restrictions. It's our very own right that we should not allow it to be taken away from us.

To such a extent several thousand Spanish bloggers have been raising their voices, loud and clear, putting together, and sharing across a Net Neutrality Manifesto that I thought I would share over here, since I, too, strongly believe that sometimes you just cannot regulate what cannot be regulated. Instead, you would probably be much better off embracing, facilitating and educating people on how to make the best use of it in a reasonable manner: The Web. Our Social Web.

The text of the manifesto is in Spanish, so you will have to forgive me to keep it in its original state, but I am sure it would be pretty much straightforward to everyone out there who may be reading it. Thus without much further ado, here it is:

Los ciudadanos y las empresas usuarias de Internet adheridas a este texto MANIFESTAMOS:

1. Que Internet es una Red Neutral por diseño, desde su creación hasta su actual implementación, en la que la información fluye de manera libre, sin discriminación alguna en función de origen, destino, protocolo o contenido.

2. Que las empresas, emprendedores y usuarios de Internet han podido crear servicios y productos en esa Red Neutral sin necesidad de autorizaciones ni acuerdos previos, dando lugar a una barrera de entrada prácticamente inexistente que ha permitido la explosión creativa, de innovación y de servicios que define el estado de la red actual.

3. Que todos los usuarios, emprendedores y empresas de Internet han podido definir y ofrecer sus servicios en condiciones de igualdad llevando el concepto de la libre competencia hasta extremos nunca antes conocidos.

4. Que Internet es el vehículo de libre expresión, libre información y desarrollo social más importante con el que cuentan ciudadanos y empresas. Su naturaleza no debe ser puesta en riesgo bajo ningún concepto.

5. Que para posibilitar esa Red Neutral las operadoras deben transportar paquetes de datos de manera neutral sin erigirse en “aduaneros” del tráfico y sin favorecer o perjudicar a unos contenidos por encima de otros.

6. Que la gestión del tráfico en situaciones puntuales y excepcionales de saturación de las redes debe acometerse de forma transparente, de acuerdo a criterios homogéneos de interés público y no discriminatorios ni comerciales.

7. Que dicha restricción excepcional del tráfico por parte de las operadoras no puede convertirse en una alternativa sostenida a la inversión en redes.

8. Que dicha Red Neutral se ve amenazada por operadoras interesadas en llegar a acuerdos comerciales por los que se privilegie o degrade el contenido según su relación comercial con la operadora.

9. Que algunos operadores del mercado quieren “redefinir” la Red Neutral para manejarla de acuerdo con sus intereses, y esa pretensión debe ser evitada; la definición de las reglas fundamentales del funcionamiento de Internet debe basarse en el interés de quienes la usan, no de quienes la proveen.

10. Que la respuesta ante esta amenaza para la red no puede ser la inacción: no hacer nada equivale a permitir que intereses privados puedan de facto llevar a cabo prácticas que afectan a las libertades fundamentales de los ciudadanos y la capacidad de las empresas para competir en igualdad de condiciones.

11. Que es preciso y urgente instar al Gobierno a proteger de manera clara e inequívoca la Red Neutral, con el fin de proteger el valor de Internet de cara al desarrollo de una economía más productiva, moderna, eficiente y libre de injerencias e intromisiones indebidas. Para ello es preciso que cualquier moción que se apruebe vincule de manera indisoluble la definición de Red Neutral en el contenido de la futura ley que se promueve, y no condicione su aplicación a cuestiones que poco tienen que ver con ésta.

La Red Neutral es un concepto claro y definido en el ámbito académico, donde no suscita debate: los ciudadanos y las empresas tienen derecho a que el tráfico de datos recibido o generado no sea manipulado, tergiversado, impedido, desviado, priorizado o retrasado en función del tipo de contenido, del protocolo o aplicación utilizado, del origen o destino de la comunicación ni de cualquier otra consideración ajena a la de su propia voluntad. Ese tráfico se tratará como una comunicación privada y exclusivamente bajo mandato judicial podrá ser espiado, trazado, archivado o analizado en su contenido, como correspondencia privada que es en realidad.

Europa, y España en particular, se encuentran en medio de una crisis económica tan importante que obligará al cambio radical de su modelo productivo, y a un mejor aprovechamiento de la creatividad de sus ciudadanos. La Red Neutral es crucial a la hora de preservar un ecosistema que favorezca la competencia e innovación para la creación de los innumerables productos y servicios que quedan por inventar y descubrir. La capacidad de trabajar en red, de manera colaborativa, y en mercados conectados, afectará a todos los sectores y todas las empresas de nuestro país, lo que convierte a Internet en un factor clave actual y futuro en nuestro desarrollo económico y social, determinando en gran medida el nivel de competitividad del país. De ahí nuestra profunda preocupación por la preservación de la Red Neutral. Por eso instamos con urgencia al Gobierno español a ser proactivo en el contexto europeo y a legislar de manera clara e inequívoca en ese sentido.

There is probably very little left that I can add into this blog post to finish it off, other than perhaps quoting Tim Berners-Lee, stating, perhaps the obvious: "Internet Must Remain Neutral"

Update 01-12-2010: It looks like we have got some really good news! The Spanish Senate has just encouraged the current government to amend the law to guarantee Net Neutrality for us all. I would strongly encourage you all to have a look and read the rather insightful blog post from Enrique Dans on what it actually means, not just for us Spaniards, but perhaps a turning point for other European governments as well...