April 24, 2006

Dear Representative,

As Congress considers major legislation affecting the nation’s telecommunications structure, particular attention must be paid towards maintaining the Internet as a medium accessible to all, so that the free market might continue to determine which goods, services and ideas prosper.

For many years, those few companies whose hardware comprises the “skeleton” of the Internet have had to operate under the concept of Network Neutrality. That is, when selling their services, they had to treat all customers the same… all purchasers of a particular amount of bandwidth paid the same and were given the same level of service.

The result has been a vibrant and competitive marketplace, full of innovation and a definite positive force in our nation’s economy. Moreover, unfettered access to the Internet has given rise to an explosion in grassroots activism all across the political spectrum. Every blogger is a potential Patrick Henry, and every grassroots association has the means to disseminate its point of view.

It would be a shame if a handful of major telecoms were free to pick and choose which individuals and associations were the recipients of quality service – and which were left out in the cold. Without even ascribing a political motive to their actions, greed alone will skew the Internet marketplace if companies can deny superior quality of service to those who choose to use the products of competitors.

In the case of grassroots outside groups like GOA, equal access to the hardware, software, and bandwidth that comprise the Internet is essential to a free marketplace of ideas. Indeed, that is what we have had all along, and the result has been every bit as significant as the development of the printing press.

That marketplace has thrived even though we are essentially dealing with a government-supported oligopoly here. As long as government is setting the ground rules, those rules must include forced neutrality in order to ensure that the market will determine which goods and services prosper. It is not enough that the FCC be empowered to set “policies” as such policies would be subject to the whims of future administrations. Rather, the concept of Network Neutrality must be codified as black-letter law.

GOA urges you to insist upon Network Neutrality when revamping the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure.

Sincerely,