Huge update: President Obama speaks out to save the Internet

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From: "Maria Tchijov, MoveOn.org Political Action" <moveon-help@list.moveon.org>
Date: Aug 6, 2014 3:26 PM
Subject: Huge update: President Obama speaks out to save the Internet
To: "Daniel A. Stafford" <aquarianm@gmail.com>
Cc:

Send the FCC a fax for net neutrality! President Obama just spoke out forcefully in favor of real Net Neutrality—the first time he's weighed in since the FCC proposed rules that would end the open Internet.  This could be a turning point. Can you send a free fax to the FCC, so that every person in the FCC headquarters hears the president's message loud and clear?   Fax the FCC!

Dear MoveOn member,

President Obama just said something huge about Net Neutrality, and it could be a gamechanger.

For the first time since the FCC unveiled its disastrous plan to allow a corporate takeover of the Internet earlier this year, President Obama answered our call to speak up to save the Internet.¹

This is significant progress in the fight to restore and protect Net Neutrality. If we seize this moment, it could be a turning point.

Here's what President Obama said:

I personally, the position of my administration... is that you don't want to start getting a differentiation in how accessible the Internet is to different users.

You want to leave it open so the next Google and the next Facebook can succeed.

The FCC is making decisions this year that will affect the future of the Internet. President Obama's comments could motivate the three Democrats who sit on the FCC—all of whom President Obama appointed—to reconsider the plan that they're advancing, which would turn the Internet into a two-tier system with a fast lane for the big companies that can afford to pay, and a slow lane for the rest of us.

That's why today, we're teaming up with our friends at CREDO to flood the FCC with faxes of President Obama's statement. We want every commissioner and staff person in the FCC headquarters to get the message that not only did President Obama weigh in, but tens of thousands of Americans noticed too.

Click here to send a free fax to the FCC right now. Our tools will send the fax for you!  

Why a fax? We've called and submitted comments—faxes, though seemingly antiquated, are a great way to grab attention! And FCC chairman Tom Wheeler has a press conference this Friday—the more stir we make within the FCC, the likelier it'll be that a reporter asks him to address President Obama's comments directly.

For months, MoveOn members have been calling the White House every day and signing petitions urging President Obama not to stand idly by while the people he appointed destroy the future of the Internet.

Less than two weeks ago, hundreds of MoveOn members and our allies made headlines with the message "Don't Kill the Internet" as we rallied outside the president's fundraisers in Silicon Valley and Los Angeles—and we caught the attention of people traveling with the president.

Our organizing is working. Yesterday, the president echoed our message. But his clear call for real Net Neutrality could get swept under the rug if we don't shout it from the rooftops.

Click here to send a copy of President Obama's statement to the FCC.

The Washington Post reported that the president's comments "seem to contrast with the FCC's current proposal on net neutrality, which would tacitly allow for such commercial deals."

The political support is there for the FCC to abandon its dangerous plan and pursue the sensible path—treating the Internet as a public utility, like other utilities like water and telephones, to preserve the Internet as an equal playing field for all.

But there's a danger that President Obama's comments will get buried—unless we flood the FCC today with copies of his influential statement.

Click here to send your free fax.

Thanks for all you do.

–Maria, Victoria, Jo, Milan, and the rest of the team

P.S. Here's the full transcript of what President Obama said—click here to send a fax of this statement to the FCC so that FCC chairman Tom Wheeler feels the full weight of the president's comments:

One of the issues around net neutrality is whether you are creating different rates or charges for different content providers. That's the big controversy here.

So you have big, wealthy media companies who might be willing to pay more and also charge more for spectrum, more bandwidth on the Internet so they can stream movies faster.

I personally, the position of my administration, as well as a lot of the companies here, is that you don't want to start getting a differentiation in how accessible the Internet is to different users.

You want to leave it open so the next Google and the next Facebook can succeed.

Source:

1. "Obama strikes a populist tone on net neutrality," The Washington Post, August 5, 2014
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=300229&id=99488-18854005-QglIZJx&t=7

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PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to Daniel A. Stafford on August 6, 2014. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.