A few hours ago, the FCC took another big step towards killing net neutrality—voting to move forward with a plan to allow cable companies to give preferential treatment to big corporations and stick the rest of us on an Internet “slow lane.”
Of course, not ALL technology is in the hands of the paranoid military machinists. Apple’s had a counter-net-neutality-killer app out for a while now, and it’s exciting: Extracts from a buddy’s letter this morning…
“If you have access to any Apple or Mac equipment, there’s a new platform out called WeChat because – Clear, Free TV communications world-wide, I use it with a friend in Beijing and it’s like he’s in my living room and we can type in Chinese by writing the characters on the screen with our fingers. Unbelievable. It has been out for only about 6 months. This is without a doubt the most versatile means of communication available, and with the keyboard and WeChat you will have the most amazing portable office that you have ever seen. It takes, sends and receives incredible photographs, and you can take photographs of documents and even other photographs that look like they were done on a scanner. It will give you unbelievable mobility with your BIN articles because you can work anyplace where there is free WiFi, such as in or near a coffee shop, etc. Check out WeChat on WikiPedia, etc.
you need to link your Google Account to your Android device. To link your Google Account to your Android device, sign in to the Google Play Store app on your Android device and download any app.
Meanshile, despite an unprecedented public backlash from members of Congress, Internet giants like Google and Netflix, and an Occupy-style encampment in front of FCC headquarters.
It’s outrageous–but the fight is far from over.
The next step is a 60-day period in which the public will be invited to submit public comments for or against the FCC’s plan.
There’s no question the FCC is feeling the heat. Insiders described the situation inside FCC headquarters as “chaos,” and at the last minute before today’s vote they added an alternative option to reclassify the Internet as a public utility like telephones or electricity.
Make no mistake, that happened because of all of us speaking out. The pressure we brought to bear last week made a huge difference. Now, the public will be asked to weigh in on both options—whether to kill net neutrality or save it by reclassifying the Internet as a utility.
But FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is himself a former cable industry lobbyist, and based on today’s hearing it’s clear he intends to keep pushing to kill off the free and open Internet.
So it’s up to us to turn up the pressure on the FCC and President Obama—who has in the past claimed to support net neutrality but appointed the very FCC chairman who’s now trying to repeal it.
Step one is to generate a massive avalanche of public comments against the FCC’s plan to kill net neutrality during the 60-day public comment period coming up. Then, we’ll continue recruiting bigger and bigger websites to join the fight and alert their users of the risk to the free and open Internet.
We’ve come a long way. The public is mobilized and angry. Now, if we can keep up the pressure we can win.Can you make a donation to help ramp up this emergency campaign?