Net Neutrality

For those of you who are interested on how others are trying to stimulate public will around Internet-related issues...

"Support Net Neutrality: Say 'No' to Corporate Control "

When I saw this bumper sticker, I was intrigued to see what issue fueled (excuse the pun) the vehicular picket sign. My Google search led me to "Save the Internet," a site built by a coalition focusing on how corporations use the Internet to control access to information. The coalition warns:

...Corporate control of the Web would reduce your choices and stifle the spread of innovative and independent ideas that we've come to expect online. It would throw the digital revolution into reverse. Internet gatekeepers are already discriminating against Web sites and services they don't like:

• In October 2007, the Associated Press busted Comcast for blocking its users' access to peer-to-peer file-sharing networks like BitTorrent and Gnutella. This fraudulent practice is a glaring violation of Net Neutrality.
  
• In September 2007, Verizon was caught banning pro-choice text messages. After a New York Times expose, the phone company reversed its policy, claiming it was a glitch.
  

I find it interesting that the site is using the anti-corporate rhetoric we've come to know and love, but also that they are trying to create a framework using one of Boyle's requirements: finding a common interest which cuts across traditional oppositions. On the homepage, they invite readers to "learn more about an issue that unites the Christian Coalition, Teamsters, PETA, video gamers, the ACLU, Gun Owners of America and many more."