Net Neutrality More Important than Ever



The November 7, 2006 election results breathe new life into the pro-net neutrality campaign, with Democrats sweeping both the House and Senate. At this critical juncture, popular voip internet phone provider, voip.com urges voters to join the effort to secure net neutrality rights.

Strongly worded net neutrality legislation ensures that everyone, from the biggest corporation to the smallest personal blogger, retains the right to see and be seen on the internet. It protects consumers by limiting the proposed pay-for-play business models currently being developed by major telecom companies, including Verizon, Nokia, Bell South, and AT&T. Without protection, access to the internet and visibility of websites will land squarely in the hands of those with the deepest pockets.

Unlike today'ss equal opportunity internet, individuals, small businesses, and innovators can expect to be passed over -- with preference being given to companies that can afford to pay for high-tier access. Telecoms would have you believe that net neutrality would force them to give away access for free; in fact, under net neutrality, individuals still pay for internet access and content providers continue to pay for bandwidth allotment. What changes, is a sort of double-billing situation where the telecoms require companies to pay additional fees or else their incoming traffic will be slowed or blocked entirely. Consumer-friendly applications like voip, online gaming, and streaming homegrown video would likely be squeezed out by larger corporations that can afford to pay for unfettered service.

With public support and awareness rapidly growing, net neutrality has the chance to actually become law this year; especially since Rep. Ed Markey, long a proponent of net neutrality legislation, is slated to head up the House Telecom and Internet Subcommittee during the 2007 term. As the newly elected 109th Congress heads up to Capitol Hill, make sure your representatives in the House and Senate know that you want loophole-free protection for net neutrality. If you need help drafting a letter, be sure to check out one of these pro-net neutrality groups for templates and ideas: savetheinternet.com freepress.net and itsourinternet.org.

To find out more about voip and net neutrality, go to voip.com'ss comprehensive website at http://www.voip.com/voip_wm.aspx.





Net Neutrality More Important than Ever