This should be of interest to many people involved in Community Wireless.
Dana Spiegel
Executive Director
NYCwireless
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.nycwireless.net
+1 917 402 0422
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: CWN-Summit Digest, Vol 11, Issue 1
Date: Fri, 3 Jun 2005 12:00:42 -0500 (CDT)
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Date: Thu, 02 Jun 2005 16:24:18 -0400
From: Harold Feld <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [CWN-Summit] Federal Legislation to Ban Community Broadband
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Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), an SBC alum who also recieves SBC campaign
contributions by the boatload, has introduced HR 2726. This bill would
prevent a municipality from offering any kind of telecom, internet or cable
service if any non-governmental org offers a "reasonably comparable"
service (interestingly enough, the presence of a volunteer free net, under
a strict reading of the bill, would prohibit a local government from
providing any services).
I believe it is imperative that members of Congress understand this is a
HANDS OFF issue. We should not wait for this bill to accumulate co-sponsors
and gain support from other members (Upton, (R-IL), chair of the Telecom
subcommittee, has in the past expressed opposition to community
broadband). We should not allow the telcos and cable companies to "shop
this" and work to get it included in other bills. In particular, I hope
that those who have won victories against the odds in the states will make
it clear that the federal government will not take these hard won rights
away from them.
Last year, the National Association of Broadcasters attempted to get a bill
passed that would have prohibitted satellite radio companies from offering
local traffic and weather. XM mobilized its customers and got more than
26,000 people to tell Congress and the FCC to back off. This "shock and
awe" effect has made last year's NAB bill a "hands off" issue this year.
I sincerely hope that we can do better than XM Radio, given what is riding
on the line here and given the amazing successes we have had until now. I
have attached a letter similar to the one we generated last February, but
designed for individual sign on and explicitly addressing HR 2726. This
letter is only a suggestion, and I would urge individuals and organizations
to tailor it to your specific circumstances. Even a few sentences that
place this letter in the context of your local community have enormous
impact with members of Congress. I would urge folks to contact members in
their home offices and make it clear that local governments are in the best
position to decide what local residents need and how best to spend local
tax dollars.
Most importantly, remind your elected official that he or she works for
you, not some corporate monopoly trying to regulate away competition. The
only ones who benefit from HR 2726 are the telcos and the cable cos. But
we will all suffer if the bill passes.
A wealth of information and studies making the case for community internet
is available from Free Press at:
http://www.freepress.net/communityinternet/
Harold Feld
--
NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/
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