[LINK] Fwd: Google vs. the Internet?

[Jan Whitaker]

MoveOn, the US big brother of GetUp!, is taking on Google/Verizon.

>Click here to sign the petition to Google:
><http://pol.moveon.org/google/?id=22362-7221053-cd1TJDx&t=1>"Google: 
>Say no to the reported agreement with Verizon to 
>kill Net Neutrality and the open Internet."
>
><http://pol.moveon.org/google/?id=22362-7221053-cd1TJDx&t=3>Sign the petition
>
>Dear MoveOn member,
>
>Big news: according to reports, Google is about 
>to cut a terrible deal with Verizon that would 
>end the fair, open Internet as we know it.1
>
>The reported Google-Verizon deal would allow 
>giant corporations to control which websites 
>load quickly and easily on the Internet and dump 
>everyone else onto an Internet slow lane. This 
>is exactly the kind of unequal playing field 
>that Google itself has opposed in the past.2
>
>We only have a few days to stop it, so we're 
>launching a grassroots protest calling on Google 
>to scuttle the deal. Will you sign our emergency 
>petition to Google? Click here to sign:
>
><http://pol.moveon.org/google/?id=22362-7221053-cd1TJDx&t=4>http://pol.moveon.org/google/?id=22362-7221053-cd1TJDx&t=4
>
>The petition says: "Google: Say no to the 
>reported agreement with Verizon to kill Net Neutrality and the open Internet."
>
>The Internet was founded on the principle that 
>all data is equal­and that no corporation should 
>be able to decide whose data goes faster or 
>slower. It's this principle, called Net 
>Neutrality, that has made the Internet such an 
>amazing platform for individual speech, 
>democratic action, and entrepreneurial creativity.3
>
>And until now, Google­which uses the corporate 
>motto "Don't Be Evil"­has been a staunch 
>defender of Net Neutrality.4 But now, Google is 
>threatening to turn the Internet into a closed, 
>pay-to-play, cash cow for large corporations. 
>This move is evil, and Google knows it.
>
>Here's why this is a big deal. President Obama's 
>new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 
>chair initially came out strong for Net 
>Neutrality, in line with the President's 
>campaign promises.5 But the big telecom 
>companies launched a lobbying frenzy, and soon 
>the FCC was meeting with them behind closed doors.
>
>Because Google and Verizon are two powerhouse 
>corporations that have historically been on 
>opposite sides of this issue, an agreement 
>between them will put enormous pressure on the 
>FCC to go along with their recommendations. 
>Essentially, two giant corporations may be 
>deciding the future of the Internet­if the Obama 
>administration goes along, and if the public 
>doesn't push back right away. Click here to help stop them now:
>
><http://pol.moveon.org/google/?id=22362-7221053-cd1TJDx&t=5>http://pol.moveon.org/google/?id=22362-7221053-cd1TJDx&t=5 
>
>
>Google was once a champion on this issue­Google 
>chief executive Eric Schmidt once attacked 
>"phone and cable monopolies" who "want the power 
>to choose who gets access to high-speed lanes 
>and whose content gets seen first and fastest."6
>
>But today's news stories report that under the 
>new deal, Verizon could be allowed to give some 
>sites preferential treatment. Even more 
>ominously, it appears that Verizon would have 
>free rein to discriminate on the mobile Internet 
>(smartphones, cell phones, etc). Since that's 
>where most people will access the Net going 
>forward, this would essentially spell the end of Net Neutrality.
>
>Google has issued a short, carefully worded 
>statement challenging some of the details in The 
>New York Times story, but it hasn't denied that 
>it is going along with this agreement to kill 
>Net Neutrality.7 So much for "Don't be evil." 
>Will you sign our petition today and tell Google 
>not to be evil on Net Neutrality?
>
><http://pol.moveon.org/google/?id=22362-7221053-cd1TJDx&t=6>http://pol.moveon.org/google/?id=22362-7221053-cd1TJDx&t=6


Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the 
world is to paint or sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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