[internetworkers] Internet freedom/ Net Neutrality ALERT

christian stalberg cstalberg at web-analysts.net
Thu Jul 15 11:02:00 EDT 2010


http://main-fm.org/2010/07/09/help-save-the-internet-deadline-is-july-15/
MAIN-FM 103.5 LP


A broadcast service of the  <http://main.nc.us/> Mountain Area Information
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 <http://main-fm.org/2010/07/09/help-save-the-internet-deadline-is-july-15/>
Help Save the Internet! Deadline is July 15


Here's what you can do! The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is
poised to restore protections
<http://main.nc.us/who-will-control/fccauthorityfile.pdf>  for the Internet
to keep it open for grassroots innovation and democratic communications.
These protections are known as "net neutrality."

This is not a partisan issue.  Supporters of "net neutrality" include the
Christian  <http://www.cc.org/blog/net_neutrality_not_some_marxist_plot>
Coalition, National  <http://nrb.org/index.php?cID=542> Religious
Broadcasters, and Gunowners of America <http://gunowners.org/op0618.htm> .

With a pass from corporate media, the cable and telephone companies have
quietly consolidated their control over the Internet in recent years. How
this happened is outlined in my column,
<http://www.dailyyonder.com/speak-your-piece-time-broadband-now/2010/06/28/2
817> "The Battle for Broadband." Additional background is available in my
July 1 presentation, <http://main.nc.us/spotlights/wwcti-presentation.pdf>
"Who Will Control the Internet in the 21
<http://main.nc.us/spotlights/wwcti-presentation.pdf> st-Century?
<http://main.nc.us/spotlights/wwcti-presentation.pdf> " The video of this
presentation will be available soon.

You can help win this battle! The FCC has set a July 15 deadline for public
comment on a modest
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-298861A1.pdf>
proposal to restore its authority over broadband. A legal challenge by
Comcast has cast doubt on this authority. (Imagine BP or Goldman Sachs suing
to emasculate their federal watchdog agencies!)

The FCC must assemble a compelling public-comment record showing widespread
support for open Internet rules and protections.

Without this support, it's possible that the FCC - under ferocious attack by
cable-telco lobbyists and  <http://corruptionroad.freepress.net/>
"astro-turf" groups - could get cold feet and back away from this goal as
the November elections approach.

To facilitate your public comment, following are five suggested talking
points:

1. We need an FCC with strong enforcement authority to ensure broadband
rules and protections for a fair and open Internet.

2. As we have seen on Wall Street and in the Gulf of Mexico, free
<http://policyintegrity.org/what-we-do/update/economists-write-fcc-to-rebut-
statement-from-74-members-of-congress/> markets do NOT work without fair,
clear and enforceable rules.

3. We need a strong FCC to ensure the implementation of the National
Broadband Plan (NBP) <http://www.broadband.gov/> , which Congress ordered
the FCC to publish earlier this year.

4. The NBP includes strategies for solving the broadband crisis in rural and
other underserved communities. With little or no authority over broadband,
the FCC will be powerless to implement these strategies.

5. One of these strategies is support for community
<http://www.dailyyonder.com/speak-your-piece-let-local-networks-deliver-broa
dband/2009/01/27/1878> broadband networks. Tell the FCC that rural and
underserved communities prefer self-reliance over dependency on
absentee-owned networks, whose Wall Street business models do not work in
these communities.

With your help, this is one battle against the big corporations we can win!

You can file your public comment at one of these three FCC sites:

1.  <http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/upload/display?z=dwleo>
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/ 2.
<http://blog.broadband.gov/?categoryId=494971>
http://blog.broadband.gov/?categoryId=494971

3. http://broadband.ideascale.com/a/ideafactory.do?discussionID=11271

All public-comment filings should refer to GN Docket No. 10-127.

If you are a business owner or nonprofit leader, please join the hundreds of
other small businesses and nonprofits who have signed onto this letter
<https://secure.freepress.net/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=4
47>  to the FCC.

Remember:   The deadline for public comment is Thursday, July 15 at
midnight!

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