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Filed: Citizen (pnd) Country: Algeria
Timeline
Posted

Hello Vjers...I am posting yet another very interesting email I found in my box today from one of the organizations I am involved. And thought I would share...And welcome your comments ....

Congress is pushing a law that would abandon the Internet's First Amendment -- a principle called Network Neutrality that prevents companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast from deciding which Web sites work best for you -- based on what site pays them the most. If the public doesn't speak up now, our elected officials will cave to a multi-million dollar lobbying campaign.

'Hello, brothers and sisters!

I've been a little off the radar because I just spent the last two days painstakingly creating 100 petitions that you can sign in order to help secure Net Neutrality. There's one for each Senator (every state has two, in case you didn't know) and not only have I included their stance on the issue, but I also made sure to try to find the local branch that they frequent the most (or failing that, the one that is in their hometown).

So what are these petitions about, you ask?

Well, quite simply, they're evidence for us to use in a court of law if our state Senators fail to uphold our right to a free and open internet!

See, whenever someone signs one of the petitions, they have to provide their name and address (although only the city and state are listed for everyone to see). I also included a neat feature where signers can upload a photo of themselves in order to authenticate that they are who they claim to be. The idea is to get about 50,000 signatures per Senator in each state and have a way to backtrack and verify them if need be. Copies of these signed petitions will be brought to all of their branch offices, as well as to their offices in Washington D.C., by people like you and I.

And the media is going to be there to document us when we do!

Now that the first step is done, I'm going to make another youtube video to explain the strategy of this event in-depth and I will upload it this weekend, so stay tuned. After that, I'm going to start the push to contact every single news media outlet across the country - even dinky little local television stations, college radio programs and high school newspapers! Plus, I want the blogosphere to light up like the night sky on the Fourth of July (which I think is a fitting metaphor for us making our stand for freedom and democracy, which might be lost forever if we don't secure Net Neutrality).

Some of you may be mistaken and think that this is a waste of time, that it won't make a difference and that the wheels of government will continue to grind us beneath them. But I do NOT agree with that at all. Thinking like that is EXACTLY what they want you to do, because it leads to inaction. And every single moment we are not securing our rights, they spend taking them away. So don't view this as an attempt to change things overnight. Look at it instead as a way to foster hope in those who have given up. Look at it as a way to sway those who are on the fence about the effectiveness of political activism.

Think of it as a rallying cry for those of us who dream of a better world!

The point of this action is to gather publicity for our cause, to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the internet has far more power than anyone has been willing to admit, and that this is the reason the struggle for Net Neutrality even exists in the first place. Because I want to shatter all illusions on this: they most certainly know how powerful the internet is becoming and that's why they're trying to limit our access to it, the knowledge it brings and the momentum for change that it breeds. They saw it happening with mainstream television, radio and newsprint, and just look how that played out.

I honestly, sincerely believe that this is the great struggle our generation MUST win, the great struggle that will go down in the history books.

Friends, I want to be an old man, many years from now, reminiscing about the incredible time when high schoolers, college kids, underground bloggers, independent filmmakers and progressive political activists from across the globe used the internet to save the internet and helped turned the tide of madness that was gripping the world. I want to tell my grandchildren how we used the world wide web to stop wars by revolutionizing our societies and our governments. I want them to see the word "lobbyist" in a yellowing newspaper article and have absolutely no clue what that concept even means. I want to tell them bedtime stories about putting an end to corporate monopolies on public resources and reversing the horrible, horrible pollution that was smothering our ability to live.

It ain't no pipedream, people - we can do this if we start spending every spare moment securing Net Neutrality!

The petitions I've provided below can be e-mailed to your friends, family, co-workers, neighbors and classmates and all the info they need is in there for them to make informed decisions about the subject. And even if your state Senator supports Net Neutrality, we still need to get media coverage of them saying so! Not just as evidence, but also as one more voice in the call to action!

THIS IS WHERE WE MAKE OUR STAND!

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Alabama - Richard C. Shelby ® Undeclared

Alabama - Jeff Sessions ® Undeclared

Alaska - Ted Stevens ® AGAINST

Alaska - Lisa Murkowski ® Undeclared

Arizona - John McCain ® AGAINST

Arizona - Jon Kyl ® Undeclared

Arkansas - Blanche Lincoln (D) Undeclared

Arkansas - Mark Pryor (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

California - Barbara Boxer (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

California - Dianne Feinstein (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

Colorado - Wayne Allard ® Undeclared

Colorado - Ken Salazar (D) Undeclared

Connecticut - Christopher Dodd (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

Connecticut - Joseph Lieberman (D) Undeclared

Delaware - Joe Biden (D) Undeclared

Delaware - Thomas Carper (D) Undeclared

Florida - Bill Nelson (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

Florida - Mel Martinez ® Undeclared

Georgia - Saxby Chambliss ® Undeclared

Georgia - Johnny Isakson ® Undeclared

Hawaii - Daniel Inouye (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

Hawaii - Daniel K. Akaka (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

Idaho - Larry Craig ® AGAINST

Idaho - Mike Crapo ® Undeclared

Illinois - Richard Durbin (D) Undeclared

Illinois - Barack Obama (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

Indiana - Richard Lugar ® Undeclared

Indiana - Evan Bayh (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

Iowa - Chuck Grassley ® Undeclared

Iowa - Tom Harkin (D) Undeclared

Kansas - Sam Brownback ® AGAINST

Kansas - Pat Roberts ® Undeclared

Kentucky - Mitch McConnell ® Undeclared

Kentucky - Jim Bunning ® Undeclared

Louisiana - Mary Landrieu (D) Undeclared

Louisiana - David Vitter ® AGAINST

Maine - Olympia Snowe ® Supports Net Neutrality!

Maine - Susan Collins ® Undeclared

Maryland - Paul Sarbanes (D) Undeclared

Maryland - Barbara Mikulski (D) Undeclared

Massachusetts - Edward Kennedy (D) Undeclared

Massachusetts - John Kerry (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

Michigan - Carl Levin (D) Undeclared

Michigan - Debbie A. Stabenow (D) Undeclared

Minnesota - Mark Dayton (D) Undeclared

Minnesota - Norm Coleman ® Undeclared

Mississippi - Thad Cochran ® Undeclared

Mississippi - Trent Lott ® AGAINST

Missouri - Kit Bond ® Undeclared

Missouri - James Talent ® Undeclared

Montana - Max Baucus (D) Undeclared

Montana - Conrad Burns ® AGAINST

Nebraska - Chuck Hagel ® Undeclared

Nebraska - Ben Nelson (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

Nevada - Harry Reid (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

Nevada - John Ensign ® AGAINST

New Hampshire - Judd Gregg ® Undeclared

New Hampshire - John Sununu ® AGAINST

New Jersey - Frank Lautenberg (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

New Jersey - Robert Menendez (D) Undeclared

New Mexico - Pete Domenici ® Undeclared

New Mexico - Jeff Bingaman (D) Undeclared

New York - Charles Schumer (D) Undeclared

New York - Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

North Carolina - Elizabeth Dole ® Undeclared

North Carolina - Richard Burr ® Undeclared

North Dakota - Kent Conrad (D) Undeclared

North Dakota - Byron L. Dorgan (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

Ohio - Mike DeWine ® Undeclared

Ohio - George Voinovich ® Undeclared

Oklahoma - James Inhofe ® Undeclared

Oklahoma - Tom Coburn ® Undeclared

Oregon - Ron Wyden (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

Oregon - Gordon Smith ® AGAINST

Pennsylvania - Arlen Specter ® Undeclared

Pennsylvania - Rick Santorum ® Undeclared

Rhode Island - Jack Reed (D) Undeclared

Rhode Island - Lincoln Chafee ® Undeclared

South Carolina - Lindsey Graham ® Undeclared

South Carolina - Jim DeMint ® Undeclared

South Dakota - Tim Johnson (D) Undeclared

South Dakota - John Thune ® Undeclared

Tennessee - Bill Frist ® Undeclared

Tennessee - Lamar Alexander ® Undeclared

Texas - Kay Bailey Hutchison ® AGAINST

Texas - John Cornyn ® Undeclared

Utah - Orrin Hatch ® Undeclared

Utah - Robert F. Bennett ® Undeclared

Vermont - Patrick Leahy (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

Vermont - James M. Jeffords (I) Undeclared

Virginia - John Warner ® Undeclared

Virginia - George Allen ® AGAINST

Washington - Patty Murray (D) Undeclared

Washington - Maria Cantwell (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

West Virginia - Robert Byrd (D) Undeclared

West Virginia - John D. Rockefeller (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

Wisconsin - Herbert Kohl (D) Undeclared

Wisconsin - Russell D. Feingold (D) Supports Net Neutrality!

Wyoming - Craig Thomas ® AGAINST

Wyoming - Michael Enzi ® Undeclared

How does this threat to Internet freedom affect you?

  • Google users—Another search engine could pay dominant Internet providers like AT&T to guarantee the competing search engine opens faster than Google on your computer.
  • Innovators with the "next big idea"—Startups and entrepreneurs will be muscled out of the marketplace by big corporations that pay Internet providers for dominant placing on the Web. The little guy will be left in the "slow lane" with inferior Internet service, unable to compete.
  • Ipod listeners—A company like Comcast could slow access to iTunes, steering you to a higher-priced music service that it owned.
  • Political groups—Political organizing could be slowed by a handful of dominant Internet providers who ask advocacy groups to pay "protection money" for their websites and online features to work correctly.
  • Nonprofits—A charity's website could open at snail-speed, and online contributions could grind to a halt, if nonprofits can't pay dominant Internet providers for access to "the fast lane" of Internet service.
  • Online purchasers—Companies could pay Internet providers to guarantee their online sales process faster than competitors with lower prices—distorting your choice as a consumer.
  • Small businesses and tele-commuters—When Internet companies like AT&T favor their own services, you won't be able to choose more affordable providers for online video, teleconferencing, Internet phone calls, and software that connects your home computer to your office.
  • Parents and retirees—Your choices as a consumer could be controlled by your Internet provider, steering you to their preferred services for online banking, health care information, sending photos, planning vacations, etc.
  • Bloggers—Costs will skyrocket to post and share video and audio clips—silencing citizen journalists and putting more power in the hands of a few corporate-owned media outlets.

Blocking Innovation

The threat to an open internet isn't just speculation -- we've seen what happens when the Internet's gatekeepers get too much control. These companies, even, have said as much about their plans to discriminate online. According to the Washington Post:

William L. Smith, chief technology officer for Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp., told reporters and analysts that an Internet service provider such as his firm should be able, for example, to charge Yahoo Inc. for the opportunity to have its search site load faster than that of Google Inc.

He's not alone. Ed Whitacre of AT&T told Business Week last fall:

Now what they would like to do is use my pipes free, but I ain't going to let them do that because we have spent this capital and we have to have a return on it. So there's going to have to be some mechanism for these people who use these pipes to pay for the portion they're using. Why should they be allowed to use my pipes?

By far the most significant evidence regarding the network owners' plans to discriminate is their stated intent to do so. As Verizon's Ivan Seidenberg told the Wall Street Journal:

We have to make sure they don't sit on our network and chew up our capacity. We need to pay for the pipe.

Network Neutrality advocates are not imagining a doomsday scenario. We are taking the telecom execs at their word.

Such corporate control of the Web would reduce your choices and stifle the spread of innovative and independent ideas that we've come to expect online. It would throw the digital revolution into reverse. Internet gatekeepers are already discriminating against Web sites and services they don't like:

  • In 2004, North Carolina ISP Madison River blocked their DSL customers from using any rival Web-based phone service.
  • In 2005, Canada's telephone giant Telus blocked customers from visiting a Web site sympathetic to the Telecommunications Workers Union during a contentious labor dispute.
  • Shaw, a major Canadian cable, internet, and telephone service company, intentionally downgrades the "quality and reliability" of competing Internet-phone services that their customers might choose -- driving customers to their own phone services not through better services, but by rigging the marketplace.
  • In April, Time Warner's AOL blocked all emails that mentioned www.dearaol.com -- an advocacy campaign opposing the company's pay-to-send e-mail scheme."

Filed: Country: Vietnam
Timeline
Posted

There is another side to this.

First of all, you noted that a North Carolina ISP that blocked customers from using rival phone services. Right now a company like Vonage hops on to a cable or dsl network and relies 100% on that company to maintain it's lines right up to the customer's modem. If there are any issues with either the Cable or DSLs customers OR their competition- the Cable/DSL company has to roll a truck. The competition pays nothing for transmission maintenance or repair.

Also, bandwidth is not free. Imagine if companies began offering streaming of HDVideo in mass amount- something NBC for one is considering. If watching on-demand HD streaming video actually gets popular in the next 2 years, there are almost no companies ready. So, because NBC wants to offer HD Streaming video to a relatively few customers, your Cable and DSL companies are going to have to invest millions in beefing up their infrastucture, and what will be their return? Nothing- except hopefully retaining their existing customers.

20-July -03 Meet Nicole

17-May -04 Divorce Final. I-129F submitted to USCIS

02-July -04 NOA1

30-Aug -04 NOA2 (Approved)

13-Sept-04 NVC to HCMC

08-Oc t -04 Pack 3 received and sent

15-Dec -04 Pack 4 received.

24-Jan-05 Interview----------------Passed

28-Feb-05 Visa Issued

06-Mar-05 ----Nicole is here!!EVERYBODY DANCE!

10-Mar-05 --US Marriage

01-Nov-05 -AOS complete

14-Nov-07 -10 year green card approved

12-Mar-09 Citizenship Oath Montebello, CA

May '04- Mar '09! The 5 year journey is complete!

 

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