Support for S215--Net Neutrality

To Pennsylvania US Senators Robert Casey and Arlen Specter:

The undersigned Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, residents are writing to urge your support for S-215, the Internet Freedom and Protection Act, co-sponsored by Senators Dorgan, Kerry, Biden, Leahy, Boxer and Wyden. We believe this bill serves as a vital protection for ordinary citizens against political censorship by corporate America.

In a political system that is increasingly run by the wealthy individuals and corporate donors, the Internet is one of the few places where every single voice has an equal right to express itself not just on Election Day, but every day. In recent years, the net has grown in prominence as our national town hall where people from all economic levels find a forum for their views, support the candidates of their choice or rally around each other on important issues. This critical growth in political activism among people of all ages has been made possible by the inherently open access design of the Internet, where all sites are available to all users at all times.

The tiered pricing/access structure envisioned by the giant telecoms (although cleverly disguised in their presentations) is, in fact, a way to exploit the Internet by putting up a kind of toll road that would make visiting popular political sites more costly both for the user/citizen and the site managers. Once the concept of open access is lost, the Internet is fair game for all kinds of manipulations by corporate interests. Access to political discussions would be placed in the hands of gigantic corporations, who would be in a position to direct the flow of traffic away from sites whose politics they disagree with.

The likelihood for censorship and political mischief is high unless all levels of our government hold the basic principle of net neutrality inviolate. If the big telecoms are given full control of Internet traffic, we can say goodbye to the freedom of political expression on the Internet. And that would be a sad day, indeed, for American democracy.

Please give S-215 your urgent consideration and support. Were counting on you to help preserve the right of free access to the Internet for all Pennsylvanians and all Americans.

Thanks you for your consideration.