Why We Need S 2917 and HR 5417

S 2917 and HR 5417 are Senate and House bills to protect Internet neutrality.


Below is a partial quote from a letter I recieved from Meg Whitman, President and CEO of eBay,

Right now, the telephone and cable companies in control of Internet access are trying to use their enormous political muscle to dramatically change the Internet. It might be hard to believe, but lawmakers in Washington are seriously debating whether consumers should be free to use the Internet as they want in the future.

The phone and cable companies now control more than 95% of all Internet access. These large corporations are spending millions of dollars to promote legislation that would divide the Internet into a two-tiered system.

The top tier would be a "Pay-to-Play" high-speed toll-road restricted to only the largest companies that can afford to pay high fees for preferential access to the Net.

The bottom tier -- the slow lane -- would be what is left for everyone else. If the fast lane is the information "super-highway," the slow lane will operate more like a dirt road.

Today's Internet is an incredible open marketplace for goods, services, information and ideas. We can't give that up. A two lane system will restrict innovation because start-ups and small companies -- the companies that can't afford the high fees -- will be unable to succeed, and we'll lose out on the jobs, creativity and inspiration that come with them.

I believe strongly in Internet neutrality and urge your support of these two bills.

Regrettably, without network neutrality legislation, the Internet is likely to become a two-tiered system - where those who can pay a tax to have access to consumers will have access to a fast lane and the rest will crawl along in the slow lane. Innovation on the Internet will suffer, consumer choices will decrease, and entrepreneurship will diminish.

As a conservative and Republican, I am a huge supporter of entrepreneurship, without it this country would not be what it is today.

You can send a letter to your Senator and Representative by using this service or you can copy and paste their sample letters and mail them a hard copy.

Either way, I urge you to do it today, after all, where would our blogs be placed on a two-tier system? Most assuradly on the dirt road, not the super highway.