Net Neutrality 10-25-2006

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Net Neutrality Vital to Creative Artists, CV Tells FCC

. . . What is at stake here is nothing less than the future of the Internet, and whether the future Internet will be open or closed to independent and diverse voices and viewpoints. Not just creative voices – all voices. Will consumers retain the freedom to access any website, as they could when government policies were in place that ensured nondiscriminatory access, or will they be restricted to visiting sites approved by – or in business with – the “gatekeeper” that provides high speed Internet access? As creative media artists, we’ve seen this closed business model now being proposed for the Internet take over both broadcast television and cable television. Been there, done that, and seen that it is extremely harmful to diversity, creativity, and free expression. Let’s keep the Internet a real “level playing field.”

The market power of the proposed combined company over Internet content and services, along with recent regulatory and legislative developments, requires that the Commission attach substantial and enforceable conditions to its approval of the transaction to ensure that the Internet remains that real “level playing field.” The companies’ offer to abide by the FCC’s Broadband Policy Statement for a period of 30 months is not merely insufficient; it thumbs its nose at the American public and this Commission. By definition, approval of this transaction cannot be in the “public interest” if the combined company retains the right to ignore and violate after just 30 months the public interest in net neutrality, as expressed in the Commission’s Policy Statement. . . .

Want to know what you can do?
MA Bell Monopoly Versus the Free Internet — Tell the FCC Net Neutrality Is Not Negotiable

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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