Protesters campout in front of FCC headquarters

From Fight For The Future:

BREAKING NEWS: Activists are on the ground in DC camping out for net neutrality! Click here to support them!

It’s happening. A group of dedicated net neutrality activists are gathering right now outside the FCC's headquarters in Washington DC. They brought, banners, signs and... sleeping bags.

These folks -- Internet users just like you and I -- are camping out in front of the FCC day and night until the agency hears the overwhelming cry of the public to reign in abusive telecom monopolies and keep the Internet equal for all.

Here’s the best part: it’s already working. Before a single protester had even shown up at the FCC’s doorstep, we got a call from Chairman Tom Wheeler’s office asking what our message was, and saying they may be interested in meeting with us. That ’s particularly interesting, since when we helped deliver more than 1 million net neutrality signatures to the FCC last month, they wouldn't meet with us. The press coverage on the action has been amazing.

Now we know for sure we have the FCC’s attention, since they’ll have to walk past our encampment every day when they come to work. We've heard from our contacts in DC that Tom Wheeler was not expecting this kind of massive backlash to his net neutrality announcement last week. AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast have dozens of paid lobbyists surrounding the FCC daily, this is our way of fighting back.

Don't let the FCC break the Internet with a ‘fast lane’ and a ‘slow lane.’

Not only do we have Tom Wheeler’s attention, but two other FCC commissioners stepped up and publicly questioned Wheeler’s proposal in support of open Internet policy. [1] With the momentum growing, the press coverage we’ve received from the encampment has been amazing - the Guardian, CBC news, Al Jazeera, Democracy Now! and many other media outlets have been covering the action on the ground!

We have a real chance of winning this fight and keeping the Internet as a free and open platform for communication and expression, but we need everyone to help spread the word. This is getting bigger than anything the FCC expected - and it's only going to get bigger leading up to our big action on May 15.

If you’re in Washington, DC, Please come join us! We will be rallying outside the FCC every day from noon to 5 PM from now until May 15. And if you're especially dedicated bring your sleeping bag and camp out with us! The more people keeping up constant a presence outside the FCC, the more likely be will be to win net neutrality and defend freedom of speech online.

If you want to be a part of the campout, but you need help getting there, please reply to this e-mail. We’ve talked to people from as far as New York City and Boston to help bus them over to DC to join the encampment!

Last chance, click here to learn more about the encampment and take action for net neutrality.

For the Internet,
-Evan, Tiffiniy, and Kevin
Fight for the Future

P.S. If you know anyone in DC, please forward this email to them! Here’s the link with all the info about where and when the protests are happening.

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[1] Dominic Rushe. “FCC under increased pressure over threat to net neutrality”. The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/may/08/fcc-net-neutrality-open-internet-google-facebook-amazon

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