I am a married father of 3. I produce and direct independent films. I blog. I design websites. I manage political campaigns. I operate a non-profit that advocates for victims of child abuse and molestation.

Nearly every aspect of my life involves using the Internet, from spending time with far away family down to the very living I make to support my family.

I pay for my access and I pay for my hosting and then, like everyone else, the Internet is what I make it, based on my own hard work and dedication. It is, in it’s quintessential nature, a more level playing field than any other aspect of American Life.

America is already behind most of the world in Internet technology and access because of the very same companies that want to add their own “pay more to play less” restrictions on what is becoming the last free speech zone available to a nearly global audience.

I need the Internet neutral to survive and provide for my family. AT&T, Verizon and Comcast don’t much care about those sort of things.

Net Neutrality is essential to free speech, equal opportunity and economic innovation in America. Since the FCC removed this basic protection in 2005, the top executives of phone and cable companies have stated their intention to become the Internet’s gatekeepers and to discriminate against Web sites that don’t pay their added tolls.

This fundamental change would end the open Internet as we know it. It would damage my ability to connect with others, share information and participate in our 21st century democracy and economy. The FCC must ensure that broadband providers do not block, interfere with or discriminate against any lawful Internet traffic based on its ownership, source or destination.

RESOURCES:

FTC Urges Caution On ‘Net Neutrality’ Proposals

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission warned Wednesday against regulations to ensure that providers of high-speed Internet service treat all content the same way, saying such rules could stifle innovation.

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From Information Week

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The news story about the FTC report notes that “the FTC sided with high-speed Internet providers such as AT&T and Verizon,” and trotted out once again hollow justifications like “such rules could stifle innovation” and “”This report recommends that policy makers proceed with caution in the evolving, dynamic industry of broadband Internet access, which generally is moving toward more — not less – competition,” which it probably didn’t even think up itself, but copied from industry propaganda.

The paradox is that these providers have been working very hard to stifle innovation and move toward less competition for years – take their well-funded resistance, at both national and state levels, to public WiFi and similar local initiatives, for example. U.S. Internet service providers deliver less service for higher prices than many other countries around the world. In April, when the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet held hearings on broadband in this country versus others, the committee heard that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) had just lowered the United States to the number 15 spot on the list.

Technological innovation in broadband access is a threat to corporate profits, and the FTC report comes down on the side not of the public interest but of the private interests.

As a government policy, this isn’t working. Communication Workers of America union puts it this way:

Our reliance on market forces, deregulation, and inadequate governmental programs has not served us well. We invest relatively less on communications; we are charged more for slower speeds; millions encounter a significant digital divide based on income and geography, and unionized jobs with good wages and benefits are being replaced by low-wage jobs with less training and higher turnover.

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