Russell Hodin

Full, unfetterred access is crucial for my work

Free, unfettered access to a wide range of news and commentary is essential to my work as a freelance editorial cartoonist. My work has improved in thee 17 years I have been doing it, and one key element of that success is inexpensive high-speed internet access.

I use the web to educate myself from a variety of sources in order to get an understanding of issues that is deeper than available from the print media I subscribe to. I also find that the function of bloggers as filters of additional news sources can sometimes make my online time more efficient & productive.

Since each cartoon is on a different topic, I have no way of knowing in advance which sources may prove to be important to my research. Therefore, news sites, conglomerates, blogs, video sharing, all are crucial to my work, and all require a variety of bandwidth to be effective.

In this sense, any restriction in access to sources would affect me and my sources directly and have a very adverse effect on my ability to do effective work. Any restriction due to gatekeeping based on bandwidth would be detrimental to my work.

Net Neutrality is essential to free speech, equal opportunity and economic innovation in America. Since the FCC removed this basic protection in 2005, the top executives of phone and cable companies have stated their intention to become the Internet's gatekeepers and to discriminate against Web sites that don't pay their added tolls.

This fundamental change would end the open Internet as we know it. It would damage my ability to connect with others, share information and participate in our 21st century democracy and economy. The FCC must ensure that broadband providers do not block, interfere with or discriminate against any lawful Internet traffic based on its ownership, source or destination.