Rep. Boucher: U.S. Libraries Need a Neutral Net
April 20th, 2007 by tkarrRep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) on Friday wrote that the phone companies’ plan to restrict access to content on the Web “would harm libraries and library users.” Boucher joined major library associations in calling for clear Net Neutrality rules to prevent this abuse.
“Libraries are now providing unprecedented access to information through public Internet service, digital media, and online publications,” Boucher wrote in an op-ed distributed by Main Street Newspapers. “As more of the educational resources that we rely on are offered in a digital format it is essential that the ability of libraries to provide this content to the public be vigorously defended.”
 Rep. Boucher: Another Member of Congress for Net Neutrality |
Boucher called for “strict network neutrality rules to prevent the creation of a two-lane Internet, where communications companies give some content providers preferential treatment while limiting the ability of Internet users to access the sites and services of their choice.”
The Virginia representative was referring to comments by executives at AT&T and Verizon who plan to insert their companies as the Web’s new content gatekeepers, “not only charging their end user customers for an Internet connection, but also assessing a fee on websites for users to reach them more quickly.”
“Essentially, what these executives are proposing is the creation of a two-lane Internet where larger, more established Web sites with financial resources could squeeze out smaller, emerging Web sites.”
This is why major library groups, including the Association of Research Libraries and the American Library Association, are active member of the SavetheInternet.com Coalition.
“Such restrictions would harm libraries and library users by potentially preventing them from accessing the content and Web sites which they prefer,” he added. “Information would no longer be able to flow seamlessly over the Internet and the unprecedented access to educational materials that the Internet provides will be threatened.”
