Join the Battle for Net Neutrality

Authored by battleforthenet.com and submitted by root_su

What is net neutrality? Why does it matter?

Net neutrality is the principle that Internet providers like Comcast & Verizon should not control what we see and do online. In 2015, startups, Internet freedom groups, and 3.7 million commenters won strong net neutrality rules from the US Federal Communication Commission (FCC). The rules prohibit Internet providers from blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization—"fast lanes" for sites that pay, and slow lanes for everyone else.

We are Team Internet. We support net neutrality, freedom of speech. Nearly everyone who understands and depends on the Internet supports net neutrality, whether they're startup founders, activists, gamers, politicians, investors, comedians, YouTube stars, or typical Internet users who just want their Internet to work as advertised—regardless of their political party. But don't take our word for it. Ask around, or watch some of these videos.

They are Team Cable. They want to end net neutrality, to control & tax the Internet.

Cable companies are famous for high prices and poor service. Several rank as the most hated companies in America. Now, they're lobbying the FCC and Congress to end net neutrality. Why? It's simple: if they win the power to slow sites down, they can bully any site into paying millions to escape the "slow lane." This would amount to a tax on every sector of the American economy. Every site would cost more, since they'd all have to pay big cable. Worse, it would extinguish the startups and independent voices who can't afford to pay. If we lose net neutrality, the Internet will never be the same.

On July 12, 2017, thousands of us protested to defend Internet freedom. In just one day, websites large and small participated in one of the biggest online protests ever, reaching tens of millions of people, driving over 2 million comments to the FCC and over 5 million emails—and over 124,000 calls—to members of Congress. See the screenshots.

Now, we must convince Congress to stop the FCC. Can you display an alert? We need your help. Congress could come out to stop the FCC, but generating calls in every House district requires massive amounts of traffic. You can display a prominent alert on your site that shows the world what the web will look like without net neutrality—and asks your visitors to call. Click here for a demo or grab the code on GitHub. None of these will actually block, slow, or paywall your site. But, they will let your users contact their representatives in Congress without having to leave your page. They appear once per user per day and users can easily click away. Just add this line of code to your site's header: <script src="https://widget.battleforthenet.com/widget.js" async></script>

You can use these banners and images too...

Where do your members of Congress stand? Find out, and tweet them! To win, we need to bring more members of Congress onto "Team Internet"—especially Republicans. Republican members of Congress face massive pressure from party leadership to oppose Net Neutrality, partly because of lobbying by Team Cable, and partly because they see it as "Obama era" policy. But Net Neutrality predates Obama, has always been a design principle of the Internet, and does not need to be a partisan issue. Some Republicans are open to the need for rules—but they won't break ranks from party leaders unless they hear from constituents. Tweets are surprisingly effective—and you should still call too.

Critmed74 on November 22nd, 2017 at 07:00 UTC »

This is nuckingfuts... I entered in two different zips and both my representatives were NOT accepting calls or voice mails.

I called the FCC directly from their website and they said they were "longer than average wait times". Then they gave an alternate route to make a complaint about the long wait. Then proceed to read long URL transcript... over the phone... not as a link. I tried to connect with a department NOT RELATED TO THE FCC CHANGES and a machine said they were not accepting calls and then hung up on me.

I mean... why would they make it so hard for my voice to be heard.

freebies on November 22nd, 2017 at 06:49 UTC »

Copied from a previous thread

And this is why we need to fight for an open, free internet.

Rules I like to follow :

• Always use a VPN (/r/Nologsvpn). This will encrypt your data so that no third parties are able to get it (ISPs etc) it also helps bypass Geo blocks, and protocol throttling.

• Keep your social media usage as little as possible.

• Use throwaway accounts on Reddit. Especially if you give away identifying information or post in local subreddits.

• Extra tip, use PGP on sensitive exchanges.

If anyone has any extras please share! :)

peacelovearizona on November 22nd, 2017 at 06:34 UTC »

Here is a White House petition to save Net Neutrality.

Edit: Please share this link. We can achieve more than 100,000 signatures and show the White House how we care about Net Neutrality.