Net Neutrality and Telecoms

The Telecom giants just do not understand the powerful influence that bloggers have. And, the Telecom giants have become comfortable with violating the law by limiting access to the Internet. The Telecom giants have an arrogance about them that makes one wonder if they really understand the fundamental basis of free speech.

For bloggers, any limitation on free speech would be disastrous. So, it is time for bloggers to rise up and make Net Neutrality a presidential campaign issue this year. The following is a blog from Save The Internet.

Cable giant Comcast has become the poster child for Net Neutrality — with actions to block user traffic that make a clear-cut case for Internet protections. Today, SavetheInternet.com members and legal scholars took this case to the Federal Communications Commission. We filed an official action urging the agency to stop the cable giant from meddling with your ability to connect and share information.

The company recently gave us a glimpse of a world without Net Neutrality. In the “most drastic example yet of data discrimination,” the Associated Press exposed that Comcast was actively interfering with its users’ ability to access legal content and share it with one another. Despite mounting evidence that Comcast is crippling peer-to-peer communication, the company’s spokespeople have thumbed their noses at the public and the press — refusing to admit that the blocking of connections is underhanded or in any way threatens the free flow of information that’s become the hallmark of an open Internet.

Good News

Good news for bloggers. It appears that Washington is now aware they must acknowledge that bloggers have free speech rights. In addition, pressure is being applied by bloggers to hold telecom giants accountable for breaking the law and purging bloggers off the Internet. The following if from Electronic Frontier Foundation.

When it comes to putting the pressure on the Senate to stand against retroactive immunity for telecom lawbreakers, bloggers have taken a vital lead. They helped inspire Chris Dodd to pledge a hold on any Senate bill that contains an amnesty, and prompted Barack Obama's recent unequivocal opposition to immunity.

These key bloggers have joined together to send a letter to Harry Reid, urging him to honor Sen. Dodd's hold and stop the immunity legislation currently moving through the Senate. The full letter is at www.noretroactiveimmunity.com. You can add you own name to the letter there (and join EFF, the ACLU, Working Assets and many prominent figures in the Democratic netroots.) And don't forget to visit Stop The Spying to call your representatives and urge them to use their vote to oppose telecom immunity in Congress.

Free Speech

There is a movement to use child protection to stifle free speech. Even though child protection advocates have a good argument in proposing controls on internet content, free speech advocates have a better argument. Namely, when the government starts controlling internet content and the blogosphere our free speech rights are in danger. The following is a news brief.

Brief Filed Challenging COPA on Free Speech Grounds - Today the Center for Democracy & Technology filed a "friend of the court" brief in federal appeals court challenging the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) as a violation of the First Amendment. The amicus brief, submitted to the Third Circuit on behalf of CDT and 17 other groups, argued that COPA places unconstitutional burdens on producers and distributors of Web content. Other strategies are more effective than COPA at protecting children from inappropriate online content, and also impose fewer restrictions on lawful adult speech — in particular, technological parental controls such as Internet filtering software and non-technological tools such as youth education. Amici included organizations that represent corporate leaders in the Internet industry; publishers, distributors and retailers of books and other content; libraries and librarians; newspapers, editors and journalists; and public interest organizations that uphold civil liberties and advocate for a free and open Internet. October 29, 2007