Fight for the Future - Net Neutrality

Repost from FFTF:

Guys!

Our protests last week WORKED!

After months of intense public pressure, the second largest online protest in history, and millions of emails and phone calls, President Obama just released an incredibly strong statement calling for the FCC to protect net neutrality using full Title II reclassification. [1]

Yeah, you heard us right. The President of the United States just endorsed our position.

Will you chip in $10 today to help us win more victories like this?

This is game-changing. We’ve been hearing for weeks from our allies in DC that the only thing that could stop FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler from moving ahead with his sham proposal to gut net neutrality was if we could get the President to step in. So we did everything in our power to make that happen. We took the gloves off and played hard, and now we get to celebrate a sweet victory.

With your help, we organized nationwide emergency protests in 30 cities last week, and with just a few days notice we turned out more than 100 people in front of the White House for a spirited rally, capturing media headlines. [2] This is the power of the Internet! With a tiny budget and just a few staff, we are giving some of the wealthiest and most powerful corporate monopolies in the world a run for their money.

We’re closer than ever to winning the fight for REAL net neutrality once and for all, but we need to spend all of our time in the coming weeks organizing -- not fundraising.

Can you help? Please chip in $10 to fund the fight, so we can focus on winning!

Today’s statement from the President changes everything, but this fight isn’t over yet. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler responded quickly, claiming he needs more time, and implying he might have to push back the FCC’s expected December 11th vote.

Those are stalling tactics. The FCC has had plenty of time to discuss the various options available to them. We need to refocus our campaign on the FCC to make sure that Wheeler – a former Cable lobbyist – doesn’t delay the vote in a last ditch attempt to sneak through rules that his buddies at Comcast and Verizon can live with. Time is of the essence.

We’re all in on this fight and we’ve proven that we can win it. We’ve got major strategic plans for this week including more protests on Thursday (info coming soon!)

Please chip in $10 (or more!) to help us win net neutrality once and for all. And really, if you can donate more, please do. You know we’ll use it well.

We’re so close! I am so personally proud of every single person on this list. Whether you can make a donation today or not, we LOVE you and are honored to be in this fight with you.

Thanks for all you do,

-Evan, Tiffiniy, Holmes, Kevin, Jeff, and Jessica

Fight for the Future

P.S. It’s crucial that we ratchet up the pressure on Tom Wheeler and the FCC now, and this morning our friends at PopularResistance.org pulled off an amazing action that does just that. At 6:55am they blockaded Tom Wheeler’s driveway just as he was getting into his car. After a while walked down the street, presumably to take public transit to work. Talk about a slow lane.

P.P.S. If you watch the Obama statement closely, you’ll see many moments where he incorporates the memes and talking points we’ve built, together, as part of battleforthenet.com campaign, from the “buffering” joke at the beginning to the way he talks about this as cable companies vs. the public. Obama’s statement has this movement’s fingerprints all over it, and it wouldn’t have happened without our work together. We’re proud. You should be too. I can’t think of a better time to make your first donation to this movement.

1. “Net Neutrality: President Obama's Plan for a Free and Open Internet” http://www.whitehouse.gov/net-neutrality
2. “Breaking: Emergency Protests” https://www.battleforthenet.com/#protest

Repost - Fight for the Future! Net Neutrality Affects Us All.

If you use the internet, read/send emails, have a website, use social media, read online articles, research, look at pictures online - if you do any of that - this affects you. If the net stopped being neutral most of the small businesses based on a website would be starved out.

Hey,

I just wanted to make sure you saw this email? There's good news! Thanks in part to the response we helped generate, the FCC has extended the deadline to receive comments about Comcast's attempted internet takeover until October 29th.

50,000 people have taken action already. The FCC will be surprised by this kind of response to a merger question, but the deck is stacked against us so we need to go all out. Can we count on you to help us get to 100,000 comments by the end of this week?
Click here to submit a comment to the FCC opposing the Comcast merger that would dismantle Internet freedom.

Read the email below for more background, and please forward this to your friends and family. It affects all of us!

Sincerely,
-Tiffiniy from FFTF

Dear Fight for the Future member,

Urgent: there are just a few days left to stop Comcast from taking over Time Warner Cable and signing a death sentence for net neutrality. Click here to take action now.

This one really requires no explanation. The most hated company in the US is trying to take over the second most hated company in the US, in a move that would raise our cable and Internet bills, stifle online free speech, and make them one of the most powerful lobbies in history. [1]

This merger is bad for EVERYONE, and there is tons of opposition, even from within the FCC. We have a real chance at stopping this but we have to act quickly. [2]

The deadline is next week! Click here to stop Comcast in its tracks.

Comcast is already the largest and most powerful opponent of net neutrality, online privacy, and Internet freedom. They’ve been caught several times abusing their “gatekeeper” power as an Internet provider to further their own interests. [3] If the FCC lets Comcast forcibly absorb Time Warner Cable -- the second largest Internet provider in the U.S. -- they will control access to information in nearly 6 of 10 people’s homes (more if you're only counting truly high speed Internet). [4]

Millions of you have sent comments to the FCC in support of net neutrality. We’re asking for your help again because if this merger goes through, Comcast gets even more powerful -- in the marketplace, online, and in Washington, DC. If we don’t stop this takeover right now, we'll be fighting an uphill battle on net neutrality and online free speech for years to come.

Will you sign? Click here to submit a comment opposing the Comcast merger.After you sign, please forward this email to everyone you know and share the petition on social media.

Here’s the link one last time: http://www.battleforthenet.com/comcast?org=fff 

Thanks for all that you do,

-Tiffiniy Cheng

Fight for the Future

SOURCES:

1. Brad Reed. "Massive survey finds Comcast and TWC are the two most hated companies in America – period". BGR.http://bgr.com/2014/05/20/comcast-twc-customer-satisfaction-survey-study/
2. Brendan Sasso. “FCC Chief: Cable Companies Are Wrong About Internet Competition”. National Journal.http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/fcc-chief-comcast-is-wrong-about-internet-competition-20140904
3. Cecilia Kang. “Comcast, Time Warner Cable merger faces a grilling in Washington this week”. Washington Post.http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/04/08/comcast-time-warner-cable-merger-faces-a-grilling-in-washington-this-week/
4. S. Derek Turner and Matt Wood. “Petition to deny free press”. Free Press.http://www.freepress.net/sites/default/files/resources/Free%20Press_14-57_Petition%20to%20Deny_Final.pdf

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* Keep us fighting, chip in what you can.

Net Neutrality - Submit your Comments to the FCC

Friends-

I just submitted a comment to the Federal Communications Commission in support of Net Neutrality. We only have a few hours left to stand up for Net Neutrality before the FCC's current comment period closes.

The important email below is from the groups behind the new Battle for the Net website -- it explains how you can take action too.

Please read on and join me in taking a stand!

Just a few hours to go. That’s how long we have to get pro-Net Neutrality comments submitted to the FCC in front of their first comment period deadline — and save the Internet from the clutches of Comcast, Time Warner, and their ilk.

Let’s make our power clear, by submitting more comments than the FCC’s ever seen before.

Click here to visit our brand new website and send the FCC a formal comment demanding support for Net Neutrality. It’ll only take a minute:

https://www.battleforthenet.com

We're in a battle to for the Internet as we know it. Net Neutrality guarantees all websites — start-ups, blogs, independent media — an even playing field. It’s essentially the First Amendment of the Internet.

But the cable companies want to gut Net Neutrality to increase their profits: Without Net Neutrality, those corporations can kill websites by relegating them to slow lanes if they don’t pay fees — or if they just don’t like the content they contain.

Many of you have already signed petitions to the FCC or President Obama — and so have literally millions of others. That’s incredible — and it’s had a huge impact. But now we all need to go one step further and submit formal comments into the FCC’s Net Neutrality proceeding.

It’s really quick and easy, and carries way more weight than the usual petition signature does. You’ll be a formal part of the process.

Click here to submit a formal comment to the FCC before the end of this comment period — it’s over TODAY:

https://www.battleforthenet.com

Originally the FCC was poised to undermine Net Neutrality all together. Because we all pushed back, now they’re considering adopting rules that would save it.

But they’ll only do so if we speak out again, even louder.

We can make a huge statement: We have a chance of submitting more comments than the FCC has ever received on an issue before.

The cable companies have millions of dollars and armies of lobbyists and public relations firms -- and since they own so much of the communications infrastructure, it's especially easy for them to push their propaganda.

But we have millions of people on our side — and our only chance of beating the cable companies is if we all take a stand, together.

Click here to visit our brand new website and send the FCC a formal comment demanding support for Net Neutrality. It’ll only take a minute:

https://www.battleforthenet.com

Thanks!

Senator Marco Rubio's Letter Regarding Net Neutrality

Dear Ms. Tick,

Thank you for contacting me to express your thoughts on the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) attempts to regulate the  Internet,commonly referred to as "net neutrality." I appreciate hearing from you.

Since its inception, the Internet has flourished with minimal government involvement and has revolutionized our ability to communicate and conduct commerce. As an engine of economic growth, it has provided businesses with the ability to compete in the global marketplace. Continued development of the Internet and modern telecommunications, free of government interference, is integral to American innovation.

However, in 2010, the FCC adopted its "Open Internet Order," which would establish federal regulations governing network management practices for broadband Internet service providers. Fortunately, a U.S. appeals court for the District of Columbia Circuit struck down the order citing the Commission's prior decision to classify broadband as an information service. The Communications Act expressly prohibits the FCC from regulating broadband providers under this classification. 

In an effort to circumvent the appeals court decision, on May 15, 2014, the FCC approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) aimed at adopting new rules to replace those struck down by the appeals court. The NPRM also seeks public comment on whether the agency should reclassify broadband as a communications utility under Title II of the Communications Act. The uncertain and misguided authority that comes with reclassifying broadband must be addressed by Congress, not by five unelected bureaucrats at the FCC. That is why updating the outdated Communications Act, which passed in 1996, should be a top priority and would provide clarity to the FCC's role in the modern communications landscape.

If we've learned anything about the Internet over the years, it's the enormous power it has to give people economic opportunity. Please know, as a member of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, I remain committed to ensuring the Internet remains free of burdensome regulations. Thank you again for contacting me with your concerns.  

Sincerely,

Marco Rubio
United States Senator 

Each week I provide a weekly update on issues in Washington and ways in which my office can assist the people of Florida.  Sign up here for updates on my legislative efforts, schedule of events throughout Florida, constituent services and much more.

Net Neutrality - FCC Vote Tomorrow 5/15/14

Friends,

Tomorrow the FCC will begin a process that could either kill or save Net Neutrality. We need to speak up now.

Net Neutrality is what stops powerful Internet corporations like Comcast and Verizon from singlehandedly killing websites by making them impossibly slow.

Time is of the essence. Will you click here to sign Demand Progress's petition to the FCC?

Without Net Neutrality, your local cable company could simply decide the website of a political candidate you support and they don’t will start loading 0.001% as fast as the other candidate’s website, because they can; or heavily disable a political organizing tool online that’s being used to topple dictatorships abroad, or even fighting bank bailouts at home.

Internet service providers could promote content that they own, and undermine content from their competitors. They can shake down start-ups and artists and blogs for fees — and put them out of business if they don’t pay up.

When the FCC meets, we need to make sure they stand up for an Internet that's for everybody -- not just Comcast, Verizon, and the other mega-ISPs.

Add your name here to hold the FCC accountable.

Thanks.

Demand Progress

I signed and donated - will you? If we cannot preserve net neutrality this blog, www.faldp.org and many other sites that are popular but not super stars will go slow you won't have the patience to wait for them to load. That is if you can even find us.

Learn more about Net Neutrality on Save the Internet.