I just posted this over on SaveTheInternet.com, and thought I’d also share it here.
The Internet is Essential to the Global Community
Without the Internet, I would not know most of the people in my life whom I now consider irrepla
ceable. I met my housemates online, I met dear friends online, I reconnected with family I barely knew thanks to the Internet.
I have taken online psychology courses from a small (seven-member staff) company in Scotland, increasing my own skill base. I also make part of my income doing copy editing for that same company. A company that has had an enormous impact on my professional and personal development, as well as a positive impact on the lives of many others. A company I would never have found without Net Neutrality, as I doubt they would have been able to pay the “gatekeepers” to get their website seen.
If not for the Internet, I would not have friends around the globe, even in non-English-speaking countries. If not for tiny little message boards on highly specific subjects, I would have lost my mind years ago, being the only person I knew who held an interest in the topic. If not for Internet gaming, I would no longer be able to play with my 10-year-old nephew, who lives 2000 miles away. (For that matter, you wouldn’t be reading this BLOG if not for Net Neutrality.)
Because of the Internet and Net Neutrality, cultural and language barriers have broken down. People around the globe can unite over a common interest, a common cause, or even just a common gripe. We are fast becoming a global community of friends, lovers, business partners, gaming acquaintances, even… a family.
AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, and the rest want to isolate America by limiting what we can see and access online. They want to roll back two decades of progress. Isolation has a way of killing species, communities, cultures, progress, and economy. We must have the access to work together as a planet to move forward.
The efforts of the communication giants must be stopped.
Go to SaveTheInternet.com and sign the petition. Tell Congress to stand up to the communication giants and save Net Neutrality.
In addition…without the internet, family members who lived separated by age and distance might never get to know each other and learn how very compatible they are.
I admire you for so many reasons.
I did mention family, with you in mind.
Love ya, cos!
“AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, and the rest want to isolate America by limiting what we can see and access online.”
Have they said anything about why? This is all new to me, but very scary. What happened to “America, land of the free”?
Money. It’s always about money.
The communications companies want to charge a fee to websites. If you can pay the fee, your site will load faster and be featured in search results. If you can’t, your mom-and-pop store or indie band or next-generation Twitter startup or grassroots political campaign will never have a chance of being seen. We’ll all be funnelled into the Big Boys’ sites.
Not to mention that the communications companies would have the ability to “censor” political (or any) messages with which they don’t agree.
The Internet was created by the users, by the grassroots efforts, by freedom of speech. Net Neutrality is the very heart of the Internet. We have to fight for it.
Fortunately, President Obama is on our side; Congress… has at least some of their pockets being lined by our enemies’ money.
So yes, it is very scary.
I agree – we have to fight for it.
I haven’t read anything about the same thing happening here – but if it does happen in the US, it will probably end up being the same here.