Net Neutrality - Save the Internet

The future of the Internet is in doubt. This is not a joke and it's certainly not a laughing matter:

Telephone and cable companies like AT&T and Comcast want to be Internet gatekeepers, deciding which Web sites go fast or slow and which won't load at all. They want to tax content providers to guarantee speedy delivery of their data. They want to discriminate in favor of their own search engines, Internet phone services, and streaming video — while slowing down or blocking their competitors.

These companies have a new vision for the Internet. Instead of an even playing field, they want to reserve express lanes for their own content and services — or those from big corporations that can afford the steep tolls — and a leave the rest of us on a winding dirt road.

Fortunately, FreePress has formed a coalition called Save the Internet to fight for Net Neutrality:

The SavetheInternet.com Coalition today launched a campaign to defend the free and open Internet from a bill being voted on in the House of Representatives beginning this week.

Congress is currently rewriting our nation's telecom laws. The SavetheInternet.com Coalition will mobilize public pressure to force Congress to resist a multimillion dollar lobbying effort by Internet providers like AT&T and Verizon to gut Network Neutrality, the Internet's First Amendment.

"Network neutrality is the First Amendment of the Internet," said Timothy Karr, campaign director of Free Press. "It ensures that the public can view the smallest blog just as easily as the largest corporate Web site by preventing companies like AT&T from rigging the playing field for only the highest-paying sites and services. Net neutrality is the reason why the Internet has driven economic innovation, democratic participation, and free speech online — and the public demands Congress not dismantle it."

Without Net Neutrality, issue organizations would essentially have to pay protection money to dominant Internet providers or risk that their Web sites were not as fully functional as corporate sites.

Visit the Save The Internet website now to learn more about this important issue and what you can do to urge Congress not to sell out to powerful telephone and cable companies.