Oh, by the way.......

You post has a dim view of AT&T lobbyists. How about the Consumer Union and Consumer Federation who have been lobbying for almost 2 years to get the network neutrality principle passed into law? Are the only bad lobbyists the lobbyists working against the possition you support?

> Hi Everyone,

> I don't normally post my personal affiliations online, but this is an
> issue that I believe impacts every US netizen on this board and I thought
> you might want to know about it.

> Apparently, greed is getting the better of some of our corporations and
> there is active lobbying to allow the phone companies to grant premium
> services (ie, speeding processing) only to those websites that pay for the
> access. Read on:

> "Hi,
> Do you buy books online, use Google, or download to an iPod? Everything we
> do online will be hurt if Congress passes a radical law next week that
> gives giant corporations more control over what we do and see on the
> Internet.

> Internet providers like AT&T are lobbying Congress hard to gut Network
> Neutrality--the Internet's First Amendment and the key to Internet
> freedom. Net Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which websites open
> most easily for you based on which site pays AT&T more. BarnesandNoble.com
> doesn't have to outbid Amazon for the right to work properly on your
> computer.

> If Net Neutrality is gutted, many sites--including Google, eBay, and
> iTunes--must either pay protection money to companies like AT&T or risk
> having their websites process slowly. That why these high-tech pioneers,
> plus diverse groups ranging from MoveOn to Gun Owners of America, are
> opposing Congress' effort to gut Internet freedom.

> You can do your part today--can you sign this petition telling your member
> of Congress to preserve Internet freedom? Click here:

>
> http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet?track_referer=706%7C6603201-cY9asiAX.iAp1sBIx7Uk2A

> I signed this petition, along with 250,000 others so far. This petiton
> will be delivered to Congress before the House of Representatives votes
> next week. When you sign, you'll be kept informed of the next steps we can
> take to keep the heat on Congress.

> Snopes.com, which monitors various causes that circulate on the Internet,
> explained:

> Simply put, network neutrality means that no web site's traffic has
> precedence over any other's...Whether a user searches for recipes using
> Google, reads an article on snopes.com, or looks at a friend's MySpace
> profile, all of that data is treated equally and delivered from the
> originating web site to the user's web browser with the same priority. In
> recent months, however, some of the telephone and cable companies that
> control the telecommunications networks over which Internet data flows
> have floated the idea of creating the electronic equivalent of a paid
> carpool lane.

> If companies like AT&T have their way, Web sites ranging from Google to
> eBay to iTunes either pay protection money to get into the "fast
> lane" or risk opening slowly on your computer. We can't let the
> Internet--this incredible medium which has been such a revolutionary force
> for democratic participation, economic innovation, and free speech--become
> captive to large corporations.

> Politicians don't think we are paying attention to this issue. Together,
> we do care about preserving the free and open Internet.

> Please sign this petition letting your member of Congress know you support
> preserving Internet freedom. Click here:

>
> http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet?track_referer=706%7C6603201-cY9asiAX.iAp1sBIx7Uk2A

> Thanks."

> The information comes from MoveOn.org and I apologize if you feel I posted
> this inappropriately (but I'm sure MaaMaw will take it down if I did.)