[LIS-Forum] Save the Internet (fwd)

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Mon Apr 24 16:22:15 IST 2006


Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 09:37:29 +0530
From: Subbiah Arunachalam <arun at mssrf.res.in>

>From Andy Carvin

Coalition to Launch "Save the Internet" Campaign for Network Neutrality
This Monday, a coalition of Internet activists from across the political
spectrum will officially launch the Save the Internet Campaign to fight
telecom companies that are trying to create a multi-tiered Internet, where
lower-income customers have less access to content and bandwidth than
higher-paying customers. Quoting their new website:

  Congress is pushing a law that would abandon Network Neutrality, the
  Internet's First Amendment. Network neutrality prevents companies like
  AT&T, Verizon and Comcast from deciding which Web sites work the best -
  based on who pays them the most. Your local library shouldn't have to
  outbid Barnes & Noble for the right to have its Web site open quickly on
  your computer.  Net Neutrality allows everyone to compete on a level
  playing field and is the reason that the Internet is a force for
  economic innovation, civic participation and free speech. If the public
  doesn't speak up now, Congress will cave to a multi-million dollar
  lobbying campaign by telephone and cable companies that want to decide
  what you do, where you go, and what you watch online.

  This isn't just speculation - we've already seen what happens elsewhere
  when the Internet's gatekeepers get too much control. Last year,
  Canada's version of AT&T - Telus- blocked their Internet customers from
  visiting a Web site sympathetic to workers with whom Telus was
  negotiating. And Shaw, a major Canadian cable TV company, charges an
  extra $10 a month to subscribers who dare to use a competing Internet
  telephone service.

  Congress thinks they can sell out and the public will never know. The
  SavetheInternet.Com Coalition is proving them wrong.

Founding coalition members:

Professor Lawrence Lessig - Stanford
Professor Timothy Wu - Columbia
Free Press - Coalition Coordinator
Gun Owners of America
Craig Newmark - Craigslist.com Founder
Professor Glenn Reynolds - aka blogger Instapundit
MoveOn.org Civic Action
Consumers Union
American Library Association
Consumer Federation of America
Public Knowledge
Common Cause
U.S. PIRG
Center for Digital Democracy
Association of Research Libraries
The Service Roundtable - small business network
Afro-Netizen
Loyola University Chicago, Department of Communications
Educause
New Organizing Institute
Covenant College
Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project
Association for Community Networking
Amazing Kids
CCTV Center for Media and Democracy
Alliance for Community Media
Professor Susan Crawford
Center for Creative Voices in Media
Community Technology Centers
FreeNetworks.org
Media Access Project
Media Alliance
The Agonist
NYC Wireless
AcornActive Media Foundation
Californians Against Waste
Chicago Media Action
CUWiN
National Video Resources
Illinois Community Technology Coalition
Ohio Community Computing Network
Peacefire
Quicksilver Communications


To get involved, visit the website and let Congress know how you feel
about the issue. -andy




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