Save The Net - Congress Sells Out The American Public
 

http://www.savetheinternet.com

From Dahr Jamail
By Robert W. McChesney
President - Free Press
4-21-6


Congress is about to sell out the Internet by letting big phone and cable companies set up toll booths along the information superhighway.

Companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast are spending tens of millions in Washington to kill "network neutrality" -- a principle that keeps the Internet open to all.

A bill moving quickly through Congress would let these companies become Internet gatekeepers, deciding which Web sites go fast or slow -- and which won't load at all -- based on who pays them more. The rest of us will be detoured to the "slow lane," clicking furiously and waiting for our favorite sites to download.

Don't let Congress ruin the Internet:

Rep. Joe Barton
http://www.savetheinternet.com

Congress Sells Out

After accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from big telecom firms, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) is sponsoring a bill to hand over the Internet to these same companies. He's not alone.

Where Does Your Representative Stand?
http://www.savetheinternet.com/=map

Act Now: Save the Internet http://action.freepress.net/campaign...3nxku49jnx8jd?

*Tell Congress to Save Net Neutrality Now* http://action.freepress.net/campaign...3nxku49jnx8jd?

Our elected representatives are trading favors for campaign donations from phone and cable companies. They're being wooed by people like AT&T's CEO, who says "the Internet can't be free" and wants to decide what you do, where you go and what you watch online.

The best ideas never come from those with the deepest pockets. If the phone and cable companies get their way, the free and open Internet could soon be fenced in by large corporations. If Congress turns the Internet over to giants like AT&T, everyone who uses the Internet will suffer:

* *Google users* -- Another search engine could pay AT&T to guarantee that it opens faster than Google on your computer.

* *iPod listeners* -- Comcast could slow access to iTunes, steering you to a higher-priced music service that paid for the privilege.

* *Work-at-home parents* -- Connecting to your office could take longer if you don't purchase your carrier's preferred applications. Sending family photos and videos could slow to a crawl.

* *Retirees* -- Web pages you always use for online banking, access to health care information, planning a trip or communicating with friends and family could fall victim to Verizon's pay-for-speed schemes.

* *Bloggers* -- Costs will skyrocket to post and share video and audio clips -- silencing citizen journalists and amplifying the mainstream media.

* *Online activists* -- Political organizing could be slowed by the handful of dominant Internet providers who ask advocacy groups to pay a fee to join the "fast lane."

* *Small businesses* -- When AT&T favors their own services, you won't be able to choose more affordable providers for online video, teleconferencing, and Internet phone calls.

* *Innovators with the "next big idea"* -- Startups and entrepreneurs will be muscled out of the marketplace by big corporations that pay for a top spot on the Web.

We can't let Congress ruin the free and open Internet.

*Let Congress Know that You Want Net Neutrality Now* http://action.freepress.net/campaign...3nxku49jnx8jd?

We must act now or lose the Internet as we know it.

Onward,

Robert W. McChesney President Free Press www.freepress.net

P.S. Visit www.SavetheInternet.com <http://www.savetheinternet.com> to contact your representative, learn more about this issue, and discuss this campaign with other activists.

P.P.S. Tell your friends about this campaign http://action.freepress.net/campaign/savethenet/forward.

If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for the Free Press at:
http://action.freepress.net/freepres...77MST6F1mj1kE&

19 to seven against. Where's the problem?

Why the fuck is this not getting any attention? This could have very severe consequences for ANY size internet company (i.e. yours).

Congress Is Giving Away the Internet
Republicans defeat Net neutrality proposal

Not with a bang, but a whimper indeed...

this will never happen.

What are you basing that on? I can be hopeful too, but the attempt at making net-neutrality law was squashed twice already. Now they are voting to hand over control to the Bells. Are you saying that you don't think that congress would do that, or that the companies that control the bandwidth will be all nice enstuff and not turn try to profit more from this?

The power and industry gave approval for electrical companies to inter the Internet biz. The Power Ind. got approval from the goverment about a year ago. I think they are still testing their system, but it is going to be huge. Broadband connection that are made through existing electrical outlets, commonly called broadband over power lines (BPL).

See Link:

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/ci...4/daily25.html

What difference does it make?.. Nobody will lift a finger to do anything about it anyway.. Look at all that's been happening in this country.. Nobody seems to care...

I suppose you're right, Scootermuze. 5 seconds until the next faggoty "would you hit it" post.

If passed this bill would be a litigation bonanza.

As usual, politicians and lawyers would make enormous sums at the expense of taxpayers.

Democrats lose House vote on Net neutrality
 

Have seen is sparcely discussed here but can't possibly imagine why more people aren't talking about it.

http://news.com.com/Democrats+lose+H...l?tag=nefd.top

This literally effects all of us and turning over power to the Bells is asking for trouble.

So they turned even this into Dem vs Rep? How fuckin typical.

Well the Bells have been tied in with Republicans for awhile. I mean many have merged to a point of where we were decades ago with the monopoly. On this issue, Democrats are supporting webmasters and Internet users while the Republicans are supporting big companies.