Special interests may soon dictate what Internet content you are able to access. Action Alert!
On its most basic level, net neutrality is the idea that all Internet content should be treated equally by Internet service providers (ISPs), with no website or company getting preferential treatment. But newly released Federal Communications Commission (FCC) draft rules makes a mockery of the idea of “neutrality.”
Currently, ISPs like Comcast or Verizon are obligated to “deliver” all data in the order they are received, at the same speed. But under the new FCC rules, companies could pay ISPs extra for a “fast lane” that would give their content priority over all those who choose not to (or don’t have the means to) pay. In addition, there’s nothing in these new rules to stop ISPs from charging you more for tapping into the “fast lane.”
Essentially, a “fast lane” would make ISPs—which are becoming increasingly monopolistic in many markets—into the gatekeepers of the Internet: these mega-corporations and their friends with deep pockets would have the power to decide what content you will see quickly, and what content will be delivered to you much more slowly. For example, large biotech companies would be able to pay for “fast lane” service, while grassroots organizations that promote GMO labeling may not be able to.
Since one in four Internet users abandon websites that take four or more seconds to load, users will naturally gravitate toward “fast lane” sites that deliver content more quickly. Over time, this would also affect search engine results and rankings. “Fast lane” sites will be pushed to the top of web searches, making it less likely that consumers will even be able to find other content. If, for example, the average consumer were to search for “GMO labeling,” all they might see is site after site assuring them that GMOs are perfectly safe and that GMO labeling is completely unnecessary. This could neuter (pun intended) the grassroots power of the Net, and be another way corporate America rules the political system.
Doing away with net neutrality would shut down many smaller businesses and stifle innovation. Slower content simply won’t gain the same exposure as “fast lane” content—and these days, exposure is everything. The next Facebook, Netflix, or Angry Birds may never get off the ground.
Action Alert! The Internet is one of the few remaining realms where every voice has an equal opportunity to be heard—but the new FCC rules would change the Internet as we know it. We must stop our “pay-to-play” culture from creating a disaster. Tell the FCC to preserve net neutrality and not allow “fast lanes”!
I am against takovers of the internct companies. Please listen to the public.
Thank you for sending this to your mailing list. It is very important that as many people as possible know about this issue and have an opportunity to contact the FCC.
I am a Veteran, Active Voter and TaxPayer. I voted all Democratic in the last election. As a Veteran I put my life on the line for Democracy. You are helping to stop the plutocratic take over and helping to save American Democracy and the middle class. It is a proven fact that a strong Middle Class creates a strong economy. It is a proven fact that people spend more when they make more and that creates a stronger economy.
For what it’s worth I sent the piece about p5p to Swanson Vitamins. I believe they either have an advocate person in D.C. or they fund one. They were not aware of the p5p situation but they are now.
You are repeating the industry lie that it is about charging more for the “fast lane”. No, it’s not. Before Netflix agreed to pay a large amount to a service provider, customers of that service were reporting that Netflix access had suddenly seriously degraded. This is all about giving the service providers the freedom to extort money from the content providers with the threat of throttling down the speed of access to their content. That is the future you are facing if the current head of the FCC gets his way.
Thanks, Obama, thanks a lot. I didn’t think anybody could be worse than Dubya, but somehow you managed to top him in every way.
The corporate dictators are never satisfied. I research historical records on line for a living and about two years ago I began noticing that my Google searches were being ‘censored’ to such a severe degree that I simply could not do my job well at all. This has caused me a great deal of frustration and loss of productivity. I quit using Google altogether. I use safe search engines like DuckDuckGo and I also use another app called Disconnect. Most recently, something has changed with my speed. My Cox high speed is no longer high speed and my browser is not loading as quickly as it did two weeks ago.
For more information about net neutrality, Bill Moyers has an excellent video interview about this on his website that can be viewed for free. http://video.pbs.org/video/2365238658/
Preserve net neutrality
ANH is wrong about net neutrality. If net neutrality is passed, the FCC will have taken over the internet, which will wind up in government censorship and less innovation. The internet has rapidly expanded with little government interference. Encouraging government action because of the fear of ‘fast lanes’ is fear mongering at its worst and is cutting off your nose to spite your face.
This all boils down to one basic right that will be violated. FREEDOM OF SPEECH ! On a regular basis you can see more and more of our rights being treated like “privileges.” The main difference between a right and a privilege is that A PRIVILEGE CAN BE REVOKED !! WAKE UP BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE !
Just another greed-based way to destroy anyone who is not wealthy. Shameful and disasterous.
OUR internet NEEDS to be kept neutral! There’s enough greed in this world and people need to be kept informed in an unbiased fashion!
Ever hear of Charles R. Flint (1850-1934)? He was known as “the father of trusts,” a trust meaning a consolidation of ownership in a particular business sector. The most famous company he was associated with organizing was the forerunner of IBM. Many other such figures were active this way—JP Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon and so on. What is known by very, very few is that these people organized themselves into a phalanx called “The Pilgrims” or “The Pilgrims Society,” which was actually the brainchild of Cecil Rhodes, the South African diamond monopoly organizer. All these names were members. This is the organization behind the scenes still in 2014 which is consolidating ownership/control over all sectors so eventually we may see two mega-titan corporations—CCC A and CCC B, which would be “Consolidated Conglomerate Corporation” and “Combined Cartel Corporation.” To my knowledge, the most difficult information to obtain would be a current membership roster of this group, in which Big Agribusiness and Big Pharma are well represented. Their site posts no roster http://www.pilgrimsociety.org
Please do not change the internet
Nope.’ Net neutrality’ would guarantee the government would choose who gets what. We all know how they love their cronies.
Could not get into the site to sign a petition. Tried more than once. Please let me know if you fix this problem. Thank you!
They claim fast lanes are only for slow times and everyone is slow anyway so no one is hurt by it. Lies. The only way to make a fast lane is to steal bandwidth from everyone else so everyone else goes slower so the privileged few can go faster. The only way this makes sense is if the fast lanes are for emergency or public services, which they will not be. Schools will be hurt the most by this lying nonsense. Stop it now.
That’s not how it works. Even if there is surplus bandwidth available, the service providers will throttle down the bandwidth of non-paying content providers. That’s how it works!
I think the ANH is concerned that certain parties might be willing to pay to throttle down the bandwidth available to certain other parties. Speaking hypothetically, of course, Big Pharma might be willing to pay to enforce delays accessing the ANH website. Looong delays. That would be perfectly legal in a world without net neutrality.
Would the service providers do it? If it’s legal and there’s a big pot of money available, of course not. They’re ethical people who have their customer’s interest first. They would never do anything like that (cough).
Thank you ANH for keeping us informed and providing us the opportunity to voice our opinion.
FYI,
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Agreed
The never ending attack. Wake up america, your rights continue to be chipped away!
When will it be enough for you to make a stand? YOUR CHOICES, ARE YOUR VOICES. Do the right thing.
A lot of Americans know about the dangers and about the corrupt government but they don’t have a leader to take that united voice up and make it thunder and make the government crumble…
Net.Neutrality **Should Stand as it is as a Freedom for the People**
This is one item that should remain ***Free for Everyone***
just tried to Take Action on Net Neutrality, and it does not appear to be working properly.n Please check!
I just tried it and it worked!
Another way big corporations are controlling everything from politicians to regulations and soon they will tell us when to eat sleep and reproduce
DH> just tried to Take Action on Net Neutrality, and it does not appear to be working properly.n Please check!
I think they fixed it – worked for me. 🙂
http://www.anh-usa.org/corporate-takeover-of-the-internet-why-you-should-care-about-net-neutrality/
this link is not working
All in all after everything is said and done; “The only rights we have are the ones we’re willing to fight for!”
If you’re in Congressman Bob Latta’s district in Ohio, you need to vote for his opponent. He’s in the pocket of the industry opposing net neutrality.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/05/congressman-bankrolled-by-isps-tries-to-halt-internet-regulation/
this issue the way you are delineating it would seem unfair but that word is not real. the world isn’t fair. if you get what you wish for you will have more government control by this. if you like your internet you can keep it but not when the government steps in to fake create Fairness for everybody. Life isn’t fair, it’s hard work and people who think they can get a free ride are delusional. somebody pays and you guarantee you will always be poor if you always steal from others. You will never be rich, you hate the rich. You hate capitalism but do you even know what it is? It doesn’t personally hate anyone. I wish this site would just focus on natural health care issues. you are ill-qualified to deal with economics. I don’t think they even teach supply and demand economics anymore in the schools. Just hate the rich and envy thy neighbor.