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Internet Freedom

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The open Internet is central to people’s freedom to communicate, share, advocate and innovate in the 21st century.

But powerful interests want to censor free speech, block the sharing of information, hinder innovation and control how Internet users get online.

All too often, people in power are making political decisions behind closed doors about how the Internet operates, and without the involvement of Internet users themselves.

The result: policies that could close down the open Internet and threaten our freedom to connect.

It’s time for us to reclaim the Internet for its users. We must declare our Internet freedom.

Blog Posts

  • The Very Model of the Modern Messy Video Market

    Candace Clement
    May 23, 2013
    While I’ve spent a fair amount of my adult life critiquing the media, I am in fact a pretty big fan of television.

  • Cord Cutting and the Cable Cabal

    S. Derek Turner
    May 23, 2013
    Rapidly rising cable fees are sending some subscribers looking for a pair of metaphorical scissors so they can cut the cord. In 2009, pay-TV adoption reached an all-time high at 88 percent of American households. But it started a slow decline thereafter, reaching 85 percent at the end of 2012.

  • Happy, Profitable Middlemen

    S. Derek Turner
    May 22, 2013
    Have you ever sat with your TV remote, aimlessly flipping through hundreds of channels you have no interest in, and wondered, “Why do I have to pay for all this?”
More »

Actions

  • Senators: Take a Stand for Online Privacy

    Online spying and surveillance have a chilling effect on free speech. They create an environment in which we refrain from posting on Facebook, conducting Web searches, sending emails, writing blog posts or otherwise communicating online for fear that the National Security Agency could come knocking.

    Tell your senators to vote "NO" on any cybersecurity bill that threatens our online privacy.

    Take Action Today

  • Free Our Phones

    We need open devices and networks to communicate and innovate — and that means we need the right to modify our own hardware  and truly own our cellphones.

    Congress must introduce and pass legislation that legalizes cellphone unlocking.

     

    Take Action

  • Meet the New CISPA. Same as the Old CISPA.

    If CISPA becomes law, it will be a major blow to our online privacy. CISPA’s passage would have a chilling effect on our freedom to connect online. 

    Take Action
More »

Press Releases

  • Free Press Blasts Wireless Companies' Plan to Favor Some Traffic

    May 15, 2013
    WASHINGTON -- On Wednesday, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told a group of investors that he expects content providers and app developers to pay him to keep their traffic from counting against mobile data caps. This follows earlier news that Verizon Wireless was in talks with ESPN to get the sports network paying the carrier so that ESPN content would not count against monthly limits.

  • Free Press Action Fund Praises 'Unlocking Technology Act'

    May 9, 2013

    WASHINGTON -- On Thursday, California Rep. Zoe Lofgren introduced a bill to restore wireless users' ability to “unlock” their phones, tablets or other mobile devices. The "Unlocking Technology Act" is co-sponsored by Reps. Thomas Massie, Anna Eshoo and Jared Polis. In March, Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Mike Lee and Richard Blumenthal introduced a bill to allow users to unlock their phones. Sen. Ron Wyden also introduced his own bill, as did the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.

  • Dangerous Cybersecurity Bill Passes House, Despite Opposition from White House and Civil Liberties Groups

    April 18, 2013
    WASHINGTON -- On Thursday, the House of Representatives voted to pass its privacy-threatening cybersecurity bill, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). The White House indicated on Tuesday that it would veto the bill in its current form given CISPA's failure to safeguard privacy and civil liberties.
More »

Resources

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News from Around the Web

  • Phone Firms Sell Data on Customers

    Wall Street Journal
    May 23, 2013

    Big phone companies have begun to sell the vast troves of data they gather about their subscribers' locations, travels and Web-browsing habits.

  • Fighting Facebook, a Campaign for a People's Terms of Service

    The Nation
    May 22, 2013

    Social media companies say consumer's loss of privacy is just the cost of doing business. But what would happen if they actually had to bargain with users on equal footing?

  • The Future of an Open Net

    Majority Report
    May 22, 2013

    Free Press' Tim Karr explains the background of President Obama's new pick to head the FCC, the drive by telecoms companies to control the Internet, Verzion's Orwellian push to block your first amendment on the Internet and why Net Neutrality is still under threat.

Learn More

  • Broadband

    Access to high-speed Internet service — also known as broadband — is a basic public necessity, just like water or electricity.

    Yet despite its importance, broadband access in the United States is far from universal. Millions of Americans still stand on the wrong side of the "digital divide," unable to tap into the political, economic and social resources of the Internet.

  • Cybersecurity

    Our right to private communications is a cornerstone of American democracy. But with heightened awareness in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, technological advances have continued allowing the government to expand its reach into our private lives via electronic surveillance and data-mining programs. New laws and policies introduced in the last decade have eroded our civil liberties online.

    Congress has a poor track record when it comes to cybersecurity legislation. The bills introduced so far give the government way too much power to intrude on our privacy online.

  • Declaration of Internet Freedom

    Tired of fighting bad bills like SOPA, PIPA and CISPA? Want to stand up against those who are trying to control what we do and say online? It's time for something different.

    A group of more than 1,500 organizations, academics, startup founders and tech innovators has come together to sign a Declaration of Internet Freedom, a set of five principles that put forward a positive vision of the open Internet. Click here to add your name.

People + Policy

= Positive Change for the Public Good

people + policy = Positive Change for the Public Good