from Save The Internet newsletter:
Yesterday, the House voted to block the FCC from protecting our
right to access an open Internet. If successful, the move would
give phone and cable companies absolute, unrestricted power over
the Internet.
In the Senate, Republicans have introduced a "resolution of disapproval" that would strip the FCC of its authority to protect our right to free speech online.1 Both of these moves come at a time when phone and cable giants are already restricting our ability to connect with others and share information.2
We can stop the resolution in the Senate by getting 51 members to stand with us for online freedom:
Tell Your Senators: Defend Our Right to Free Speech Online
A House vote is on the books. It's now up to the Senate. If it doesn't stop this resolution, the FCC would be barred from enforcing its already weak Net Neutrality rule, and from acting in any way to protect Internet users against corporate abuses by AT&T, Comcast and Verizon.
This is not a symbolic congressional exercise — it's a scorched-earth campaign that leaves Americans at the mercy of a corporate cartel.
Imagine a world where these companies are allowed to do anything they want, ban any speech they don't like, charge anything they can get away with, and hold innovation hostage to their profit margins. If this resolution passes, there's nothing anyone could do about it.
The resolution is filibuster-proof. We need at least 51 senators to beat it. Will your senators stand with us?
Sign this letter to demand that Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand protect free speech online. We will deliver it to their offices in Washington and provide you with tools to spread the word across New York.
Thanks for all you can do.
Timothy Karr
Campaign Director
Free Press Action Fund
www.freepress.net
www.SavetheInternet.com
1. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and John Ensign (R-Nevada) introduced the “resolution of disapproval” on Wednesday. It already has 39 Republican cosponsors. In the House, Reps. Fred Upton (R-Michigan) and Greg Walden (R-Oregon) are pushing a similar measure.
2. FCC Commissioner Michael Copps outlined the recent history of “real threats” to Internet openness during his opening remarks Wednesday before the House Commerce Committee (pdf).