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Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 15:00:31 -0400
To: improvetheworld &AElig umich.edu
From: Ali Saidi <saidi &AElig umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Congress is selling out the Internet
Status: O

A lot of organizations on both sides of the aisle (MoveOn to the Gun Owners of America) have come together to create http://www.savetheinternet.com/ 

Apparently the commerce committee may vote on the new telecommunications reform bill as early as tomorrow. 
Ali

On Tuesday 25 April 2006 14:38, Joshua J Estelle wrote:
> I believe this is a fairly serious issue and I'm glad MoveOn is letting  
> people know about it.
> 
> Vint Cerf (of Google) spoke out on the issue back in November when  
> there was a hearing with congress on the topic, check Google's blog  
> post about it here:
> http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/11/vint-cerf-speaks-out-on-net- 
> neutrality.html
> 
> There's lots more about this out in the world and I encourage you to  
> read more if you're interested.
> 
> Josh
> 
> 
> On Apr 25, 2006, at 2:23 PM, Dave Morris wrote:
> 
> > Has anyone heard about this? Anyone know if it's serious or not?
> >
> > Dave
> >
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> >> From: "Eli Pariser, MoveOn.org Civic Action"  
> >> <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. All these entities are fighting back as  
> >> Congress tries to pass a law giving a few corporations the power  
> >> to end the free and open Internet as we know it.
> >>
> >> Tell Congress to preserve the free and open Internet today.
> >>
> >>  <buttonxclickhere.gif>
> >> Click Here
> >>
> >> Dear MoveOn member,
> >>
> >>  Do you buy books online, use Google, or download to an Ipod? These  
> >> activities, plus MoveOn's online organizing ability, will be hurt if  
> >> Congress passes a radical law that gives giant corporations more  
> >> control over the Internet.
> >>
> >> Internet providers like AT&T and Verizon are lobbying Congress hard  
> >> to gut Network Neutrality, the Internet's First Amendment. Net  
> >> Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which websites open most  
> >> easily for you based on which site pays AT&T more. Amazon doesn't  
> >> have to outbid Barnes & Noble for the right to work more properly on  
> >> your computer.
> >>
> >> If Net Neutrality is gutted, MoveOn either pays protection money to  
> >> dominant Internet providers or risks that online activism tools don't  
> >> work for members. Amazon and Google either pay protection  
> >> money or risk that their websites process slowly on your computer.  
> >> That why these high-tech pioneers are joining the fight to protect  
> >> Network Neutrality1—and you can do your part today. 
> >>
> >> The free and open Internet is under seige—can you sign this petition  
> >> letting your member of Congress know you support preserving Network  
> >> Neutrality? Click here:
> >>
> >> http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7356-347076- 
> >> an8SbRs70xz4702MtS41Ug&t=4
> >>
> >> Then, please forward this to 3 friends. Protecting the free and open  
> >> Internet is fundamental—it affects everything. When you sign this  
> >> petition, you'll be kept informed of the next steps we can take  
> >> to keep the heat on Congress. Votes begin in a House committee next  
> >> week.
> >>
> >> MoveOn has already seen what happens when the Internet's gatekeepers  
> >> get too much control. Just last week, AOL blocked any email  
> >> mentioning a coalition that MoveOn is a part of, which opposes AOL's  
> >> proposed "email tax."2 And last year, Canada's version of  
> >> AT&T—Telus—blocked their Internet customers from visiting a website  
> >> sympathetic to workers with whom Telus was negotiating.3
> >>
> >>  Politicians don't think we are paying attention to this issue. Many  
> >> of them take campaign checks from big telecom companies and are on  
> >> the verge of selling out to people like AT&T's CEO, who openly says,  
> >> "The internet can't be free."4
> >>
> >> Together, we can let Congress know we are paying attention. We can  
> >> make sure they listen to our voices and the voices of people like  
> >> Vint Cerf, a father of the Internet and Google's "Chief Internet  
> >> Evangelist," who recently wrote this to Congress in support of  
> >> preserving Network Neutrality:
> >>>> My fear is that, as written, this bill would do great damage to the  
> >>>> Internet as we know it. Enshrining a rule that broadly permits  
> >>>> network operators to discriminate in favor of certain kinds of  
> >>>> services and to potentially interfere with others would place  
> >>>> broadband operators in control of online activity...Telephone  
> >>>> companies cannot tell consumers who they can call; network  
> >>>> operators should not dictate what people can do online.4 
> >> The essence of the Internet is at risk—can you sign this petition  
> >> letting your member of Congress know you support preserving Network  
> >> Neutrality? Click here:
> >>
> >> http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7356-347076- 
> >> an8SbRs70xz4702MtS41Ug&t=5
> >>
> >> Please forward to 3 others who care about this issue. Thanks for all  
> >> you do.
> >>
> >> –Eli Pariser, Adam Green, Noah T. Winer, and the MoveOn.org Civic  
> >> Action team 
> >>    Thursday, April 20th, 2006
> >>  P.S.  If Congress abandons Network Neutrality, who will be affected?
> >> 	• 	Advocacy groups like MoveOn—Political organizing could be slowed  
> >> by a handful of dominant Internet providers who ask advocacy groups  
> >> to pay "protection money" for their websites and online features to  
> >> work correctly.
> >> 	• 	Nonprofits—A charity's website could open at snail-speed, and  
> >> online contributions could grind to a halt, if nonprofits can't pay  
> >> dominant Internet providers for access to "the fast lane" of Internet  
> >> service.
> >> 	• 	Google users—Another search engine could pay dominant Internet  
> >> providers like AT&T to guarantee the competing search engine opens  
> >> faster than Google on your computer. 
> >> 	• 	Innovators with the "next big idea"—Startups and entrepreneurs  
> >> will be muscled out of the marketplace by big corporations that pay  
> >> Internet providers for dominant placing on the Web. The little guy  
> >> will be left in the "slow lane" with inferior Internet service,  
> >> unable to compete.
> >> 	• 	Ipod listeners—A company like Comcast could slow access to  
> >> iTunes, steering you to a higher-priced music service that it owned. 
> >> 	• 	Online purchasers—Companies could pay Internet providers to  
> >> guarantee their online sales process faster than competitors  
> >> with lower prices—distorting your choice as a consumer.
> >> 	• 	Small businesses and tele-commuters—When Internet companies like  
> >> AT&T favor their own services, you won't be able to choose more  
> >> affordable providers for online video, teleconferencing, Internet  
> >> phone calls, and software that connects your home computer to your  
> >> office.
> >> 	• 	Parents and retirees—Your choices as a consumer could be  
> >> controlled by your Internet provider, steering you to their preferred  
> >> services for online banking, health care information, sending photos,  
> >> planning vacations, etc.
> >> 	• 	Bloggers—Costs will skyrocket to post and share video and audio  
> >> clips—silencing citizen journalists and putting more power in the  
> >> hands of a few corporate-owned media outlets.To sign the petition to  
> >> Congress supporting "network neutrality," click here:
> >>> http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7356-347076- 
> >>> an8SbRs70xz4702MtS41Ug&t=6
> >> P.P.S. This excerpt from the New Yorker really sums up this issue  
> >> well.
> >>>> In the first decades of the twentieth century, as a national  
> >>>> telephone network spread across the United States, A.T. & T.  
> >>>> adopted a policy of "tiered access" for businesses. Companies that  
> >>>> paid an extra fee got better service: their customers' calls went  
> >>>> through immediately, were rarely disconnected, and sounded  
> >>>> crystal-clear. Those who didn't pony up had a harder time making  
> >>>> calls out, and people calling them sometimes got an "all circuits  
> >>>> busy" response. Over time, customers gravitated toward the  
> >>>> higher-tier companies and away from the ones that were more  
> >>>> difficult to reach. In effect, 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  
> >>>> good reason: it never happened. Instead, A.T. & T. had to abide by  
> >>>> a "common carriage" rule: it provided the same quality of service  
> >>>> to all, and could not favor one customer over another. But, while  
> >>>> "tiered access" never influenced the spread of the telephone  
> >>>> network, it is becoming a major issue in the evolution of the  
> >>>> Internet.
> >>>>
> >>>> Until recently, companies that provided Internet access followed a  
> >>>> de-facto commoncarriage rule, usually called "network neutrality,"  
> >>>> which meant that all Web sites got equal treatment. Network  
> >>>> neutrality was considered so fundamental to the success of the Net  
> >>>> that Michael Powell, when he was chairman of the F.C.C., described  
> >>>> it as one of the basic rules of "Internet freedom." In the past few  
> >>>> months, though, companies like A.T. & T. and BellSouth have been  
> >>>> trying to scuttle it. In the future, Web sites that pay extra to  
> >>>> providers could receive what BellSouth recently called "special  
> >>>> treatment," and those that don't could end up in the slow lane. One  
> >>>> day, BellSouth customers may find that, say, NBC.com loads a lot  
> >>>> faster than YouTube.com, and that the sites BellSouth favors just  
> >>>> seem to run more smoothly. Tiered access will turn the providers  
> >>>> into Internet gatekeepers.4
> >> Sources:
> >>
> >> 1. "Telecommunication Policy Proposed by Congress Must Recognize  
> >> Internet Neutrality," Letter to Senate leaders, March 23, 2006
> >> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1653
> >>
> >>  2. "AOL Blocks Critics' E-Mails," Los Angeles Times, April 14, 2006
> >> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1649
> >>
> >> 3. "B.C. Civil Liberties Association Denounces Blocking of Website by  
> >> Telus," British Columbia Civil Liberties Association Statement, July  
> >> 27, 2005
> >> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1650
> >>
> >>  4. "At SBC, It's All About 'Scale and Scope," BusinessWeek, November  
> >> 7, 2002
> >> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1648
> >>
> >> 5. "Net Losses," New Yorker, March 20, 2006
> >> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1646
> >>
> >> 6. "Don't undercut Internet access," San Francisco Chronicle  
> >> editorial, April 17, 2006
> >> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1645
> >>
> >>
> >> Subscription Management:
> >>  This is a message from MoveOn.org Civic Action. To change your email  
> >> address, update your contact info, or remove yourself (Dave Morris)  
> >> from this list, please visit our subscription management page at:
> >> http://moveon.org/s?i=7356-347076-an8SbRs70xz4702MtS41Ug<o.gif>
> > David P. Morris, PhD
> > Senior Engineer, ElectroDynamic Applications, Inc.
> > morris &AElig edapplications.com, (734) 786-1434, fax: (734) 786-3235
> 
>