Congress is selling out the Internet

[Guest guest]

" Mark Hull-Richter " <mhrichter

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 16:34:43 -0700 (PDT)

Fwd: [Pro-activist] Congress is selling out the Internet

 

 

 

As much as I no longer love Move-On, this alert is really important.

Let your members of Congress know how you feel on this and help keep

the Internet free and open. Soem of the Republicans can be our best

allies in this particular fight, so contact ALL of your members of

Congress.

 

--- C... wrote:

 

> " C....

> Mon, 24 Apr 2006 18:30:24 -0400

> [Pro-activist] Congress is selling out the Internet

>

> 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 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 work 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 Neutrality [1]--and you can do your part

today.

>

> The free and open Internet is under seige--can you sign this petitionletting

your member of Congress know you support preserving Network Neutrality? Click

here:>

>

http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7375-5860049-NCdBPaoBBKM7LG0py\

Pzbng & t=4

>

> Then, please forward this to 3 friends. Protecting the free and open

> Internet is fundamental--it 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 recently, AOL blocked any 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 & T--Telus--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]

>

> Together, we can let Congress know we are paying attention. We can

> 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 risk--can you sign this petition

> letting your member of Congress know you support preserving Network

> Neutrality?

>

http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7375-5860049-NCdBPaoBBKM7LG0py\

Pzbng & 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 Monday, April 24th, 2006

>

> P.S. For a reminder of why this is important, check out the coalition we're

launching today: http://www.SavetheInternet.com

>

> P.P.S. If Congress abandons Network Neutrality, who will be affected?

>

> * Advocacy groups like MoveOn--Political 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.

> * Nonprofits--A 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 users--Another 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 listeners--A company like Comcast could slow access to iTunes, steering

you to a higher-priced music service that it owned.

> * Online purchasers--Companies 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-commuters--When 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 retirees--Your 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.

* Bloggers--Costs 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, "

>

>

http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7375-5860049-NCdBPaoBBKM7LG0py\

Pzbng & 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

>

> This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from

> http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm

>

 

 

Mark Hull-Richter, U.S. Citizen & Patriot

U.S.A. - From democracy to kakistocracy in one fell coup.

" Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent

revolution inevitable. " - JFK

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0416-01.htm

http://verifiedvoting.org http://blackboxvoting.org

 

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