The 'Net Belongs To Us

The latest from John Edwards...

When MoveOn and The Christian Coalition agree about something, it's a good bet they're right. Groups as wide-ranging as Gun Owners of America on one side and U.S. PIRG and the One America Committee on the other are fighting to keep the Internet the way it is now - free and open to anyone with access to a computer.

Today, everyone in the world can communicate through the Internet on an equal basis. A small-time programmer like Pierre Omidyar can start an auction site out of his home office and turn it into eBay. A blogger like Josh Marshall can post his opinions on Talking Points Memo and end up attracting more readers than the country's biggest newspapers.

On the Internet, big corporations are on equal footing with everyday people. And it needs to stay that way.

Right now, special interests are pushing bills through Congress that would divide the Internet in two. Corporate deals would determine which web sites would run incredibly fast and which ones would barely run at all. Some users might not be able to access sites operated by regular people.

I don't want Internet service providers to decide which web sites I can look at. And I know you don't either.

The House of Representatives is expected to vote on "Net Neutrality" on June 8th. Please help keep the Internet free and open to everyone by signing this petition to Congress.

Sign the petition now.

Some people fear that creating two tiers of the Internet could allow service providers to shut down web sites whose politics they didn't like. But even if they didn't discriminate based on content, the access fees could marginalize smaller and poorer players.

This is the completely wrong direction. We should be making the Internet more accessible, not less. We should be working to connect rural areas, schools in poor neighborhoods and other areas where people have not yet benefited from access to innovation and technology.

I need you to sign this petition before Congress votes on a telecommunications bill on June 8th. That bill needs to contain provisions that protect the fundamental Internet principle of Net Neutrality.

The companies that want to charge for the Internet are running a slick public relations campaign to make themselves look like a grassroots operation. That's why the folks on our side need to wage a real - and overwhelming - grassroots effort to make sure Congress understands that Americans want to keep the Internet the way it is - free and open to everyone.

As a member of our online community, you understand the critical role of the Internet in promoting free speech and the exchange of ideas. Hearing from you through the help of technology - podcasts, blogs, emails - helps me learn what's important to you and make decisions about where the country should be headed.

I hope you will take a moment to stand up for Net Neutrality.

Sign the petition now.

Thank you for taking action.

Your friend,

John

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