Network Neutrality and the Fight to Save the Internet

Congress is currently engaged in a major overhaul of the Telecommunications Act. On June 8, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006 (COPE). Big telecommunications companies, including AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, and BellSouth (which collectively own 98% of the infrastructure that carries high-speed Internet to us) lobbied aggressively for these measures. In essence, COPE will make it easier and more profitable for them to expand into the digital phone and television markets, and reduces oversight that would otherwise prevent monopolistic or discriminatory practices. A broad coalition has come together to insist that this legislation (also under consideration in the Senate) be amended with a provision that will preserve a key operating principle of the Internet: network neutrality, a.k.a. "the Internet's First Amendment."

Simply put, network neutrality means that the companies who own the network infrastructure cannot differentiate or degrade the way content travels from one party to another. It has been standard operating procedure since the inception of the Internet, and the results of this non-discriminatory policy are plainly visible: we all take for granted that we can view the content of our choice online, at equal speed and ease of access, and rely on that ability to communicate with friends, customers, and constituents in an open environment. This freedom has defined the Internet, making it a unique venue where entrepreneurs, advocacy groups, and independent artists can compete on a level playing field alongside powerful interests.

A broad coalition has come together to insist that Congress act now to preserve network neutrality. The Save the Internet campaign has gathered 1 million signatures and brought together more than 800 organizations, including technology companies (Google, Amazon, Ebay, and others), non-profit groups including NCAC partner organizations the ACLU, the ALA, and the Writers Guild, as well as academic institutions like Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. We urge you to visit their website and get involved.
 

Background

Read about the threat, the opposition and the solution for preserving net neutrality.

• Technology blogger John Sundman offers an excellent "Net Neutrality Primer"
• The Consumers Union on the benefits of network neutrality
• Trevor Roycroft breaks down the industry's economic arguments
• The Annenberg Center for Communication has Released "Principles of Network Neutrality"
   

• Common Cause has collected dozens of op-eds from newspapers around the country weighing in on net neutrality
• An Interview with Robert McChesney, co-founder of Free Press, on Democracy Now!
• "War on the Web" by Robert B. Reich, for TomPaine.com