The telco cartel wants to gut the Internet and portion it off to the companies that pay their broadband tolls. Companies like AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth seek to get rid of Net Neutrality so they can muscle aside the real online revolutionaries — the small-guy innovators who historically have made the Internet a beacon for democracy, economic growth and new ideas.

In the words of Internet architect Vint Cerf, the Internet is “innovation without permission.” That is the genius of the network that has proven to be a wonderland for new entrepreneurs and ideas, with all the intelligence residing with the end users and not those who control the pipes.

Now, large phone companies like AT&T have unleashed a million-dollar-a-week spending spree to influence Washington decision-makers, pass telco-friendly regulations and change the Internet forever. They want to control online content by placing gateways on the on-ramps and exits to the information superhighway. This is why people on the right and left have joined with every major consumer group, Internet rights advocacy and public interest organization to fight AT&T and their lobbyists.

The groups and organizations that now support Net Neutrality range from the National Religious Broadcasters, the Gun Owners of America, and the Christian Coalition, to the American Civil Liberties Union, Free Press, and Moveon.org. As Craig Fields of the Gun Owners of America: “Whenever you see people on the left and right joining together against something Congress is getting ready to do, it’s been my experience that what Congress is getting ready to do is basically un-American.”

Here is just a sampling of what other people and organizations are saying:

Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web:

“When seventeen years ago, I designed the Web, I did not have to ask anyone’s permission. We pay for connection to the Net as though it were a cloud which magically delivers our packets. We may pay for a higher or a lower quality of service. We may pay for a service which has the characteristics of being good for video, or quality audio. But we each pay to connect to the Net, but no one can pay for exclusive access to me. The Internet is increasingly becoming the dominant medium binding us. The neutral communications medium is essential to our society. It is the basis of a fair competitive market economy. It is the basis of democracy, by which a community should decide what to do. Let us protect the neutrality of the net.”

Roberta Combs, the President of Christian Coalition of America:

“Christian Coalition is joining a broad array of organizations, representing consumers, businesses, and all ends of the political spectrum. The Coalition is committed to working on behalf of our supporters to ensure that the Internet remains the free marketplace of ideas, products and services that it is today. Under the new rules, there is nothing to stop the c able and phone companies from not allowing consumers to have access to speech that they don’t support…. We urge Congress to move aggressively to save the Internet — and allow ideas rather than money to control what Americans can access on the World Wide Web. We urge all Americans to contact their Congressmen and Senators and tell them to save the Internet and to support ‘Net Neutrality’.”

Chellie Pingree, President & CEO, Common Cause:

“A two-tiered Internet would put small businesses, nonprofits, entrepreneurs, political candidates and local governments at a significant disadvantage and stifle the innovation that has brought us Google, eBay, the blogosphere, instant messaging and so much more. Failure to preserve net neutrality now would open the door to allowing Internet service providers to discriminate against websites and services that can’t or won’t pay for access to the ”fast lane.” If network providers are allowed to control the flow of information, the open and freewheeling nature of the Internet could be lost.”

The Financial Services Roundtable:

“The FSR supports ‘net neutrality’ provisions designed to prohibit Internet network operators and ISPs from blocking or slowing access to Internet content based on the amount of money client companies or consumers are able or willing to pay. The Internet should not become an exclusive medium for the highest bidders, nor should financial services firms be forced to pay higher prices in order to meet regulatory requirements for security or transaction speed.”

This entry was posted on Monday, May 22nd, 2006 at 12:39 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.-->