Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

["Christian Stalberg" <cstalberg AT web-analysts.net>]

On 05/28/2010 16:30 Catharine Rice <info AT freepress.net> wrote ..

Hi christian,

We've been on quite a roller coaster this week. A North Carolina Senate finance committee was set to vote on a bill that would make it next to impossible for towns and cities to create their own high-speed Internet networks. Thankfully, the bill was pulled from the agenda.

Well, guess what? The bill is back on, and the vote has been rescheduled for this Tuesday, June 1, at 1 p.m. It's urgent that you call the members of this committee — listed in the e-mail below — and urge them not to vote on this awful piece of legislation.

Pressure from activists like you has made all the difference. Please keep it coming. Thanks so much for all of your help.

Catherine Rice,
Cary, N.C.

Dear christian,

I've been working on broadband issues in North Carolina for years. Recently, I've been encouraged by community efforts to bring high-speed Internet services to the most underserved parts of our state. 

But now a new bill -- pushed by companies like Time Warner Cable and AT&T -- threatens all of the progress we've made.

The so-called "No Nonvoted Local Debt for Competing System" bill (S.1209) would kill local efforts to connect more people across the state. The bill would ban municipal broadband networks that bring fast, affordable Internet services -- and more jobs -- to North Carolina communities that need them the most.

Will you join me in contacting the members of the Senate Finance Committee to tell them to vote no on this bad bill?

Please call or e-mail each member of the committee right away. Tell them: Don’t prevent communities from connecting more of their citizens. Vote NO on the "No Nonvoted Local Debt for Competing System" bill.

Name	Phone	E-mail
Sen. Martin L. Nesbitt, Jr. (Senate majority leader)	(919) 715-3001	Martin.Nesbitt AT ncleg.net
Sen. Daniel Gray Clodfelter (chair)	(919) 715-8331	Daniel.Clodfelter AT ncleg.net
Sen. Larry Shaw (co-chair)	(919) 733-9349	Larry.Shaw AT ncleg.net
Sen. R.C. Soles, Jr.	(919) 733-5963	RC.Soles AT ncleg.net
Sen. Anthony E. Foriest	(919) 301-1446	Tony.Foriest AT ncleg.net
Sen. Margaret H. Dickson	(919) 733-5776	Margaret.Dickson AT ncleg.net
Sen. Charles W. Albertson	(919) 733-5705	Charlie.Albertson AT ncleg.net
Sen. Linda Garrou	(919) 733-5620	Linda.Garrou AT ncleg.net
Sen. Don Vaughan	(919) 733-5856	Don.Vaughan AT ncleg.net
Sen. Charlie Smith Dannelly	(919) 733-5955	Charlie.Dannelly AT ncleg.net
Sen. Steve Goss	(919) 733-5742	Steve.Goss AT ncleg.net
Sen. Jean R. Preston	(919) 733-5706	Jean.Preston AT ncleg.net

The big phone and cable companies like Time Warner Cable and AT&T are working overtime to ram this bill through the state Senate, telling legislators to vote against the public interest and leave the future of the Internet to them, not us.

We can't let that happen. Please call the members of the committee now and tell them: North Carolina communities need the freedom to create their own broadband networks.

Thanks so much,

Catharine Rice 
Cary, N.C. 

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