Date: Fri, 12 May 2006 12:34:16 -0500
Reply-To: Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
Subject: FW: Internet freedom is under attack
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Please consider signing this, and passing it on!
(And for the lists for which this is really off-topic - it is Friday!)
Joy
*******************************************************************
Dr. Joy E. Hecht
Consultant on Environmental Policy and Information
Email: jhecht@alum.mit.edu
Phone: 1-202-494-1162
URL: http://www.joyhecht.net
*******************************************************************
From: "Eli Pariser, MoveOn.org Civic Action" <moveon-help@list.moveon.org>
Date: Mon, 01 May 2006 15:28:20 -0700
To: "Ted Liljeholm" <tedlilje@onemain.com>
Subject: Internet freedom is under attack
Companies like AT&T want the power to decide which Web sites open properly
on your computer<based on which sites pay them the most. This will distort
the entire Internet.
Next week, Congress votes on the fate of the free and open Internet. Can you
sign our petition to save the Internet?
Click below: (or if the whole url shows, please copy it into your browser)
<http://civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7450-3058737-sHQ7.tsPmYW1Xbrw
vr3Ecw&t=1>
Dear MoveOn member,
Big Internet operators like AT&T and Verizon want the power to decide which
Web sites open properly on our computers<giving them control over what we do
and where we search online. So far, Congress has caved to their demands.
But because of intense public pressure, some members of Congress are
starting to switch from AT&T's side to ours! In just a week, Congress saw
over 250,000 of us sign a petition demanding the Internet stay free. Joining
this call are tech pioneers like Google and Microsoft, diverse groups
ranging from MoveOn to Gun Owners of America, and even some celebrities.
If enough of us stand up now, there's still time for the House of
Representatives to do the right thing next week when it votes on whether to
protect or destroy Network Neutrality<the Internet's First Amendment and the
key to Internet freedom.
Can you join our petition asking Congress to protect the free and open
Internet?
http://civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7450-3058737-sHQ7.tsPmYW1Xbrwv
r3Ecw=2
<http://civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7450-3058737-sHQ7.tsPmYW1Xbrw
vr3Ecw&t=2>
This petition will be delivered to your members of Congress, and everyone
who signs will be kept informed of the next steps we can take to keep the
pressure on Congress this week.
Companies like AT&T are spending millions lobbying Congress to gut Net
Neutrality. A House committee voted to go along with AT&T's scheme last
week, but we are fighting back hard before next week's full House vote. We
want to raise public awareness of this issue and hand Congress 350,000
signatures.
To reach this goal, we're launching a contest: Ask your friends to sign the
petition and you can win one of 10 iPod Nanos or one of 40
BarnesandNoble.com gift certificates. Start by signing the petition
yourself, and you'll receive instructions to enter the contest.
Snopes.com, which monitors various causes that circulate on the Internet,
recently explained this issue:
Simply put, network neutrality means that no web site's traffic has
precedence over any other's...Whether a user searches for recipes using
Google, reads an article on snopes.com, or looks at a friend's MySpace
profile, all of that data is treated equally and delivered from the
originating web site to the user's web browser with the same priority. In
recent months, however, some of the telephone and cable companies that
control the telecommunications networks over which Internet data flows have
floated the idea of creating the electronic equivalent of a paid carpool
lane.
If companies like AT&T have their way, Web sites ranging from Google to eBay
to MoveOn either pay the equivalent of protection money to get into the
"fast lane" or risk opening slowly on your computer. We can't allow the
Internet<this incredible medium which has been such a revolutionary force
for democratic participation, economic innovation, and free speech<to become
captive to large corporations.
Join our petition asking Congress to protect Internet freedom by clicking
here:
http://civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7450-3058737-sHQ7.tsPmYW1Xbrwv
r3Ecw=3
<http://civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7450-3058737-sHQ7.tsPmYW1Xbrw
vr3Ecw&t=3>
Thank you for all you do.
-Eli Pariser, Noah T. Winer, and Adam Green
Monday, May 1st, 2006
P.S. You can support this member-driven campaign today. As companies like
AT&T spend millions lobbying Congress to gut Internet freedom, we will win
this fight because of the power of regular people. A donation of $10, $20,
or more would go a long way. You can donate here:
https://civic.moveon.org/donatec4/creditcard.html?id=7450-3058737-sHQ7.tsPmY
W1Xbrwvr3Ecw=4
<https://civic.moveon.org/donatec4/creditcard.html?id=7450-3058737-sHQ7.tsPm
YW1Xbrwvr3Ecw&t=4>
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<if
BarnesandNoble.com was much slower than Amazon.com that would distort 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.
*
_____
