WORKING TO KEEP THE INTERNET FREE —Consumer Program Director Ed Mierzwinski is leading Arizona PIRG’s federal campaign to protect the freedom of the Internet. Coalition partners include the Consumer Federation of America and The American Library Association.

Congress To Decide The Fate Of The Internet

In the late 1990s the Internet emerged as a new engine for commerce, a new catalyst for citizen participation in democracy and a new source for music, video and other cultural experiences. We look to the Internet as a fair and open marketplace of ideas where every citizen has the opportunity speak out.

But now, buoyed by recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Supreme Court decisions that together eliminated a fundamental principle of Internet equality known as net neutrality, the phone and cable companies hope to tilt the field to their advantage.

Internet Gatekeepers
Without net neutrality, phone and cable companies could divide the internet and place some Web sites in a slow lane, while others, because they have the resources to pay high fees or because their political views match the internet provider’s, get placed onto the fast lane.

Phone and cable companies could even block or slow down e-mail traffic and Web content from a variety of membership organizations—including Arizona PIRG, the Christian Coalition and the Gun Owners of America. These groups would lose fast access to their members if the phone and cable companies decided to prioritize big money content from advertisers and powerful media companies.

That’s why a broad coalition of organizations and businesses are working to keep the Internet free of gatekeepers. The problem isn’t the phone companies charging us more for faster Internet connections it’s the phone companies erecting tollbooths that limit where we can go, what we can see and how we participate online.

Arizona PIRG is a founding member of the Media and Democracy Coalition; it seeks to make permanent the net neutrality rules that have kept the Internet free. In the near future, we expect Congress to make a critical decision on the livelihood of net neutrality, which could drastically change the very nature and utility of the Internet.

Critical Opportunity
This is an important time for Internet freedom and media reform. In addition to the debate on net neutrality, we expect to see Congressional consideration of plans to bring high-speed Internet service to all communities and increased scrutiny on the consolidation of our traditional media providers—like television, radio and newspapers.

We’re also looking at the phone companies push to enter the cable TV market. While we’ve criticized the stranglehold that cable companies have on cable prices, we don’t want the entry of new competition to hurt public access. Moreover, we want to make certain that any competition in the cable market benefits all existing customers and also helps to connect currently underserved communities.

Protect our open and democratic Internet. Take action by calling your congress person.