I didn't invent the Internet, but I have been using it constantly since 1997. The Internet is the last public communication frontier where individuals and mega-corporations have an equal voice. If I want to create a Website (and have the time and skill to do so) anyone who wants to visit the site can do so. If you pay for a high speed internet connection you'll get there faster than someone who is simply using their home dial-up connection.

In 2005 a decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) threatened to create a multi-tiered system where communications giants like Time Warner, Verizon, Comcast and AT&T could claim actual ownership of the Internet and become Internet gatekeepers. As gatekeepers they planned to set rates for high speed viewing on both sides (Web page source and Web page viewer). Under the current plan, the viewer determines how much speed they need and are willing to pay for. Imagine if Google outbid Yahoo for the faster speed. Your Google Web sites would load very quickly while the Yahoo web sites would load very slowly. To look at the broader picture, anyone who was on the "good" side of the communications companies could reach an agreement (pay a high price) and they would get good service. Individuals and small businesses would be relegated to paying for service but never getting high quality service (kind of like health insurance). 

For the first time, Congress and the FCC are debating wide-reaching Web regulations and policies that would determine how much control cable and telecommunications companies would have over the Internet. The issue has given rise to a new political constituency raised on text messaging and social networking and relies on e-mail blasts and online video clips in its advocacy.

"There have been policy moments in the past when the market has been shaped by decisions made in Washington -- radio in the 1930s, television in the 1950s and cable in the 1980s. That moment is now for the Internet," said Scott, who runs a nine-member office in Washington for Free Press.net.

The "net neutrality" backers form an unusual coalition with partners that include:

• Christian Coalition
• American Civil Liberties Union
• MoveOn.org
• Banking system

What's Happening in Congress
The SavetheInternet.com Coalition applauds the recent introduction of the bipartisan “Internet Freedom Preservation Act 2008” (HR 5353). Introduced on Feb. 12, 2008 by Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Chip Pickering (R-Miss.), this landmark bill would protect Net Neutrality and spark a much-needed public conversation about the future of the Internet.

The new bill would enshrine Net Neutrality -- the longstanding principle that Internet service providers cannot discriminate against Web sites or services based on their source, ownership or destination -- into the Communications Act. It also requires the Federal Communications Commission to convene at least eight “broadband summits” to collect public input on policies to “promote openness, competition, innovation, and affordable, ubiquitous broadband service for all individuals in the United States.”

Big phone and cable companies like AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner have been lobbying furiously to kill Net Neutrality. They want to exploit their gatekeeper power to decide what you can do on the Web.

But Markey and Pickering’s bill deals a blow to the gatekeepers by ensuring that the public -- not phone or cable companies -- control the fate of the Internet.

What You Can Do
Contact Congress today. Tell your representative to support the "Internet Freedom Preservation Act 2008” (HR 5353) to make Net Neutrality the law of the land.