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Message-Id: <d9ffa7497fc2b0a7a7d7271496a4ba5b &AElig umich.edu>
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Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 14:23:56 -0400
To: improvetheworld &AElig umich.edu
From: Dave Morris <thecat &AElig umich.edu>
Subject: Fwd: Congress is selling out the Internet
Status: O


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Has anyone heard about this? Anyone know if it's serious or not?

Dave

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Eli Pariser, MoveOn.org Civic Action"=20
> <moveon-help &AElig list.moveon.org>
> Date: April 20, 2006 5:57:58 PM EDT
> To: "Dave Morris" <thecat &AElig umich.edu>
> Subject: Congress is selling out the Internet
>
> Google, Amazon, MoveOn.=A0All these entities are fighting back as=20
> Congress tries to pass a law=A0giving a few corporations=A0the power=20=

> to=A0end the free and open=A0Internet as we know it.
>
> Tell Congress to=A0preserve the free and open Internet today.
>
> =A0=

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>
> Click Here
>
> Dear MoveOn member,
>
>  Do you buy books online,=A0use Google, or download to an Ipod?=A0These =
=20
> activities, plus MoveOn's online organizing ability, will be=A0hurt if =
=20
> Congress=A0passes a radical law that=A0gives giant corporations more =20=

> control over the Internet.
>
> Internet providers like AT&T and Verizon are lobbying Congress hard =20=

> to=A0gut Network Neutrality, the=A0Internet's First Amendment.=A0Net =20=

> Neutrality prevents AT&T from=A0choosing which websites open most =
easily =20
> for you based on which site pays AT&T more. Amazon doesn't have to =20
> outbid Barnes & Noble for the right to work more properly on your =20
> computer.
>
> If Net Neutrality is gutted,=A0MoveOn either pays protection money to =20=

> dominant Internet providers=A0or risks that online activism tools =
don't =20
> work for members. Amazon and Google either pay=A0protection =20
> money=A0or=A0risk that their websites process slowly on your computer. =
=20
> That why these=A0high-tech pioneers=A0are joining the fight to protect =
=20
> Network Neutrality1=97and you can do your part today.=A0
>
> The free and open Internet is=A0under seige=97can you sign this =
petition =20
> letting your member of Congress know you support preserving Network =20=

> Neutrality? Click here:
>
> http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=3D7356-347076-=20
> an8SbRs70xz4702MtS41Ug&t=3D4
>
> Then, please forward this to=A03 friends. Protecting the free and open =
=20
> Internet=A0is fundamental=97it affects everything. When you sign this =20=

> petition, you'll be kept informed of=A0the next steps=A0we can take =20=

> to=A0keep the heat on Congress. Votes begin in a House committee next =20=

> week.
>
> MoveOn has=A0already seen=A0what happens when=A0the Internet's =
gatekeepers =20
> get too much control.=A0Just last week, AOL blocked any email =20
> mentioning=A0a coalition that MoveOn is a part of,=A0which opposes =
AOL's =20
> proposed "email tax."2=A0And last year,=A0Canada's version of =20
> AT&T=97Telus=97blocked their Internet customers from visiting=A0a =
website =20
> sympathetic to=A0workers with whom Telus was negotiating.3
>
>  Politicians=A0don't think we are paying attention to this issue. Many =
=20
> of them take campaign checks from big telecom companies and are on the =
=20
> verge of selling out to people like=A0AT&T's CEO, who=A0openly says, =
"The =20
> internet can't be free."4
>
> Together, we can let Congress know we are paying attention. We can =20
> make sure they=A0listen to our voices and the voices of people like =
Vint =20
> Cerf, a father of the Internet and=A0Google's "Chief Internet =20
> Evangelist," who recently wrote this to Congress in support of =20
> preserving Network Neutrality:
>>> My fear is that, as written, this bill would do great damage to the =20=

>>> Internet as we know it. Enshrining a rule that broadly permits =20
>>> network operators to discriminate in favor of certain kinds of =20
>>> services and to potentially interfere with others would place =20
>>> broadband operators in control of online activity...Telephone =20
>>> companies cannot tell consumers who they can call; network operators =
=20
>>> should not dictate what people can do online.4=A0
> The essence of the Internet is at risk=97can you sign this petition =20=

> letting your member of Congress know you support preserving Network =20=

> Neutrality? Click here:
>
> http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=3D7356-347076-=20
> an8SbRs70xz4702MtS41Ug&t=3D5
>
> Please forward to 3 others who care about this=A0issue. Thanks for all =
=20
> you do.
>
> =96Eli Pariser, Adam Green, Noah T. Winer,=A0and the MoveOn.org Civic =20=

> Action team=A0
>  =A0=A0Thursday, April 20th, 2006
>  P.S.=A0 If Congress abandons Network Neutrality,=A0who will be =
affected?
> 	=95 	Advocacy groups=A0like MoveOn=97Political organizing =
could be slowed =20
> by a handful of dominant Internet providers who ask advocacy groups to =
=20
> pay "protection money"=A0for their websites and online features to =
work =20
> correctly.
> 	=95 	Nonprofits=97A charity's website could open at =
snail-speed, and =20
> online contributions could grind to a halt, if=A0nonprofits=A0can't =
pay =20
> dominant Internet providers for access to "the fast lane" of Internet =20=

> service.
> 	=95 	Google users=97Another search engine could pay dominant =
Internet =20
> providers like AT&T to guarantee the competing search engine opens =20
> faster than Google on your computer.=A0
> 	=95 	Innovators=A0with the "next big idea"=97Startups and =
entrepreneurs =20
> will be muscled out of the marketplace by big corporations that pay =20=

> Internet providers for=A0dominant placing=A0on the Web. The little guy =
=20
> will be left in the "slow lane" with inferior Internet service, unable =
=20
> to compete.
> 	=95 	Ipod listeners=97A company like Comcast could slow =
access to iTunes, =20
> steering you to a higher-priced music service that it owned.=A0
> 	=95 	Online purchasers=97Companies could pay Internet =
providers to =20
> guarantee=A0their online sales=A0process=A0faster than competitors =20
> with=A0lower prices=97distorting your choice as a consumer.
> 	=95 	Small businesses and tele-commuters=97When Internet =
companies like =20
> AT&T favor their own services, you won't be able to choose more =20
> affordable providers for online video, teleconferencing,=A0Internet =20=

> phone calls, and software that connects your home computer to your =20
> office.
> 	=95 	Parents and retirees=97Your choices as a consumer could =
be =20
> controlled by your Internet=A0provider, steering you to =
their=A0preferred =20
> services for online banking, health care information, sending photos, =20=

> planning vacations, etc.
> 	=95 	Bloggers=97Costs will skyrocket to post and share video =
and audio =20
> clips=97silencing citizen journalists and putting more power in the =20=

> hands of a few corporate-owned media outlets.To sign=A0the petition to =
=20
> Congress supporting "network neutrality," click here:
>> http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=3D7356-347076-=20
>> an8SbRs70xz4702MtS41Ug&t=3D6
> P.P.S. This excerpt from=A0the New Yorker really sums up this issue =
well.
>>> In the first decades of the twentieth century, as a national =20
>>> telephone network spread across the United States, A.T. & T. adopted =
=20
>>> a policy of "tiered access" for businesses. Companies that paid an =20=

>>> extra fee got better service: their customers' calls went through =20=

>>> immediately, were rarely disconnected, and sounded crystal-clear. =20=

>>> Those who didn't pony up had a harder time making calls out, and =20
>>> people calling them sometimes got an "all circuits busy" response. =20=

>>> Over time, customers gravitated toward the higher-tier companies and =
=20
>>> away from the ones that were more difficult to reach. In effect, =20
>>> A.T. & T.'s policy turned it into a corporate kingmaker.
>>>
>>> If you've never heard about this bit of business history, there's a =20=

>>> good reason: it never happened. Instead, A.T. & T. had to abide by a =
=20
>>> "common carriage" rule: it provided the same quality of service to =20=

>>> all, and could not favor one customer over another. But, while =20
>>> "tiered access" never influenced the spread of the telephone =20
>>> network, it is becoming a major issue in the evolution of the =20
>>> Internet.
>>>
>>> Until recently, companies that provided Internet access followed a =20=

>>> de-facto commoncarriage rule, usually called "network neutrality," =20=

>>> which meant that all Web sites got equal treatment. Network =20
>>> neutrality was considered so fundamental to the success of the Net =20=

>>> that Michael Powell, when he was chairman of the F.C.C., described =20=

>>> it as one of the basic rules of "Internet freedom." In the past few =20=

>>> months, though, companies like A.T. & T. and BellSouth have been =20
>>> trying to scuttle it. In the future, Web sites that pay extra to =20
>>> providers could receive what BellSouth recently called "special =20
>>> treatment," and those that don't could end up in the slow lane. One =20=

>>> day, BellSouth customers may find that, say, NBC.com loads a lot =20
>>> faster than YouTube.com, and that the sites BellSouth favors just =20=

>>> seem to run more smoothly. Tiered access will turn the providers =20
>>> into Internet gatekeepers.4
> Sources:
>
> 1. "Telecommunication Policy Proposed by Congress Must Recognize =20
> Internet Neutrality," Letter to Senate leaders, March 23, 2006
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3D1653
>
>  2. "AOL Blocks Critics' E-Mails," Los Angeles Times, April 14, 2006
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3D1649
>
> 3. "B.C. Civil Liberties Association Denounces Blocking of Website by =20=

> Telus," British Columbia Civil Liberties Association Statement, July =20=

> 27, 2005
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3D1650
>
>  4. "At SBC, It's All About 'Scale and Scope," BusinessWeek, November =20=

> 7, 2002
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3D1648
>
> 5. "Net Losses," New Yorker, March 20, 2006
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3D1646
>
> 6. "Don't undercut Internet access," San Francisco Chronicle =20
> editorial, April 17, 2006
> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3D1645
>
>
> Subscription Management:
>  This is a message from MoveOn.org Civic Action. To change your email =20=

> address, update your contact info, or remove yourself (Dave Morris) =20=

> from this list, please visit our subscription management page at:
> http://moveon.org/s?i=3D7356-347076-an8SbRs70xz4702MtS41Ug=20=

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>
David P. Morris, PhD
Senior Engineer, ElectroDynamic Applications, Inc.
morris &AElig edapplications.com, (734)=A0786-1434, fax: (734)=A0786-3235

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