Good morning everyone welcome to the problems I'm Jack Martin executive director here and I am honored to have senator Reed. Our nation's library champion here with us today and equally excited to have power, proud of from Williams University here with us as well. So here at peel um and I probably suspected every other public library around the country, people line up by the dozens to do to gain access to the Internet here, people we literally have students, families, children, senior citizens camped outside On our doorstep with their phones and laptops in the air trying to get a signal so I really can't think of a better place than the public library to have a conversation like this. Uh net neutrality is important because it protects everybody's ability to access the world wide Web and prevents large corporations like verizon or at and t from speeding up slowing down or blocking any content applications or websites that you may want to use without it large companies to control what we read or use or how quickly we are The access access that material and that's what I'm taking away neutrality is in a way it's kind of like taking away our freedom to read so I'm really thrilled to have senator Reed here to come to talk to us about the subject Senate Thanks very much Jack for your leadership on this issue and your great leadership here at the private public library. Um and I will, I will never win a senatorial contest with yourself. Guy, there thank you, uh. Let me also recognize karen Miller parent. It look like our live burns throughout the state, choose leader them as achieve the libraries services, but she doesn't extraordinary job as all into and I have to recommend my hometown library that gosh thanks for coming thanks for all the librarians also time violence, chair liable for thank you, Tom uh Hope in fact, I was giving Jack a little history lesson about the the organ public library and where I grew up and then in high school come here and use the machine that to look at the uh. All the old Journal copy so this is great where, in the world oh the world report band and all sorts of technology and one of the reasons we're 14 here today is that we are joined by professor of communications the only product of graduating University. She is one of the leading experts and not only the technology But also the sociological, impaction of this new technology before it's so the issue and it's a critical one is net neutrality. That sounds like an awfully obscure wanting term will work at that have affect me well and effect. Everyone uh with net neutrality. All data uh is treated equally by Internet providers so people have access to website S have access to what news they wanna look at and that's the way it should be. This is the consumer right and it's all for free speech right and the net with neutrality, rules at the Obama administration put in place to keep level the playing field. It allows everyone to access it make sure that Internet service providers treat everyone fairly and equally and it doesn't give them the opportunity to for fee put people at the funnel line and for a fee people People at the back in the line up and it's vital vitally important. I, if propose changes are made then Internet service providers can tell consumers you have to pay to get fast or they can tell people who wanna go on. You know, set up a website, a new service. You have to pay us if you wanna be as fast as the fastest uh in a sense. What net neutrality does it prevents the telecom giants from establishing tolls on the information superhighway It opens up the road to everybody and that's here both economically and it's fair. In terms of the market and it's important. Now, what area there, particularly challenging is the fact that President trump is announce that he is going to end essentially net your child with the installation of the new chairman of the fcc they're going about it with rapid speed in fact, they're scheduling next Thursday, some forties a meeting to essentially overturn net neutrality that, with the huge mistake and will have direct impact here at island uh it'll be The harmful for both consumers and for businesses, a small mom and pop business and as you go around everyone's trying to get on the Internet as I go to businesses that are still in the shop workers. But they will also then Internet and that's growing and it's growing well will they be able. Can be compete with amazon if they have to pay a feet again on me Internet no way it's just simple economics and they'll lose out, be squeezed out and what we'll see in the lost of jobs and small business opportunity And then the customers will be the same effect. You know if your free sample of you, clown visit a particular site but Google news has paid to be there faster and you go to your site and you can't download it takes forever. You just a band that site and it's gonna have a huge impact on information as well as family and that's not gonna help us all and one of the really we're doing that here in a library is um libraries have lots of expenses they literally can't afford Paying premium prices to get access to the website, say need not they need but the public means this facility is really the place where thousands of our island come to the places to go to get on the Internet and today, if you can't get in in that you can't find a job, you can apply for job. You can do a lot of thing that we used to be able to do just by walking across the Street, so it's critical, critical so what are we doing well. I worry ask to delay the meeting and one of the reasons Because of the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of Commerce, I got this suspicion that many of them are completely running. The New York state attorney general and indicated that thousand of them suppose the emanating from New York state there's. No record of them in individuals and fees in New York state, so just because the record fad, but the concept even more than what we have to do is have them no delay the meeting, but basically keep the net your challenges and place then. Finally, we have to step up Congress are bipartisan based pass laws that recognize that Try for a long time now we have been thought of letting things happen because it was a new emerging industry, telecommunications to look on Valley centre. It is now the most dominant industry in the world and we need to step up and make sure that people have rights as well as giant corporations with that much well, I call the professional. I do now for learning comments upon this subject. Progressive, please Thank you, senator. Thank you, Jack Martin. Thank you, uh all of you who are here at the providence public library used to be that you got news. You knew you got news by the sound of the third of the print newspaper hitting the stoop at your door and now we know we got news from the buzz of a phone in your pocket. Few research s must say that nine out of 10 adults in the us get their news online That will could change the change as soon as next week if the fcc plans go through to repeal net neutrality. Um the actually see it will basically have the senator noted made the information superhighway into a pricey toll road for those who can't afford to travel. It. What does that mean for consumers. Well, Internet access that looks like cable access that's what, if you enjoy Waiting around all morning for the cable guy to show up to hook up your Internet or to give you cable service you're going to love with the dc is about to do as you wait around for your favorite page to render online. Let's be clear that the repeal of net neutrality does not promote competition as the chair of the s C claims. What it does is, it allows telecommunications, come glamour it's to filter and funnel Internet access for profit This action by the Sea would be ingenious where it not a real front to the first amendment before the advent of the Internet. The first amendment protected the press that was distributed mostly by print and later electronically over broadcast airwaves. The press today is no longer a synonym for print or broadcast the 20 first century press distributes online any federal regulation or deregulation that limits access to the press does so in defy Science of our first amendment rights, when they heard that the senator had asked me to join him here today. My journalism students at Roger Williams University, ask me to bring a couple messages. They ask me to remind all of you what net neutrality stands for this is what my students ask me to say. They ask me to remind you that millennial students young adults get their new Who's not from radio or Tv, they get their news online. They get their news from social media. They also study online. They read online the student press publishes online. My students practice, the skills that will make them one day. Great journalists, min great members of the press corps. They practice them online. They also asked me to remind you that the foundation of it the Internet was one a freedom freedom of expression, freedom of speech, freedom of the press My College students ask me to remind you that the repeal of net neutrality, those a service to the public and places the control of information in the hands of the corporate elite. My students ask me to remind you that somebody's interest must be served and those are the public's the interest of the citizens of the us and I'm here to remind you that my students are of age and that in less than In year they will take to the poles I'm here to remind you that my students vote follow the money figure out. Why this is happening. Think hard about what it will mean for you. If you need to pay to get the news. Look at the news and what news will they get if access to the Internet is controlled by corporate interest. Thank you Well, thank you, professor. Any questions, uh well, the next step would be uh clearly, a Congress would have to move very quickly to pass legislation that would overturn the role if we don't then the real type the fact that they're possible core challenges the at some point my take a fact and we're in that situation, which we voted Reed, is the Super highway. Now at the toll every two minutes uh Oh, yes, it could be a number registration. Uh looking but we could bath and regardless of whether it's done or not. We should in legislation uh ensure net food travel and going forward and the other point to listening to professor is you know, we don't know either new type of technology that are evolving and if these industry's can make that you know commodity that they can price that they can do, I access to it would even make the playing field more on even so, there are things we can do But the best thing we do in stop it right here don't pass it through. Let you know that net neutrality. Sam I think there is, I think, what you wanna probably faces there's, so many near term prices. Uh tax proposal that is, uh. If 11 five you've got we have to keep the government open. Basically, we just did it for two more weights, but we have to fight certain that the government open we've got a debt ceilings that are gonna lots of legislation, but uh once we get through that we have to start focusing on issues like net neutrality, we've got I was talking to care about the library and museum services. Some of the things we used to do by S but bassist retailing we gotta keep going up if there no more questions. Let me thank you. Steve Sorry Well, the path looks like the rich get richer and our videos get flip. Flap unfortunate. That's a lot of what's happening. Washington, safe and one of the professor quite rightly spoke about access on the first amendment to news media, but the business conference would be huge. Huge concentration because, again uh company, like amazon, paying a two thousand dollars fee or the fee to get the fastest speed is nothing a small business in He's Grand insurance missed field in lincoln we're island that's make or break. I can't be on the Internet now, no one I can't download people come in and complain. I chop and your store, but it takes me to long to download or buy the way. I can extend my market across the world across United States because physically I'm in lincoln, but for a while, there I thought the global and now people are complaining my customers. I used to have close the country to slow. I found somebody else amazon can do it. You know it. I don't I'm not singly on amazon but big big and beautiful taking man from this and it be another contraction of the beautiful rhode island companies and employers islanders. They won't have a chance to be. You know a Mobile Internet. Um, not tripping off the Uh all day everyday during the times that were open, I'm sure that everybody else in the room uh would say the same thing. We have lines of people waiting you know they have a sign up. They have to wait to use our computers that I'm sure it's the same at the branson and everywhere else is tremendous and I was been I'm really serious. We got we do have. We have people sitting on our steps during the hours that were close with the laptops just trying to get a signal so we're really fulfilling you know an important neither S Absolutely idea we pay a premium already for the services. I can't imagine the pain even more. Um and you have this something like if net neutrality goes away. We can even send to be charge per user for it's ridiculous. Nine thing out. Well, let me think a Jack of the best products and everyone here uh for what they do is stand just some stuff. You know every live wreck. We end from cranston. I gosh that I was in Talking about five years ago in the library, I walk in and a few people um sitting reading blogs and then it was just long line. What is that. It was you know, residence that had a only there access to computers in the library and we're looking for jobs. You can apply and long like when I was a kid, you know the lady gave me the clipboard of the guy gave the clipboard foot out you have to go online and if they I have to pay more to get this access to websites, information, we've met once again the rich are gonna get a lot Richard or else it's gonna be a lot more desperate so thank you