A bipartisan majority on the House Judiciary Committee this week passed the “Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act” — a good bill that would use antitrust law to protect “Network Neutrality.” It is a credit to all Americans who made those crucial phonecalls to the key members of Congress who cast the deciding votes on this issue. But the overall battle is not over. Money talks………

Thanks to your thousands of calls and letters, Americans took a major step forward this week in the fight for Internet freedom.

A bipartisan majority on the House Judiciary Committee yesterday passed the “Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act” — a good bill that would use antitrust law to protect “Network Neutrality.” It is a credit to all of you who made those crucial phonecalls to the key members of Congress who cast the deciding votes.

The question before us is simple: Will the Internet remain in the hands of users and innovators? Or will a handful of telephone and cable companies determine which Web sites you see and which you don’t? This week’s vote — a milestone for our movement — would have been unthinkable just three weeks ago. But YES! it is possible for organized people to defeat powerful corporations.

The interested corporations spent millions on high-priced lobbyists, slick ad campaigns and fake grassroots groups. But the voices of hundreds of thousands of citizens — your voices — made the difference.

The SavetheInternet.com Coalition led by Free Press now boasts nearly 700 groups that span the political spectrum, including MoveOn.org, the Christian Coalition, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Gun Owners of America, Consumers Union, and the American Library Association. Thousands of blogs have taken up the cause. This week, the coalition’s petition drive surpassed 750,000 signatures.

Our top priority is increasing the number of people who know about this threat to Internet freedom.

One thing you can do right now: Get five friends to join the fight

The struggle in Congress isn’t over. The full House will take up the bipartisan Judiciary bill (H.R. 5417) — as well as the massive rewrite of the Telecom Act — after they return in June. The Senate is also considering major legislation that currently FAILS to protect Net Neutrality, though a bipartisan group of Senators ARE lining up behind the excellent Snowe-Dorgan bill (S. 2917).

The work is not done as yet. But momentum is on our side.

Keep aware and tell others about this attempt to further denigrate our democracy.

Check

www.freepress.net for more information on this issue. See below for the thread we are maintaining on this website:

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Companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast are spending tens of millions of dollars 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.

This is one version of a letter you can send:

Please act immediately to save the Internet.

Companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast are spending tens of millions of dollars 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:

Tell Congress to Save Net Neutrality Now!

Read more, or go directly to

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/oca/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=3504

to send your letter.

Here are your examples why you should act ASAP:

* 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 arketplace by big corporations that pay for a top spot on the Web.

An example: In April, Time Warner’s AOL blocked all emails that mentioned www.dearaol.com >> an advocacy campaign opposing AOL’s pay-to-send e-mail scheme.

This type of censorship will become the norm
unless we act now. Given the chance, these gatekeepers will consistently put their own interests before the public good.

Another example: Last year, Canada’s version of AT&T — Telus — blocked their internet customers from visiting a web site sympathetic to workers with whom Telus was negotiating.

This controversial bill would create a similar situation in the U.S. whereby telephone and cable companies would have increased power to control how well (or poorly) specific websites, including those operated by nonprofit organizations, would function on your computer.
The current construction of the internet allows everyone to compete on a level playing field. This is the reason that the internet is a force for economic innovation, civic participation and free speech.
If the public doesn’t speak up now, Congress will hand over control of the internet to these telecommunications monopolies.

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

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

Sincerely and worriedly,
Conrad Miller M.D.

*********************************

P.S. We must not abandon the Internet’s
First Amendment — a principle called “Network Neutrality” that prevents companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast from deciding which Web sites work best for you — based on what site pays them the most. Your local library shouldn?t have to outbid Barnes & Noble for the right to have its Web site open quickly on your computer.

Net Neutrality allows everyone to compete on a level playing field and is the reason that the Internet is a force for economic innovation, civic participation and free speech. If the public doesn’t speak up now, Congress will cave to a multi-million dollar lobbying campaign by telephone and cable companies that want to decide what you do, where you go, and what you watch online.

This isn?t just speculation — we’ve already seen
what happens elsewhere when the Internet’s gatekeepers get too much control. Madison River, a North Carolina ISP, blocked its customers from using any competing Internet phone service.

Some may ask: Won’t more regulations harm the free Internet? Shouldn’t we just let the market decide?

Answer: Writing Net Neutrality into law would preserve the freedoms we currently enjoy on the Internet. For all their talk about “deregulation,” the cable and telephone giants don’t want real competition. They want special rules written in their favor. Don’t let this happen.
Go to

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/oca/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=3504

This looks like the best site to send your letter from.
You can use the above, or any portion
of the above if you wish – to paste into the
space for your ideas/position/thoughts.

A very, or the MOST informative site on the internet, on this crucial internet issue is:

http://www.savetheinternet.com/

It provides the information you should get your minds on to see the picture most clearly, and also has another opportunity for you to speak out – – with a missable, but catchable, means to post it to your Senators and Representatives. Check this site out!!

Another place to go is:

http://action.freepress.net/campaign/dearaol

This webpage relates specifically to aol, but exposes an ominous possible beginning-of-the-end for internet freedom, and the maintaining of a level playing field to benefit all internet users and users-to-be.