Congress is selling out the Internet

Normally I wouldn't post something in any sense political to the list,
but this has the potential to affect those of us in the US who use the
net, and the list is on the net..

[PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY]

Do you buy books online, use Google, or download to an iPod? Everything
we do online will be hurt if Congress passes a radical law next week
that gives giant corporations more control over what we do and see on
the Internet.

Internet providers like AT&T are lobbying Congress hard to gut Network
Neutrality--the Internet's First Amendment and the key to Internet
freedom. Net Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which websites open
most easily for you based on which site pays AT&T more.
BarnesandNoble.com doesn't have to outbid Amazon for the right to work
properly on your computer.

If Net Neutrality is gutted, many sites--including Google, eBay, and
iTunes--must either pay protection money to companies like AT&T or risk
having their websites process slowly. That why these high-tech pioneers,
plus diverse groups ranging from MoveOn to Gun Owners of America, are
opposing Congress' effort to gut Internet freedom.

You can do your part today--can you sign this petition telling your
member of Congress to preserve Internet freedom? Click here:

http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet?track_referer=706%7C571152-Sx7iBQ7NlbcDp5pBcFv0oQ

I signed this petition, along with 250,000 others so far. This petiton
will be delivered to Congress before the House of Representatives votes
next week. When you sign, you'll be kept informed of the next steps we
can take to keep the heat on Congress.

Snopes.com, which monitors various causes that circulate on the
Internet, explained:

    Simply put, network neutrality means that no web site's traffic has
    precedence over any other's...Whether a user searches for recipes
    using Google, reads an article on snopes.com, or looks at a friend's
    MySpace profile, all of that data is treated equally and delivered
    from the originating web site to the user's web browser with the
    same priority. In recent months, however, some of the telephone and
    cable companies that control the telecommunications networks over
    which Internet data flows have floated the idea of creating the
    electronic equivalent of a paid carpool lane.

If companies like AT&T have their way, Web sites ranging from
Google to eBay to iTunes either pay protection money to get into the
"fast lane" or risk opening slowly on your computer. We can't let the
Internet--this incredible medium which has been such a
revolutionary force for democratic participation, economic innovation,
and free speech--become captive to large corporations.

Politicians don't think we are paying attention to this issue. Together,
we do care about preserving the free and open Internet.

Please sign this petition letting your member of Congress know you
support preserving Internet freedom. Click here:

http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet?track_referer=706%7C571152-Sx7iBQ7NlbcDp5pBcFv0oQ

Thanks.

-- 
Keith
 
Keith Krebs
"Just some guy," caretaker of the Multiverse's largest EPSON printer 
User Community (highly recommended by Vogon Poets and MegaDodo 
Publications), at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EPSON_Printers/
and  the Multiverse's largest Canon printer User  Community at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Canon-printers
"For the rest of you out there, the secret is to bang the rocks together 
guys"
 
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