Copps Introduces Plan for Internet Freedom
June 12th, 2008 by Tim KarrAs hard as it may be for some to believe, last Saturday night an FCC commissioner was transformed into an Internet superstar.
Copps at NCMR |
Twitter traffic of Commissioner Michael Copps’ speech in Minneapolis on Saturday rocketed to the top of the popular network — garnering more mentions than “Obama,” “Clinton,” “Big Brown” and all other newsworthy terms posted that day by the millions of users of the viral Internet service.
And for good reason. On Saturday night Copps told an enthusiastic crowd of thousands at the National Conference for Media Reform that “reform is coming to Washington, DC, and my goal is to make media reform one of the first out of the gate.”
A Down Payment on Internet Freedom
Copps’ introduced a reform initiative, which he called the “Down Payment on Media Democracy.” According to Copps, the Down Payment has two parts: “Internet freedom” and “better TV and radio.”
Talking about Internet freedom, Copps was clear: We must have enforceable principle of Internet non-discrimination.
“If you want to blog about local politics, should you really have to pay some huge gate-keeper for every reader you get? Should anyone be telling you what you can read and see and hear on the Internet? Which applications you can run? Which devices you can use?” Copps asked, citing the Net Neutrality terms signed on to by AT&T as a condition of their merger with BellSouth.
Real Network Neutrality
“AT&T doesn’t seem any worse for wear,” he said. “But that commitment expires at the end of the year. It’s time that we had a Net Neutrality principle that applies to all gatekeepers. Real Network Neutrality.”
“I know we can get this done,” Copps concluded. “So tonight, moving forward in hope, let us move forward in a mutual pledge to get that Down Payment and then push on to the final installment. Commissioner Adelstein and I will be doing everything we can, but what really makes it happen is you.”
Copps views were echoed in several keynote addresses over the weekend.
Veteran news anchor Dan Rather:
“We need to ensure that the Internet, where free speech reigns and where journalism does not have to pass through a corporate filter, remains free.”
Legendary journalist Bill Moyers:
“Inspired by Free Press, SavetheInternet, a bipartisan coalition, has become crucial to the fight to keep the worldwide web a bastion of free speech. The fate of the cyber commons is up for grabs here… The future Internet must have open architecture. We’ll lose that fight without you because the only antidote to the power of money in Washington is the power of organized people at the net roots.”
“We have to understand that Net Neutrality or what I call Internet freedom is unbelievably important … and there are people who have now decided that they want to become gatekeepers. They want to have toll booths,” he said. “What if there are a couple of kids in a dorm room tonight, perhaps in Minneapolis, maybe in Bismarck and they have an idea? Will they ever get there? Will they ever get past those who really want to establish gates? The way the Internet has worked, the way it has always worked, is we have open architecture — a free Internet. Anyone can go anywhere, at any time. That’s the open architecture that we want to protect and preserve in the Internet.”
(Photo courtesy of salvationinc, Flickr)
