Bill Moyers: We Lit a Fire in Washington
January 13th, 2007 by tkarrVeteran television journalist Bill Moyers opened the National Conference for Media Reform Friday with praise for SavetheInternet.com’s grassroots campaign to keep the Internet open and fair.
“You lit a fire under people to put Washington on Notice,” Moyers told a packed house of more than 3,000 activists and organizers.
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Net Neutrality, which Moyers dubbed the “Equal Access Provision of the Internet,” became a broad public issue “that once again reminded the powers that be that people want the media to foster democracy not to quench it.”
Moyers called our campaign critical, as soon virtually all media will be delivered to homes via a single high speed broadband connection.
“This is the great gift of the digital revolution and you must never let them take it away from you,” he said.
“Without equality of access the Net will become just like cable television where the provider decides what you see and what you pay.”
Moyers highlighted SavetheInternet.com’s grassroots and online organizing efforts, saying that Washington “hadn’t reckoned with this movement.”
“Free Press and SavetheInternet.com orchestrated 800 organizations, a million and a half petitions, countless local events, legions of home-made videos, smart collaboration with allies in industry and a top-shelf communications campaign,” he said.
“Who would have imagined that sitting together in the same democratic broadband pew would be the Christian Coalition, Gun Owners of America, Common Cause and MoveOn.org. And who would have imagined that these would link arms with some of the powerful new media companies to fight for the Internet’s First Amendment.”
Speaking about the recent agreement by AT&T executive Ed Whitacre to adhere to strict Net Neutrality as a condition of his company’s $86 billion merger with BellSouth, Moyers said, “AT&T had to cry uncle.”
“The agreement marks the first time that the federal government has imposed true neutrality — oops equality — on an Internet Access Provider since the debate erupted almost two years ago.”
Regarding our prospects for 2007 and beyond, Moyers said this:
“I believe you changed the terms of the debate. It is no longer about whether equality of access will govern the future of the Internet, it’s about when and how.“It also signals a change from defense to offense for the backers of the open Net. Arguably, the biggest most effective online organizing campaign ever conducted on a media issue can now turn to passing good laws rather than always having to fight to block the bad ones.”
>> Watch the video at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhx_15qKoJM.
>> For full video of Moyers’ speech, visit the Media Reform Conference Blog.
January 14th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Michigan legislation update.
Michigan House Bill 6456 was recently signed by the governor dealing a slight blow to net neutrality in my state however the following statement by the governor provides a glimmer of hope that clarifying legislation my yet be passed.
I could not find a link on the governors site to this statement so I’ve included the governors statement below.
“On December 21, 2006, I signed House Bill 6456. This bill creates a new Universal Statewide Franchise Act so that cable and video service providers will no longer be required to enter into separate franchising contracts with every local unit of government. Although concerns have been raised regarding how this bill would impact local revenues, analysis indicates that 98 percent of the local municipalities have the ability to collect equal or greater revenues through their franchise agreements under this act.
I believe the final version of this bill is good for consumers and good for Michigan jobs. This legislation will create an environment that promotes competition and will deliver over 2,000 new full-time jobs to Michigan.
I share the concern that this bill does not include a net neutrality provision. I support net neutrality, and I feel it is an issue critical to the protection of consumers. However, with over 2,000 jobs and $620 million in investment at stake, I felt I could not delay in signing this legislation. I have sent the Michigan House of Representatives a letter urging them to ensure that consumers are protected by sending me a bill to preserve net neutrality in Michigan during the new legislative session”
As with previous comments if there is a better place to share this info please let me know.
Cheers,
Daniel Jefferies
Newmind Group, Inc.
January 16th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
[…] He said these forces “have even managed to turn the escalation of a failed war into a surge, as if it were electricity through a wire instead of blood spurting through veins.” […]
January 17th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
I just wanted to write and say Moyers speech was very impressive and inspiring on a number of different levels. The way he combined the idea of a plantation aspect of today’s media and the fact the speech was given on Martin Luther King’s birthday, made it especially more moving. I really appreciate the idea of tell a story, and that story not dying and we are all capable of contributing in our own way: http://www.internetmarker.com/