>
> Google, Amazon, MoveOn. All these entities are fighting back as
> Congress tries to pass a law giving a few corporations the power
to
> end the free and open Internet as we know it.
> You can do your part today.
>
> Tell Congress to preserve the free and open Internet.
>
>
> Click Here
>
> Dear MoveOn member,
>
> Do you buy books online, use Google, or download to an Ipod?
These
> activities, plus MoveOn's online organizing ability, will be hurt
if
> Congress passes a radical law
If Moveon.org is protesting a Congressional bill and they are
referring to it as "...if Congress passes a radical law..." and not
something like "...if Republicans in Congress have their way...",
why do I suspect that it is DEMOCRATS that are behind the proposed
law?
I could be wrong -- and I haven't checked it out who it behind the
law -- but I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case!
> that gives giant corporations more
> control over the Internet.
>
> Internet providers like AT&T and Verizon are lobbying Congress
hard
> to gut Network Neutrality, the Internet's First Amendment. Net
> Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which websites open most
> easily for you based on which site pays AT&T more. Amazon doesn't
> have to outbid Barnes & Noble for the right to open more properly
on
> your computer.
>
> If Net Neutrality is gutted, MoveOn either pays protection money
to
> dominant Internet providers or risks that online activism tools
don't
> work for members. Amazon and Google either pay protection money
or
> risk that their websites process slowly on your computer. That
why
> these high-tech pioneers are joining the fight to protect Network
> Neutrality1and you can do your part today.
>
> The free and open Internet is under seigecan you sign this
petition
> letting your member of Congress know you support preserving
Network
> Neutrality? Click here:
>
> http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7361-3763225-
> ogJOyxD2Kx4pxbxGYxzhWw&t=4
>
> To save the Internet, there needs to be a public groundswellso
> please forward this to 3 friends. Let them know protecting the
free
> and open Internet is fundamentalit affects everything. When you
sign
> this petition, you'll be kept informed of the next steps we can
take
> to keep the heat on Congress. Votes begin in a House committee
next
> week.
>
> MoveOn has already seen what happens when the Internet's
gatekeepers
> get too much control. Just last week, AOL blockedany email
mentioning
> a coalition that MoveOn is a part of, which opposes AOL's
proposed
> "email tax."2 And last year, Canada's version of AT&TTelus
blocked
> their Internet customers from visiting a website sympathetic to
> workers with whom Telus was negotiating.3
>
> Politicians don't think we are paying attention to this issue.
Many
> of them take campaign checks from big telecom companies and are
on
> the verge of selling out to people like AT&T's CEO, who openly
says,
> "The internet can't be free."4
>
> We need to let Congress know we are paying attention. Together,
we
> must make sure they listen to our voices and the voices of people
> like Vint Cerf, a father of the Internet and Google's "Chief
Internet
> Evangelist," who recently wrote this to Congress in support of
> preserving Network Neutrality:
>
> My fear is that, as written, this bill would do great damage to
the
> Internet as we know it. Enshrining a rule that broadly permits
> network operators to discriminate in favor of certain kinds of
> services and to potentially interfere with others would place
> broadband operators in control of online activity...Telephone
> companies cannot tell consumers who they can call; network
operators
> should not dictate what people can do online.4
>
> The essence of the Internet is at riskcan you sign this petition
> letting your member of Congress know you support preserving
Network
> Neutrality? Click here:
>
> http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7361-3763225-
> ogJOyxD2Kx4pxbxGYxzhWw&t=5
>
> Please forward to 3 others who care about this issue. Thanks for
all
> you do.
>
> Eli Pariser, Adam Green, Noah T. Winer, and the MoveOn.org Civic
> Action team
> Friday, April 21st, 2006
>
> P.S. MoveOn is part of a broad SaveTheInternet.com coalition
check
> it out!
>
> P.P.S. If Congress abandons Network Neutrality, who will be
affected?
>
> Advocacy groups like MoveOnPolitical organizing could be slowed
by a
> handful of dominant Internet providers who ask advocacy groups to
pay
> "protection money" for their websites and online features to work
> correctly.
> NonprofitsA charity's website could open at snail-speed, and
online
> contributions could grind to a halt, if nonprofits can't pay
dominant
> Internet providers for access to "the fast lane" of Internet
service.
> Google usersAnother search engine could pay dominant Internet
> providers like AT&T to guarantee the competing search engine
opens
> faster than Google on your computer.
> Innovators with the "next big idea"Startups and entrepreneurs
will
> be muscled out of the marketplace by big corporations that pay
> Internet providers for dominant placing on the Web. The little
guy
> will be left in the "slow lane" with inferior Internet service,
> unable to compete.
> Ipod listenersA company like Comcast could slow access to
iTunes,
> steering you to a higher-priced music service that it owned.
> Online purchasersCompanies could pay Internet providers to
guarantee
> their online sales process faster than competitors with lower
prices
> distorting your choice as a consumer.
> Small businesses and tele-commutersWhen Internet companies like
AT&T
> favor their own services, you won't be able to choose more
affordable
> providers for online video, teleconferencing, Internet phone
calls,
> and software that connects your home computer to your office.
> Parents and retireesYour choices as a consumer could be
controlled
> by your Internet provider, steering you to their preferred
services
> for online banking, health care information, sending photos,
planning
> vacations, etc.
> BloggersCosts will skyrocket to post and share video and audio
clips
> silencing citizen journalists and putting more power in the hands
of
> a few corporate-owned media outlets.
> To sign the petition to Congress supporting "network neutrality,"
> click here:
> http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7361-3763225-
> ogJOyxD2Kx4pxbxGYxzhWw&t=6
>
> P.P.P.S. This excerpt from the New Yorker really sums up this
issue
> well.
>
> In the first decades of the twentieth century, as a national
> telephone network spread across the United States, A.T. & T.
adopted
> a policy of "tiered access" for businesses. Companies that paid
an
> extra fee got better service: their customers' calls went through
> immediately, were rarely disconnected, and sounded crystal-clear.
> Those who didn't pony up had a harder time making calls out, and
> people calling them sometimes got an "all circuits busy"
response.
> Over time, customers gravitated toward the higher-tier companies
and
> away from the ones that were more difficult to reach. In effect,
A.T.
> & T.'s policy turned it into a corporate kingmaker.
>
> If you've never heard about this bit of business history, there's
a
> good reason: it never happened. Instead, A.T. & T. had to abide by
a
> "common carriage" rule: it provided the same quality of service
to
> all, and could not favor one customer over another. But, while
> "tiered access" never influenced the spread of the telephone
network,
> it is becoming a major issue in the evolution of the Internet.
>
> Until recently, companies that provided Internet access followed a
de-
> facto commoncarriage rule, usually called "network neutrality,"
which
> meant that all Web sites got equal treatment. Network neutrality
was
> considered so fundamental to the success of the Net that Michael
> Powell, when he was chairman of the F.C.C., described it as one
of
> the basic rules of "Internet freedom." In the past few months,
> though, companies like A.T. & T. and BellSouth have been trying
to
> scuttle it. In the future, Web sites that pay extra to providers
> could receive what BellSouth recently called "special treatment,"
and
> those that don't could end up in the slow lane. One day,
BellSouth
> customers may find that, say, NBC.com loads a lot faster than
> YouTube.com, and that the sites BellSouth favors just seem to run
> more smoothly. Tiered access will turn the providers into
Internet
> gatekeepers.4
>
> Sources:
>
> 1. "Telecommunication Policy Proposed by Congress Must Recognize
> Internet Neutrality," Letter to Senate leaders, March 23, 2006
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1653
>
> 2. "AOL Blocks Critics' E-Mails," Los Angeles Times, April 14, 2006
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1649
>
> 3. "B.C. Civil Liberties Association Denounces Blocking of Website
by
> Telus," British Columbia Civil Liberties Association Statement,
July
> 27, 2005
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1650
>
> 4. "At SBC, It's All About 'Scale and Scope," BusinessWeek,
November
> 7, 2002
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1648
>
> 5. "Net Losses," New Yorker, March 20, 2006
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1646
>
> 6. "Don't undercut Internet access," San Francisco Chronicle
> editorial, April 17, 2006
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1645
>
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