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according to savetheinternet.com, Hands Off The Internet is an astroturf group set up by the telephone and cable companies, so Mike McCurry from the opposing viewpoint is just a corporate shill.

And CNN is publishing industry press releases as news, but hey, what's new?

Notice no disclosure that he's completely freaking paid for by the telecom industry, who do you think Public Strategies' clients are? And "Hands off the Internet"? That's an astro-turf campaign, noticed the crappy wanna-be underground looking propaganda that's been popping up on blog-ads, that's them. More info at DailyKos.

Editor's note: Mike McCurry is a partner at Public Strategies Washington Inc. where he provides strategic communications counsel. He is a co-chairman of Hands off the Internet, a coalition of telecommunication-related businesses. McCurry served as press secretary to President Bill Clinton from 1995 until 1998.

More coverage by kos, john marshall, la times, matt stoller.

This is just like the telcos claims over open access. Every regional telco has been granted monopoly status for years, we the users paid for that infrastructure, and we'll use the same model in the future if need be. These claims of eminent domain are horseshit distractions. They were when they strangled and drowned the CLECs and they are now as they try to do to the Internet what the cell companies have done to wireless. I don't use my phone other than to talk, data services currently lack value over the cell networks in the existing price structure. They want to impose the same pricing structure possibilities on their segments of the Internet. Just like access to the copper, they want you to pay for what you've already paid for. Mike McCurry is getting paid to help these people steal from you; for this payment, he's trying to convince you that being stolen from is in your best interest.

These assholes will kill the goose that laid the golden egg if allowed. Support Save the Internet, don't let them do it.

Stop them cause Mike McCurry is a Jeff Gannon-wannabe manwhore.

Try this site. I found out a load of useful information there.

"Also, can someone clearly list some bullet points of how this will ultimately affect the end user?

did you RTFA? It's pretty clear, otherwise Save The Internet dumbs it down for ya a bit.

...as being part of the pro-net-neutrality coalition. See:

http://www.savetheinternet.com/=members

Yet a number of posts have claimed they are. Can anyone provide a reference about these orgs' official positions?

(Note: "EFF-Austin" is not the same as the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation.)

FWIW, I'm with Bram on this issue.

Government regulatory involvement will only increase the chance of either censorship or value-destroying inflexible rules down the road. We got this far without government restrictions on the shape of bandwidth and quality-of-service commercial arrangements -- and there are as yet no actual (as opposed to theoretical-in-some-darkly-imagined-future) victims of non-neutral network practices. So the "we must regulate now to save the internet!" position looks like irrational histrionics to me.

Check out Savetheinternet.com.

Grass roots campaign for the Net Neutrality bill. They have been helping out by giving information to people on how to contact their reps and so on.

Heck even Moby supports them.

To quote Save The Internet Approaching the situation through a slightly different lens, AT&T's path back to Ma Bell status involved the conglomeration of SBC, Ameritech, PacBell, SNET, and AT&T Wireless, at a cost of roughly $140 billion. In the process, their market capitalization increased only $40 billion. Ironically, the $100 billion that disappeared is roughly what it would cost to run fiber to every American household.

Check out Internet Freedom

Look who is on board with this (excerpted from http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/)

"Since we launched in late April, more than 700 groups spanning the political spectrum have joined the SavetheInternet.com Coalition, including MoveOn.org, the Christian Coalition, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Gun Owners of America, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the American Library Association, and Craig Newmark of Craigslist."

And in another place:

"A grassroots effort led by the "Save the Internet" Coalition (www.savetheinternet.com) includes nearly 700 organizations, from small community groups to large national organizations. Banded together in this coalition are the Gun Owners of America, Feminist Majority, Parents Television Council, American Library Association, Consumers Union, and Educause. Network Neutrality is also supported by AARP, the ACLU, the Christian Coalition and the National Religious Broadcasters."

If you can get the ACLU *AND* the Christian Coalition, MoveOn.org *AND* the Gun Owners of America to agree on something, along with 750,000 signatures, I guess you can actually get Congress to listen to you :-) Didn't this happen with the Do Not Call list, after Dave Barry helped Slashdot the phones for the Direct Marketing Association, too?

I didnt see if this was posted in the thread, but: http://savetheinternet.com/blog/ And to those too lazy to read: The "Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2006 was passed by a bipartisan majority in the House Judiciary committee, so good news...Just a little, but its still good news

The broad, nonpartisan movement for Internet freedom notched a major victory today, when a bipartisan majority of the House Judiciary Committee passed the "Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2006 -- a bill that offers meaningful protections for Network Neutrality, "the First Amendment of the Internet."

20 members of the Commitee (6 Republicans and 14 Democrats) voted for the bipartisan Bill, and only 13 against.

well... There is always the save the internet campaign:

http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/2006/05/25/big -vote-today-call-congress-right-now/

Even lists numbers of congress critters on the committee you can call, but I think they are already in voting session if they haven't already finished.

What makes you think that this isn't limited by corporations in one form or another? Think about the COPE act... Evil commies trying to enforce network neutrality and not allowing poor cable companies to make money. Isn't that censorship? What about all the family values bullshit that is enforced onto media? Isn't that censorship? Why should the the makers of GTA be resposible for a 3rd party patch that adds some stupid pixels characters having sex? Of course, I am not saying that the amount of censorship in the USA is anywhere close to China, but don't be deluded by America's freedom of speech, it is resticted. You could probably ban non white people from TV under the pretext of 'It's for the children!'

Some food for thought:

http://www.savetheinternet.com/

http://www.handsofftheinternet.com/

They aren't interested in Google, Yahoo, or Microsoft. This massive lobbying is the result of only one thing: VoIP. VoIP has freed people and businesses from being tied to the circuit-switched network that is the core source of revenue for many telcoms. AT&T, Verizon, and the other players desperately want to tilt the playing field back into their favor. VoIP startups have been popping out of the woodwork over the past two years. At the very least, Ma Bell wants to slow down the growth of these nimble companies by charging tarrifs, which get passed onto customers and lessen the biggest incentive to switch to VoIP: cost savings.

Cable companies now are simply jumping on the bandwagon. Which, if you notice, seems to coincide with the rollout of their own VoIP services.

Last December I founded a small-business VoIP company myself. So I've been following this issue very closely; it's the only time I've ever contacted a federal representative in my life. However, this is bigger than simply a slower Google or putting me out of business. It's about real jobs and real innovation being extinguished.

Please read a recent blog entry of mine to put a face with this imporant issue. Or, even better learn what you can do to help.

According to http://www.savetheinternet.com/, it has already happened with Canada's version of AT&T blocking access to the Telecommunications Workers Union.

FreePress.net isn't very optimistic either.

See:
http://www.twu-canada.ca/cgi-bin/news/fullnews.cgi ?newsid1122447600,4516, http://www.freepress.net/news/13604

http://www.savetheinternet.com/

You can look up how your representative voted, and they provide phone numbers to their offices so you can thank them or berate them (depending how they voted).

Please, people, pick up the phones. I'm calling during my lunch break to chew out the asshole I voted for for not supporting net neutrality.

Once they Tel&CableCos can charge for tiers, then they will bill the muni-wireless, and other wireless carriers, prohibitive fees for use of the wireless network's "on and off" ramps to the wired and Tel&CableCos monopoly controled TCP/IP internet! There is no way that anyone should support the Tel&CableCos requests for power. The only way they can gain this power is by gift of a corrupt and dishonest congress!

This action by the Tel&CableCos goes well beyond the obvious. For example: when they say they will need to charge Google for content? Well, FYI - Google is buying large amounts of dark fiber to build their own national internet backbone to put in local sub-nets in order to provide for a local advertising search ability! And they still need to connect to the Tel&CableCos controled internet at some point or place! The Tel&CableCos will want to charge Google, or anyone else building a 2nd major back-bone, or little wireless or wired sub-nets via their own ISP business plans, in order to access the major Tel&CableCos customers and their own backbones to the internet! Access points of control are key to the part of the internet! The Tel&CableCos via their extensive, and subscriber supported, "back-bone" will treat not only multi-media volume traffic with fees... but they will not hesitate to use their virtual and thus moveable TOLL BOOTHs in order to control and restrict any traffic that they want! And thus they will be able to declare an ownership interest of all traffic that thus travels the internet, because at some point it has to travel through their gateway. Ca-ching, Ca-ching, and if you don't pay, then you can't play!

Guess who owns the yellow pages books in your Telephone Directory book that most likely sits very close by to your TelCo "land line phone" right now? Is it a threat to their yellow pages revenue if google does pull off this dark fiber connected backbone plan of theirs that will enable national and local ad placement search tools to allow for easier local search by internet users looking for local retail offerings and services? If Google does this, then will businesses buy yellow page ads (or will they buy google local ads)? Hey even the local ISP or newspaper could put build a local server and do the same local network ad search as well! This all competes with the phone companies and their monopoly of yellow pages. They hate that!

The phone company has had a monopoly on yellow pages and a monopoly on local telephone service, for a long time because they owned the wires! They now want ownership of TCP/IP traffic because it threatens their multiples of long held local monopolies and they HATE competition.

The Tel&CableCos are very much wanting to think of the internet as a super highway that they own and control, and can charge what they want to charge for (at the on ramps, the off ramps, the consumer ramps, the content creator ramps, etc...), and they want to have a toll booth at every RAMP that looks like an on or an off ramp to that highway (Hollywood, Google, Yahoo, the local sewing club, the NRA, you name it and the Tel&CableCos will want to have them paying again for access to "the TelCableCos" superhighway).

The Tel&CableCos need to be stopped now. And whoever is in office that supports this wild gold field mass claims jumping by virtue of paying off congress, well this nonsense NEEDS TO BE STOPPED NOW.

This is starting to look as obvious as a huge infected Zit that has turned into a coin size infection on the forhead of a co-worker... no matter how much they try to hide the ugly fact, it just is too full of white gooy dripping stuff to hide it for too long. If Congress does not wake up and see what is happening, then their is only one reason... they got paid off!

For more news and help on contacting your representative..
go to http://www.savetheinternet.com/ and please don't delay.

This is not a political sides issue... it is a next 100 years issue, the next generation issue, and more, it is about freedom!

http://www.savetheinternet.com/=map

http://www.savetheinternet.com/

This movement *against* the congress giving a deed of "ownership of the internet" over to the Telcos and CableCos, is beyond the economic, the political, and the international boundries of old at this point.

There are fundamental moral questions on the table about to become law at this point in history: Should we sell our freedom to these monopolist minded Telcos, CableCos, and their breed or brood? Or... Should the Internet be free?

IS A FREE INTERNET WORTH FIGHTING FOR?

The problem seems to boil down to one question.

#1 - Who in Congess has been bought off (bribed) by the Telcos and CableCos?

see the list of members:
http://www.savetheinternet.com/=coalition ...this listing of members (growing larger every day) covers interests from all ends of the spectum of reality and unreality?

I am waiting for some "Fan Club of Star Trek" to sign up as supporting members of SavetheInternet.com, and endorse *Net Neutral* as well.

When is NASA going to join http://www.savetheinternet/ as well?
Hey - The intergallitic interested might want to be for Net Neutral and against the selling off of the internet to the Telcos and CableCos, as well (NASA) as when we move to exploring beyond and living out in space, the internet should still be free!

The Telcos and the CableCos, they want exclusive fee charging and taxation ability, aka 100% control, over all multi-media that travels the internet! They can't create content themselves so they want a cut of everyone elses! The entertainment value of the internet connection that they charge the user for now IS 100% FREE CONTENT NOW... and they profit by that content! The Cable Industry pays for CNN, ESPN, and other programming content, and FOX NEWS now wants $1.00 per month per subscriber for the CableCos to use their content! TODAY - they collect money from all the web site time and effort created content that travels the internet and they pay nothing for that content! BUT they happily collect their monthly fees from their customers! Now they want to charge the content creators and web sites for content that is free for them to provide to their customers? Something is very upside down with that math?

The true fear of the Telcos and CableCos, and we should fear them at this point, is that they might, once they got the deed to the internet, and the control that comes with it, they might say that ALL free multi-media, and all free and legal P2P, since it is not profitable, then this FREE USE (that they charge their customers for each month anyway) is no longer allowed. Once they got the control then what is to stop them from just deciding to do this?

The Telcos and CableCos should not be allowed one inch of ownership of the interent, because once they have that inch, nothing will be able to prevent them from taking the next mile!

Where is NASA, and the industry that supports space exploration, on this issue... one would think that once we start to travel and live in space that the internet should still live in freedom there as well?

Once the Telcos and CableCos get this right from Congress there is no way to reverse the damage.

http://www.savetheinternet.com/

This movement *against* the congress giving a deed of "ownership of the internet" over to the Telcos and CableCos, is beyond the economic, the political, and the international boundries of old at this point.

There are fundamental moral questions on the table about to become law at this point in history: Should we sell our freedom to these monopolist minded Telcos, CableCos, and their breed or brood? Or... Should the Internet be free?

IS A FREE INTERNET WORTH FIGHTING FOR?

The problem seems to boil down to one question.

#1 - Who in Congess has been bought off (bribed) by the Telcos and CableCos?

see the list of members:
http://www.savetheinternet.com/=coalition ...this listing of members (growing larger every day) covers interests from all ends of the spectum of reality and unreality?

I am waiting for some "Fan Club of Star Trek" to sign up as supporting members of SavetheInternet.com, and endorse *Net Neutral* as well.

When is NASA going to join http://www.savetheinternet/ as well?
Hey - The intergallitic interested might want to be for Net Neutral and against the selling off of the internet to the Telcos and CableCos, as well (NASA) as when we move to exploring beyond and living out in space, the internet should still be free!

The Telcos and the CableCos, they want exclusive fee charging and taxation ability, aka 100% control, over all multi-media that travels the internet! They can't create content themselves so they want a cut of everyone elses! The entertainment value of the internet connection that they charge the user for now IS 100% FREE CONTENT NOW... and they profit by that content! The Cable Industry pays for CNN, ESPN, and other programming content, and FOX NEWS now wants $1.00 per month per subscriber for the CableCos to use their content! TODAY - they collect money from all the web site time and effort created content that travels the internet and they pay nothing for that content! BUT they happily collect their monthly fees from their customers! Now they want to charge the content creators and web sites for content that is free for them to provide to their customers? Something is very upside down with that math?

The true fear of the Telcos and CableCos, and we should fear them at this point, is that they might, once they got the deed to the internet, and the control that comes with it, they might say that ALL free multi-media, and all free and legal P2P, since it is not profitable, then this FREE USE (that they charge their customers for each month anyway) is no longer allowed. Once they got the control then what is to stop them from just deciding to do this?

The Telcos and CableCos should not be allowed one inch of ownership of the interent, because once they have that inch, nothing will be able to prevent them from taking the next mile!

Where is NASA, and the industry that supports space exploration, on this issue... one would think that once we start to travel and live in space that the internet should still live in freedom there as well?

Once the Telcos and CableCos get this right from Congress there is no way to reverse the damage.

There are both Dems and Republicans who sided on the dark side of this issue (voting against Net Neutral)! Both are wrong. The interent was created to NOT BE OWNED BY ANYONE COMANY! If the Telcos and Cable companies want to own and internet then let them create their own (and guess what, no one would use it, and that is why they want to own ours)!

For the facts: go to http://www.savetheinternet.com/

The Telcos and Cable Companies are the Freeloaders and Theives, wanting to step in and take over all control of the internet and TCP/IP for themselves!

The coalition against the Telcos is wide, and strong, and is both from the liberal and conservative end of the political spectrum. The only ones who really want this are the Telcos, the Cable providers, and their lobby firms, AND who they have paid off in Washington.

http://www.savetheinternet.com/

Coalition Sounds Off on Net Neutrality Legislation - 04.24.06
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1953085,00.as p

"Vint Cerf, so-called "father" of the Internet, is among the big names and organizations that have come together to create the SavetheInternet.com Coalition, which hosted a national conference call today.

Other members of the Coalition include Gun Owners of America, Craigslist.com, Public Knowledge, MoveOn.org, the American Library Association, Afro-Netizen.com, the Consumer Federation of America, the Consumers Union, and Free Press." ...and since this is an "old" article - more have signed on since it was published.

Call to all geeks... "if you are a geek, then do something about it"!
March on Washington. "We want freedom, kick them out"!

I found the vote tally, but not on any .gov - I had to google for it. That link also contains the office phone numbers for every committee member - not that changing their minds will help at this point, but a scolding could be in order.

Americans should probably look this list over and see if their rep is on it. Mine is not. The vote was pretty much along party lines, with 5 Dems crossing over and voting against the Markey amendment (Gonzalez - TX, Green - TX, Rush - IL, Towns - NY, Wynn - MD), and only 1 Republican voting for it (Wilson - NM)

what?

The whole reason the Internet has been the way it has is because of the FCC regulation.

This got voted down....THIS IS BAD.

Companies like Barnes and Noble would have the cash to have their page served to you fast, while your local library would run slower then a 56k modem. (Analogy from http://www.savetheinternet.com/ This creates a Walmart effect!