Big IPS's are going to fight court's ruling in favor of Net Neutrality

From Fight For The Future:

The top appeals court in the US just decided in favor of the net neutrality rules we fought so hard to win. Net neutrality is the law of the land and one of the cable industry’s best shots at overturning the rules has come up empty.

Net neutrality, or the open Internet, says that no company can slow down or block websites as a basic first amendment rule of the Internet. Now, the courts just decided that the strongest possible way to protect that rule—the worst-case scenario envisioned by Comcast—is completely and fully legal!

Being told this win was impossible is a sting we can still feel today. But after we worked together to submit a record breaking 4 million comments to the FCC, camped out at their headquarters, called for Title II when we had little political cover, and brought together thousands of companies to take action with us, we got the largest win against entrenched interests this decade.

But this isn’t over. Partisan and heavily-funded attacks have been piling up. Make a monthly donation so we can build the campaigns that reach millions more people and definitively undermine their plans.

Can’t donate right now?

Take action to make sure the FCC doesn't allow new ISP schemes that can undermine net neutrality.

Fight for the Future signed on as intervenors in the USTelecom vs FCC case, so it's especially nice to win this one. This watershed victory reminds us we can break down the status quo and win big if we stay tenacious. (Here's a little refresher on how we won.)

But—surprise!—this fight is not over.

There is still a giant loophole in the net neutrality rules that we need the FCC to fix. If we don’t, net neutrality could be undermined by “sponsored data” programs and the Internet could become less open than if we never won the rules in the first place.

Then there’s Congress. Earlier today, House Speaker Paul Ryan released his legislative blueprint that includes plans to weaken the FCC’s authority to enforce net neutrality.

And last but not least, the broadband industry has already said they are going to take this all the way to the Supreme Court.

Clearly, we need to keep fighting. But we need your help.

Take action to make sure the FCC doesn't create fast lanes by allowing “sponsored data” programs.

Or...

Donate today so we can keep this fight alive until net neutrality is secured for good.

Want to see how this fight was won—we made this timeline of the fight so you can do that!

Thanks for all you have done to make this net neutrality win possible so far!

More information:

1. Wired
2. New York Times
3. Arstechnica
4. Techdirt

ISP's use "zero rating" get around Net Neutrality

From Fight For The Future:

The “zero-rating” threat to Net Neutrality and the Open Internet is still very real. I’m writing today because there’s one thing we need everyone to do: file a complaint to the FCC, and demand that they do not make a decision on zero-rating behind closed doors.

First, a recap: Comcast, T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon have a new way to get around the Open Internet rules we fought for, called zero rating.[1] They're imposing data caps and fees on their customers, and then exempting certain apps and websites (e.g. the ones that they own, or that pay them big $$$) giving those sites a huge unfair advantage––and manipulating what we see and do online.

For example, in Massachusetts, Comcast is now limiting how many shows you can watch on Netflix, but exempting its own crummy Netflix clone, "XFinity Stream TV". And they’re rolling this out nationwide. [2]

Their plan was to sneak this zero-rating scam through the FCC. But we've been working to stop it, and we need your help.

Don't want to give Comcast the power to decide what sites you visit? Click here to file a complaint to the FCC!

Fight for the Future has been working behind the scenes to mobilize net neutrality allies, we've already collected 80,000 complaints, and we're planning a petition delivery outside the FCC.

When we deliver these comments to the FCC, we want to have 100,000 complaints against fast lanes ready to submit. 100,000 is the number that'll be a huge wake-up call to the FCC and the DC press.

Can you submit your complaint right now, to help us hit our goal of 100,000?

Even if you filed a complaint before, it's worth doing again, as we've made some improvements. Now, you can submit complaints against each company individually, which means the FCC can *legally require* that company to respond. This new approach means more pressure on the companies, and (in our view) more influence on the FCC's decision as well.

You don't have to be a customer of these companies to file complaints, but if you are, say so! And the more you can personalize the complaint, in your own words, the better.

File your complaint right now to defend the Open Internet.

What's at stake? Well, here's a breakdown.

1. Comcast is rolling out data caps that punish Netflix and Youtube viewers, while exempting its own jaw-droppingly terrible streaming TV service “Xfinity Stream TV” to force people to watch *that* instead. File a complaint against Comcast.

2. T-Mobile is throttling nearly every website that uses HD video, and forcing small sites to make an expensive technical arrangement with T-Mobile to get their videos working again. File a complaint against T-Mobile.

3. AT&T and Verizon are imposing data caps and charges, and then charging sites to escape them. If this takes off, small sites that can't pay will be put out of business, and big sites will start passing the costs on to you. File a complaint against AT&T and Verizon.

The worst part of all of this is, we’re hearing that the FCC could decide on this soon without consulting anyone except Comcast, AT&T, Verizon & T-Mobile themselves! That’s why we’ve included in each new complaint the demand that the FCC open up an open process, and we’ve added a way to call the FCC and demand this after you take action.

1.Source
2.Source

We got a victory Net Neutrality is still alive

From Free Press Action Fund:

Good news: Your phone calls to Congress worked and the just-passed government-funding bill has NO anti-Net Neutrality language. This is an important victory.

Unfortunately Comcast and the other Internet service providers never take their defeats lying down. They'll continue to come after the FCC rules any way they can.

We'll keep you posted. For now, though, know that you helped deliver a big win in the fight to keep the Internet free and open.

Thank you!

Sandy
freepress.net

Big Cable and ISP's sue FCC over Net Neutrality

From Demand Progress:

BREAKING NEWS: The telecommunications industry just sued the FCC to kill Net Neutrality.1

Just weeks ago, the FCC issued a historic decision preserving Net Neutrality. But two new lawsuits filed by the big cable and Internet Service Providers are trying to overturn the whole thing.

With the amount of money corporations like Verizon and AT&T can spend on lawyers, this is going to be a huge fight. And to win, we need to make sure the public is making our voices heard in support of the FCC.

Will you chip in $5 to help fight back against this lawsuit and save Net Neutrality?

Yes, I'll chip in $5 to help save Net Neutrality.

They've given millions to politicians. They've spent millions more on lobbyists. And now they've hired an army of lawyers to accomplish what they haven't been able to do so far: kill Net Neutrality.

Why are they fighting this so hard? Because they want to give preferential treatment to big corporations and dump the rest of us into an Internet slow lane—all so they can jack up their already sky-high profits.

The scary thing is that they've had success blocking Net Neutrality in the courts before. Previous efforts by the FCC to protect Net Neutrality have been blocked by the cable industry's lawyers.

So it's not enough to let goverment lawyers fight this on their own. We need to make sure the public is speaking out too.

We've come too far to let Net Neutrality get killed by an army of corporate lawyers. Will you chip in $5 to help fight back?

Yes, I'll chip in $5 to save Net Neutrality.

Thanks.

--Demand Progress

1.Source

Net Neutrality edging closer to becoming a reality

From Demand Progress:

My, how the tables have turned.

Last January, a court struck down Net Neutrality at the behest of Verizon, Comcast and the other major ISPs -- some of America's most powerful, and most reviled, corporations.

But after a year of aggressive organizing and activism -- in which millions of Americans have taken part -- we're on the brink of achieving meaningful new Net Neutrality rules.

Perhaps no single thrust did more to force back the ISPs than the Internet Slowdown, during which nearly one million people told Congress and the FCC to support the open Internet.

The FCC’s proposed rules are expected to be made public in just a day or two. They vote on the Feb 26th, and the ISPs will try to use the next few weeks to undermine everything that's good about the rules. All the while -- and for some time thereafter -- the biggest ISP shills in Congress will try to undercut us.

We need all hands on deck -- we have to mobilize as many users, social media accounts, and websites as possible to stand up and defend the net. (And run over the ISPs in the process.)

Thousands have already signed up, helping us reach more than 3.4 million people every day already. Will you join them?

Joining them is easy. All you have to do is click on the banner at the top of the webpage and protect the internet.

Demand Title II Net Neutrality

From Demand Progress:

With the FCC so close to finally passing real Net Neutrality rules, things are getting ugly in Congress. Last week we told you that Sen. John Thune and Rep. Fred Upton are pushing fake Net Neutrality legislation — dubbed, nefariously enough, "Title X" — at the behest of Comcast and the other big ISPs.

Will you call your lawmakers to tell them to oppose it? It'll just take a couple of minutes, and will help save the Internet.

It's easy to see what's going on here: Nearly every last person and organization that's backing this proposal has historically OPPOSED Net Neutrality, and now they're trying to gut the FCC's authority to implement meaningful rules.

As the key committees held hearings last week you bombarded the members' offices with tens of thousands of calls -- and that seems to have brushed back potential supporters from signing on.

But it's not a done deal yet, and we need to shut this thing down before it moves an inch.

Let's stop this bill before it starts — Please click here to call Congress now.

While the Thune-Upton bill is disguised as Net Neutrality legislation, it would actually just protect the phone and cable broadband duopoly from oversight. It legalizes a lot of harmful discriminatory practices by preventing the FCC from moving on its own to adopt and enforce rules.

We need to keep ensuring that this proposed legislation is exposed for what it is: a cynical cable-lobby effort to prevent the FCC keeping the Internet open and nondiscriminatory.

Will you call your lawmakers to tell them to oppose it? It'll just take a couple of minutes, and will help save the Internet.

Thanks.

Demand Progress

If making a call is out of the question then you can always email your Congressperson and Senators and tell them to enact Title II Net Neutrality. Demand Progress will also connect you to the FCC after you've spoken to your legislators. In the event you cannot talk on the phone to the FCC you can contact their commissioners and tell them you've spoken with your legislators and that you want them to Implement Title II Net Neutrality.