Save Access

from: Seattle Stranger

Net Loss
The Fight for "Net Neutrality" May Be Undone by Local Consultant

BY JOSH FEIT

The fate of the internet may very well be decided in Seattle. And it's not because of this city's renowned pool of high-tech talent. It's because two of the central players in a heated federal debate about the rules of engagement on the net—a debate that erupted on the floor of the U.S. House last week—hail from here.

Update from SavetheInternet.com

Dear Coalition Member,

Here's a quick update on the SavetheInternet.com Coalition.

*VOTES IN WASHINGTON*

*Summary:*
This week there will be a pair of important votes on Net Neutrality. The first occurs Wednesday afternoon during a back-room meeting of the House Rules Committee. Rules will decide whether to allow the full House to vote on pro-Net Neutrality legislation later this week. If Rules allows Net Neutrality to the floor, a second vote could occur as early as Thursday evening, when every House representative has a chance to vote on the issue as an amendment to the COPE Act.

from: All HipHop

Rappers Can't Save You - The Death Of The Internet
Bruce Dixon of Black Commentator

America’s Black misleadership class, which is nearly indistinguishable from its Black business class, has struck again. In a stunning coup, a mainline African American voting rights group has been enlisted on the side of AT&T and other telecom monopolies in their legislative push to privatize the Internet and roll back hundreds of agreements with local communities that force these monopolies to extend Internet and cable service to poor and rural communities around the country.

from: The Hill

Telecom group spends big to raise industry profile

By Jim Snyder

The lobbying expenditures of the U.S. Telecom Association (USTA) have risen almost as fast as the TVs that soar through roofs in the group’s ubiquitous ad campaign.

Five years ago, USTA spent just over $2 million on lobbying. By last year that figure had risen to nearly $17 million, making the group the sixth biggest spender on K Street and a major contributor to a revival of telecom and high-tech lobbying.

With the COPE vote bearing down this week, the astroturf groups are busy sprouting plastic dandelion blooms. Consumers for Cable Choice, which has been pushing their deceptive marketing campaign since last June, today claimed to have sent a petition to Congress on behalf of one million Americans. This is pretty creative math for an organization with 1200 individual supporters and 71 organizations. Apparently they tally up all the members of each organization and count them as petition signatories too (with Women Impacting Public Policy providing a whopping 505,000 count alone). One wonders if the same people behind C4CC also counted votes in Ohio and Florida.