Last week, Matt Stoller posted a blog at Open Left that made the rounds far and wide announcing that every major Democratic challenger candidate for the US Senate supports net neutrality. He also posted statements from many other players in the political arena supporting net neutrality, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Adam Green of MoveOn.org, labor leaders and others.
But before this gets framed as a "lefty" issue, I would like to take some time to point out supporters of net neutrality who are NOT Democrats or liberals.
First and foremost I would mention US Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) who is a prime sponsor of the Internet Freedom Preservation Act in the Senate. She was quoted in a press release on her site as saying:
"Today's reintroduction of the Internet Freedom Preservation Act marks another step toward ensuring the fate of the Internet lies in the hands of its users and not the hands of a few gatekeepers," Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) said. "The tide has turned in the debate between those who seek to maintain equality and those who would benefit from the creation of a toll road on the Internet super highway. The reintroduction of this legislation and the FCC's imposition of net neutrality conditions as part of the AT&T-BellSouth merger, are significant victories in the fight to ensure nondiscrimination on the Internet, and I look forward to continuing that fight along side Senator Dorgan in the new Congress."
Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) has also been a prime sponsor of net neutrality legislation. "This legislation is a necessary step to protect consumers and other Internet users from possible anti-competitive and discriminatory conduct by broadband providers," Sensenbrenner said in a prepared statement. "The FCC recently reported that 98 percent of American consumers get their high speed broadband from either a cable company or a DSL provider. This virtual duopoly creates an environment that is ripe for anti-competitive abuses, and for which a clear antitrust remedy is urgently needed."
Rep. Chip Pickering (R-MS) is a prime sponsor of H.R. 5353 with Rep. Markey (D-MA), the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008. "...we want to make certain that markets continue to evolve and maintain openness, and that internet freedom drives investment, innovation, and competition," Pickering said. He continued, "This will allow the market to grow as the industry voluntarily maintains these freedoms, while providing oversight and accountability for maintaining openness and competitive choice."
Some other non-liberal supporters of net neutrality include:
These are in addition to non-political entities like SoccerTimes, Game Overdrive, Teaching Matters and my favorite, Tiki Bar TV who support net neutrality.
There is a full list (with links) of members of the Save The Internet coalition here
But just to be clear, my main point is that this is not a left-right issue. People from all over the political spectrum and those who aren't very political understand that the loss of net neutrality will harm all political discourse in America, as well as harm small businesses that rely on the internet for survival.
I truly hope that more bipartisan support for net neutrality can emerge in Congress and we can finally take care of this issue once and for all.
