Thanks!

More 2008 presidential candidates are making an open and neutral Internet a part of their platform. Others prefer fence sitting, perhaps fearful to upset one of Washington’s most entrenched and moneyed corporate lobbies.

As we reported earlier, Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson, among others, have all stated their strong support for legal protections for Net Neutrality. They were joined recently by GOP candidate Mike Huckabee, who last week told a collection of bloggers that Net Neutrality must be preserved.

But another GOP candidate, John McCain, failed to commit one way or the other. In a calculated response, McCain told an interviewer: “Anything that impinges on the ability for people to have access needs to be considered very carefully. I worry about the consolidation of the pipes.”

McCain then added: “When you control the pipe you should be able to get profit from your investment” — using an archetypal political tactic, he plays to both sides of the argument while taking a stance on neither. After his many years on the Senate Commerce Committee, you’d have thought this candidate could have been more decisive. (Though one reporter has him supporting Net Neutrality).

Edwards Out Front On Spectrum

Tell the FCC: Save the Public Airwaves

Edwards today upped the ante, calling upon the Federal Communications Commission to use the upcoming auction of public “spectrum” to make the Internet more affordable, accessible and open to everyone.

In a letter sent today, Edwards urged the federal agency to “seize the chance to transform the Internet and the future” by requiring that as much as half of the soon-to-be-available public airwaves be reserved for open access.

This spectrum would open the newest Internet platform to new entrants and innovators and allow them to prove themselves in the market by offering better products to consumers.

Edwards also asked the FCC to require that anyone who wins rights to use the public airwaves should not “discriminate among data and services and to allow any device to be attached to their service.”

The FCC should be extremely guarded against handing over our wireless Internet to the same network giants that are acting in bad faith to stifle competition and innovation on wired lines.

>> Click Here to take action on this issue

These companies, including AT&T, Verizon and Comcast, have already stated their desire to become the Internet’s gatekeepers — to not only control your access to the Internet’s “pipes” but also your ability to connect to content that travels through them.

Access to communications technology deserves a prominent place, alongside healthcare, education and taxes in the public discourse in the run-up to the 2008 elections. If our country’s next leader can’t help get more Americans connected to fast, open and affordable Internet, we all stand to lose.

We’d like to challenge all candidates to take a stand on issues of neutrality, openness, access and affordability. It’s good to see today that at least one of them is taking the lead, but where, specifically do the others stand?

Harold Feld of Media Access Project suggests questions that all candidates should be ready to answer:

Where do you stand on shaping our wireless future? Do you support more of the status quo or do you want to see something different? Do you agree with the folks at Comcast, AT&T and T-Mobile that we live in the best of all possible worlds and the government shouldn’t try to “influence the market” or “pick winners?” Or do you think it’s time to give a real boost to wireless broadband for ALL Americans, free innovation at the edge of the wireless network, and — oh yeah — promote all that democracy and civic engagement stuff?

Get ready with your own questions when the next presidential hopeful comes knocking on your door.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 30th, 2007 at 2:25 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.