Protect DU, Fight for Net Neutrality, Act Now!!

[mcscajun]

Net neutrality has been instantiated into law in many countries, including the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Japan. This is NOT the case in the United States, and while historical and customary, it is unprotected and currently under attack by AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast (the usual gang of idiots, corporate-edition).

MoveOn.org, along with other progressive political action websites, has an action page on the fight to preserve Net Neutrality.
Please visit the Moveon.org action page and do what you can.

I'll be looking for other sites where I can add my comments and signature, including direct e-mails to my elected officials, but in the meantime, the following is what I wrote to be added to my signature on the MoveOn.org petition:

The promise of the Internet was access to information all over the world, without the limitations of geography, time or censorship. It is a haven for free speech and free expression, and in some cases, free content. Dreamers thought that "information wants to be free" and that nothing should ever be paid for; we've learned the dreamers were just that. Certainly, some content comes at a cost. We, the users at home and in business, already pay for varying levels of speed of access to all of this. BUT, Content Providers SHOULD NOT HAVE TO "ANTE UP" to get on a fast track to us while others get relegated to the slow lane, where a lack of speed of access may relegate them to oblivion.

AT&T, Verizon, and others should not be able to decide who gets onto this "fast track". I don't want a bidding war to decide what sites I get to see better and faster. Whether I visit Overstock.com vs. eBay, Barnes & Noble vs. Amazon, or DemocraticUnderground.com vs. the New York Times, or am just exploring the endless resources of the Internet for arcane bits of information, I don't expect, nor do I want, corporations to decide who gets to me faster and better. It is enough that each website owner has put investment in their infrastructure to support certain levels of service; how fast we see their sites at home should not be subject to an extra "pay to be seen NOW" charge. All websites should have equal access to us, as we should have equal access to them. Anything else is the death of competition, and risks corporate censorship by fiat.

Net Neutrality is critical to the fulfilling the promise of the Internet as a home for free speech, communication between far-flung people, and access to information, the most vital currency of the 21st Century. Please protect it.

Feel free to copy this and amend it as you think necessary.