IAHF List:
If we fail to mount proper countering force to the lobbying of the giant telecommunications companies currently trying to shake down website owners in an effort to force us to pay through the nose so that our websites can open as fast as whoever can afford to pay their planned extorsionistic rates, the internet as we know it will be destroyed.
Imagine how angry you would feel if the IAHF website and your other most favorite websites took 5 minutes or more to open, then moved as slowly as molasses when you tried going to them (even if you have a Broad Band Connection), and only the sites owned by the major corporations opened quickly!!
Wouldn't you feel angry? I know I would! This is a serious form of CENSORSHIP every bit as bad as what they're doing in CHINA!!
Could the internet as we know it actually be DESTROYED by ATT, Comcast, Verizon, etc......
You BETTER BELIEVE IT COULD BE!! A debate is raging over this in congress RIGHT NOW! See http://www.savetheinternet.com/ and see the link in the mssg below via which you can donate to a full page ad in the NY Times intended to rally the public to contact Congress over this issue- I just donated to it and hope you will to because together we CAN keep the internet from being destroyed- our health freedom mission DEMANDS that we join this very broad emerging coalition of people from all sides of the political spectrum.
Dear MoveOn member,
We never thought we'd see the day, but it's come: we're working together with the Christian Coalition. You read that right-the Christian Coalition has joined everyone from Google to MoveOn to the Gun Owners of America in the fight for Internet freedom. The momentum is on our side.
Internet companies like AT&T have been trying to win this fight by telling Republicans in Congress this is just a left-wing issue. But MoveOn and the Christian Coalition have designed a full-page New York Times ad to expose the truth: people across the spectrum are united behind Internet freedom! If we get that message out, we win.
The ad will cost $70,000 to run. If 2,000 people give $35 each, we'll be there. Plus, every dollar you give will be matched by a generous bequest.
Can you contribute to run an Internet freedom ad with the improbable pairing of MoveOn and the Christian Coalition? Click here to see the ad and make a donation:
https://civic.moveon.org/donatec4/save_the_internet.html?id=7778-1507801-B8_XSIG.pU97ppBF9TScMA&t=3
This ad will make a big splash in Congress, with the public, and in the news. We'll share the cost of the ad with our partners, and any funds raised above our share will help support the organizing costs of MoveOn's Internet freedom campaign.
Last year, we received a very humbling gift: a MoveOn member named us in her will for over half a million dollars. This money is set up as a matching fund for critically important initiatives like this one. Every dollar you give today will bring in a dollar from this bequest, up to $100,000.
Everyone knows we deeply disagree with the Christian Coalition on many issues. It's safe to say the same is true for them. But we can agree on preserving the Internet as a venue for democratic participation, economic innovation, and free speech.1 The only serious opposition to Internet freedom comes from AT&T and other Internet operators who are spending millions lobbying Congress for more control over what we see and do online.
To win this fight, we need to show Congress the huge public backlash they will face if they sell out the Internet. The pairing of MoveOn and the Christian Coalition is unheard of, and it's sure to get Congress' attention.
Help run this attention-getting ad featuring MoveOn and the Christian Coalition. You can make a contribution at:
https://civic.moveon.org/donatec4/save_the_internet.html?id=7778-1507801-B8_XSIG.pU97ppBF9TScMA&t=4
Internet users of all political stripes are fighting back together. The SavetheInternet.com Coalition-led by Free Press-includes the Christian Coalition, MoveOn, Gun Owners of America, the ACLU, Craig from Craigslist, Free Press, small businesses, consumer advocates, Internet advocates, musicians such as Moby, R.E.M., Q-Tip, The Roots, Trent Reznor of NIN, the Indigo Girls, and the Dixie Chicks, and over 700 other organizations from around the country.
Also supporting Net Neutrality are high-tech pioneers like Google, Amazon, and eBay, as well as "fathers of the Internet" Vint Cerf and Tim Berners-Lee (the inventor of the www). We're part of something huge.
Thank you for all you do.
&Eli Pariser, Adam Green, Noah T. Winer, and the MoveOn.org Civic Action team
Thursday, May 25th, 2006
P.S. You can find out more about naming MoveOn as a beneficiary in your will by clicking here:
http://civic.moveon.org/bequest/?id=7778-1507801-B8_XSIG.pU97ppBF9TScMA&t=5
Source:
1. "Christian Coalition Announces Support for 'Net Neutrality' to Prevent Giant Phone and Cable Companies From Discriminating Against Web Sites," Christian Coalition, May 17, 2006
http://www.cc.org/content.cfm?id=329
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