Save the Internet

First.....my email to Senator Brownback:

Net Neutrality is the founding principle of the Internet. It means equal Internet service for all consumers - from individual citizens to large businesses.

Net Neutrality is vital to our Kansas small business. All of our products are sold on the Internet and all of our customers find us on the Internet. Our customer base is global and over 99% of the sales tax revenue we collect for Kansas comes from outside of the state. This is only possible with an open Internet protected by the principle of Net Neutrality.... See More

The Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009 (H.R. 3458) protects Net Neutrality by ensuring that lawful Internet content is free from blocking, censorship and discrimination from Internet Service Providers.

More than 1.6 million Americans have already called on Congress to protect Net Neutrality. Please stand with us by co-sponsoring the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009.

Sincerely,
Matthew Thomas, CFII
Roger Dodger Aviation, LLC

Next....Senator Brownback's response:

Dear Mr. Thomas:

Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding Internet neutrality. There is no better guide for making tough decisions than hearing from the people whom I serve. ... See More

Broadband Internet availability is changing the face of American communications. Such high speed access to the Internet spurs increased investment, choice, and innovation in the telecommunications marketplace. Broadband deployment also transforms the quality of life for all Americans - for instance, with broadband capability, rural consumers will be able to access long-distance learning, on-demand entertainment, and tele-medicine for the first time.

As you may know, several groups have sought legislation to regulate or even prohibit fees that may be sought by broadband companies from content providers for the high-speed transmission of content over the Internet. I believe that this so-called ‘network neutrality’ legislation would be anything but neutral, punishing broadband access providers for innovation and competition. In fact, it is due to the absence of heavy-handed government regulation that the Internet has grown and innovated freely and rapidly.

Moreover, broadband access providers — our nation’s telephone, cable television, and wireless companies — are spending billions of dollars to deploy broadband, and have plans to spend billions more on the next generation of broadband networks. These investments include new technologies that will greatly improve everyone’s Internet experience, further empowering our ability to use it for entertainment, political, religious, and educational purposes. Given the investment by broadband providers in creating and maintaining Internet infrastructure, it is reasonable for them to request that content providers pay their fair share for the services they use.

Innovation and competition, unmarred by excessive government regulation, have created a vibrant Internet for all Americans. In this context, network neutrality would penalize broadband access providers for making major improvements to the Internet and would reward online content providers who demand regulation in order to tip the scales of Internet competition in their favor. Rest assured that as this issue continues to be addressed in the Senate, I will keep your thoughts in mind.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me about this important issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future.

Sincerely,
Sam Brownback
United States Senator

Note that the Senator favors ISP's charging fees from "content providers." Who is a content provider? You and me. You add content to the Internet whenever you upload a photo to Facebook. Every time someone uploads a video to YouTube or writes a blog post or posts on a forum or uploads a song to Myspace or starts a website they are providing content to the Internet. What would the Internet be without content?

And we want to keep it that way. Nip it in the bud. Not to say some of us aren't working on the Australian plight! Get your posting on of news stories and what we can do to help!

Hi Matt - you can go here to learn more about the NPRM: http://www.openinternet.gov/. The intro video should give you more info.

So when a person leaves a comment at http://www.openinternet.gov/ is that the same as the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System? http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/upload/display?z=bdxjp