Fwd: House Votes to Kill Net Neutrality
Madhu Dawadi
From: Timothy Karr, FreePress.net <in...@freepress.net>
Date: Thu, Apr 14, 2011 at 10:13 PM
Subject: House Votes to Kill Net Neutrality
To: Madhu Dawadi <dmsu...@gmail.com>
Dear Madhu, Late last week, the House voted to block the Federal Communications Commission from protecting our right to access an open Internet. If this measure, called a "resolution of disapproval," is approved by the Senate and the White House, the FCC would lose its authority to protect our free speech online. This comes at a time when phone and cable companies have begun limiting our ability to connect with others and share information.1 We can stop the resolution in the Senate by getting 51 members to stand with us: Tell Your Senators: Defend Our Right to an Open Internet President Obama has already vowed to veto this resolution, but let's make sure it doesn't get that far. Take action now to urge your senators to stop it in its tracks. If we don’t defeat this measure, the FCC will be barred from enforcing its already weak Net Neutrality rules, and from acting in any way to protect Internet users from corporate abuses by AT&T, Comcast and Verizon. This is not a symbolic congressional exercise — it's a scorched-earth campaign that leaves Americans at the mercy of a corporate Internet cartel.2 Imagine if these companies could do anything they want, ban any speech they don't like, charge anything they can get away with, and hold innovation hostage to their profit margins. If this resolution passes, there's nothing anyone could do about it. The resolution is filibuster-proof. We need at least 51 senators to beat it. Will your senators stand with us? Sign this letter to demand that Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins protect our Internet freedom. We will deliver it to their offices in Washington and provide you with tools to spread the word across Maine. Thank you, 1. FCC Commissioner Michael Copps outlined the recent history of “real threats” to Internet openness during his opening remarks Wednesday before the House Commerce Committee (pdf). 2. To learn more about the impact this would have on all Internet users, read Monday’s Seattle Times editorial, “House GOP Sides with the ‘Haves’ on Net Neutrality.” | ||