Bob Toevs

Neutrality Crucial for Filmmaker/Artist Exposure

I wouldn't even be making films if not for the technology that makes things like the Internet possible. The cost of the means of production (in my case, cameras, computers, software) has finally reached a point where I can make a film on a small budget..

Then what? Promotion is the key to competing in every creative endeavor, and the Internet is the tool. A promotional website is virtually the ONLY way I can compete on a level playing field with corporate media companies. My promotional site has the potential to draw every bit as much traffic, as long as it is accessible to EVERY internet user, without restrictions.

From filmmakers to other artists and small businesses, we all depend on the internet to get our message out and to display and even distribute and sell our art. Caving to big telecom's demands for a tiered system would be tragic in the short-term, and I'm convinced that such a system would ensure that the internet devolves into just another commercial-driven, lowest-common-denominator media choice that panders to the most generic (and corporate-produced) aspects of society, as radio and television have before it.

If big telecom gets its way, the new system will stunt the growth of small business and entrepreneurship in ways I can't even imagine. Ladies and gentlemen, please consider the long-lasting ramifications of implementing big telecom's version of the internet.

There will come a time when every single person in the FCC and all citizens as well will wonder where all the creative, ground-breaking, best content, merchandise, and services have gone. As you surf the bought-and-paid for internet, you will find yourself complaining about commercials and uninspired corporate sites spewing the same tripe as the TV networks and commercial radio conglomerates.

For a society that purports to believe in the American Dream, there is NO ROOM for a cash-based, pay-to-play internet. I won't have the money to play. Will you? Not likely. This is a no-brainer, folks. Please continue to allow open and unrestricted use of the technology that brings us the most significant communications tool in human history. You will rue the day if you vote differently.

Sincerely,

Bob Toevs
Somerville, MA