Dear Conservatives,
A few weeks ago, I warned you about the dangers posed by the D.C. Court of Appeals’ decision to overturn the FCC’s net neutrality rules. If we allow this ruling to survive, it will destroy the internet as we know it!
Essentially, net neutrality is the concept that individuals should have free access to all web content. Free, in this instance, does not necessarily mean ‘free of charge.’ While that is certainly the direction that the internet is heading, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are still allowed to charge users to access the internet.
Net neutrality means that ISPs are not allowed to block access to certain websites while giving preferential treatment to others; it means that internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon are not allowed to charge users to access popular websites; and it means that these companies are not allowed to redirect your web traffic to a competitor’s site.
A few weeks ago, we overwhelmed Congress with thousands of faxes urging them to restore net neutrality, and they listened! Well, the Democrats did at least…
Democrats in the House and Senate have introduced the Open Internet Preservation Act in an attempt to reinstate net neutrality. Unfortunately, lobbyists have already ‘convinced’ Republicans that the internet is better when ISPs decide what content you are allowed to access!
The loss of internet neutrality poses many threats. What would happen if an internet company decided to stop Conservatives from visiting certain websites and organizing with one another? What would happen if you were stopped from visiting FoxNews .com or some other Conservative site, and instead redirected instantly to MSNBC .com?
Sure this may seem farfetched, but it is just a matter of time before internet service providers start targeting the Conservative movement!
Just look at Comcast, the country’s largest internet provider servicing over 18 million internet customers alone. Comcast is also the sole owner of NBCUniversal, which subsequently owns television news channels like NBC, CNBC, and MSNBC. Everyone knows that MSNBC is at the bottom when it comes to TV ratings and web news content.
Net neutrality protects you from companies like Comcast who have a vested interest in other companies. Net neutrality prevents companies like Comcast from restricting access to the Drudge Report, The Blaze, or even Fox News and pushing users towards their own news websites instead.
This is already starting to happen with nonpartisan websites. Comcast intends to restrict or throttle users’ access to Netflix, Youtube, and Hulu in order to promote its own On Demand service. Everywhere there is money to be made, internet service providers will jump at the opportunity. Don’t forget: these are the same companies that sold YOUR data and search history to the NSA for millions of dollars!
In all honesty, it is a perfectly logical business decision on Comcast’s part. Why allow users to go to a competitor’s website when you offer a similar product or service? It is in Comcast’s business interest to block your access to Conservative websites. Why would Comcast allow its direct competitors to gain advertising revenue when they can force you to visit their liberal news websites instead?
It’s not just Comcast, either… All of the major internet service providers are in bed with news companies, in one way or another.
While that is certainly a threat, net neutrality is also essential in protecting business start-ups and allowing them to grow.
Here is a real-life scenario: Imagine a company develops a new social media platform to compete with Facebook or Twitter. It is trying to enter the marketplace; however Facebook and Twitter have already paid the ISP an exorbitant amount of money for preferential treatment. Essentially, this is a type of black mail. But it also stops new companies from growing, which only hurts the economy!
Net neutrality is absolutely essential to the way our country functions. It ensures that you are allowed to access the news of the day and it provides internet start-ups with a fair chance to develop and grow!
Obama stacked the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals with liberal activist judges, and the court ended up striking down the FCC’s net neutrality rules. Now, everything I mentioned above is starting to become a reality. It is absolutely crucial that Congress restore the net neutrality provisions struck down by the Obama’s D.C. Circuit!
Unfortunately, Republicans don’t seem to agree that internet users should have unfettered access to legal content online. Lobbyists representing Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T have already spent millions of dollars to convince Members of Congress to side against the American people! They are trying to drown out your voice!
Republicans are arguing that this is a matter of resisting more government regulation of the internet, however net neutrality does exactly the opposite. Net neutrality ensures that neither the government, nor an internet service provider, can restrict individuals’ access to web content. Republicans are using a straw-man argument to warn of the danger of further government regulation, when in reality, they are only trying to shift the regulatory power from the government to the private sector!
The Democrats have listened to us and introduced legislation to ensure that no one is allowed to restrict citizens’ access to lawful internet content.
Without your support, this bill will die. Republicans will shoot it down and we will be forced to pay a premium for access to the Conservative web content that we want. Mark my words, there will come a time when you will try to go to FoxNews .com and you will be redirected to MSNBC. Internet service providers will restrict your access to their competitors’ websites, even though you paid for internet service!
The internet as you know it is dead unless this bill passes.
Sincerely,
Joe Otto
Conservative Daily
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