I Can Hardly Believe The Shamelessness
By OlgaB
Posted on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 12:09:01 PM EST
I am a young intern at Common Cause, and joined with that fired up "Screw the man, he's corrupt" attitude. Now that I've struggled my way through H.R. 5252, the COPE Bill, I am simply stunned because it's a plan to become more corrupt - straight from the mouth of the beast. You be the judge, does this sound too blunt to be true?
H.R. 5252 is the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act (COPE)
1. A company would have the option to become a national franchise. Right now if a company wants expand into a community it has to negotiate a contract with the local government before it can come in, but a national franchise is national. The company wouldn't have to talk to anyone, it already has the right to expand.
How many costly lawsuits would it take to keep a company out should a community be against them coming in?
But wait, it gets worse.
At Verizon Offices in NYC, CC Joins Protest of COPE Act
By Megan Quattlebaum
Posted on Thu May 25, 2006 at 02:21:53 PM EST
Day of Out(R)age Protesters
Yesterday, I joined a lively crowd of media reform activists outside of Verizon's offices in New York City. The event brought together advocates for public access television, civil liberties and a free and open internet. Our common cause was opposition to the absurdly named Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement (COPE) Act, a telecom industry-backed bill that would, among other things, open the door to a two-tiered internet that disadvantages those content providers who can't pay for premium placement online. The event was organized by SaveAccess.org. Congress Gearing Up on Net Neutrality
By Dawn Holian Iype
Posted on Thu May 18, 2006 at 03:01:19 PM EST
There have been some important developments on the net neutrality/telecom reform front in the past 24 hours. Here are the highlights: 1. The COPE Act won't go through the Judiciary Committee. At the end of last month, the COPE Act was approved by the House Commerce Committee. After that, the Judiciary Committee requested a subsequent referral - basically arguing that the net neutrality portions of the bill address competition and anti-trust issues, which their committee has jurisdiction over. Their request was denied yesterday. The Judiciary referral request was the last obstacle standing in the way of the COPE bill moving to the floor of the House.
2. Rep. Sensenbrenner to offer bipartisan net neutrality bill. Rep. James Sensenbrenner (head of the Judiciary Committee) announced that he will offer a stand-alone net neutrality bill. The bill already has bipartisan co-sponsorship, a good sign.
Internet for Sale
By Dawn Holian Iype
Posted on Tue May 16, 2006 at 12:42:09 PM EST
Tom Louderback, treasurer of Common Cause Kentucky, had this to say about the COPE bill in yesterday's Lexington Herald-Leader: If this legislation passes, the Internet will be controlled by gatekeepers who will decide which Web sites get ready access and which get dumped into the standby line.
It's about money.
The bill would allow Internet providers to give preferred service to those who can afford to pay the most. User charges would skyrocket for those who could afford it. Those who couldn't, would just have to wait behind the biggest spenders -- assuming there is still usable access leftover. Urge your congressman to vote against the COPE bill today. If you have trouble drafting your letter, you can check out our new compilation of newspaper editorials on the net neutrality issue for inspiration. Keep Internet Free, Fast
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Wed May 10, 2006 at 04:34:39 PM EST
The Miami Herald printed an editorial by Common Cause President Chellie Pingree on the dangers of the COPE bill. In it, Chellie warns of the dangers of allowing the telephone and cable industries to put their corporate interests ahead of those of the public:
Imagine you're a voter searching the Internet for information about an upcoming election. You go to the candidates' websites, but the videos of their speeches and debates won't load. You log on to an advocacy site that had an interesting blog and other interactive tools to help you learn about the candidates and issues last year -- but now it doesn't work properly either. You search for the day's campaign news, but your Internet service provider seems to be steering you to download episodes of Commander in Chief and buy a DVD of The American President.
It can't be stressed enough what impact the end of net neutrality would have on our democracy. Let your elected representative know that you demand he or she to stand up for the rights of the public and vote against the COPE Act.
"It's Not Supposed to Work Like This"
By Dawn Holian Iype
Posted on Tue May 09, 2006 at 02:05:08 PM EST
From Cox News:
The House and Senate are preparing to vote on telecommunications legislation that could affect every American who surfs the Internet, watches cable TV or uses a phone. But consumers shouldn't waste much time watching the floor debates on C-SPAN. The lawmakers themselves admit their goal is not to pass definitive legislation in public in the coming weeks. Instead, they want the House and Senate to pass separate bills, regardless of how different they may be. The final version would be negotiated, largely in private, by about a dozen senators and representatives on a conference committee. The Senate just needs to pass "anything to get us into conference," where the real decisions will be made, House telecommunications subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said Tuesday at a telecom forum hosted by National Journal's Technology Daily. "It's not supposed to work like this," said Celia Wexler, vice president for advocacy for Common Cause, a government watchdog group. "It's appalling that you can hear a member [of Congress] say that in public." Click to read moreCelia's absolutely right. It's appalling that our representatives in Congress think that only a dozen of them ought to be hammering out -- in private -- the telecommunications laws that govern how we get information and participate in our democracy. Let's stop the telecom bill from passing the House. Tell your member of Congress to vote NO on H.R. 5252, the COPE Act.
Latest on Net Neutrality and COPE
By Dawn Holian Iype
Posted on Tue May 02, 2006 at 08:52:16 AM EST
The New York Times strongly endorsed net neutrality on its editorial page today.
One of the Internet's great strengths is that a single blogger or a small political group can inexpensively create a Web page that is just as accessible to the world as Microsoft's home page. But this democratic Internet would be in danger if the companies that deliver Internet service changed the rules so that Web sites that pay them money would be easily accessible, while little-guy sites would be harder to access, and slower to navigate. Providers could also block access to sites they do not like.
That would be a financial windfall for Internet service providers, but a disaster for users, who could find their Web browsing influenced by whichever sites paid their service provider the most money. Click here to read more.Last week the House Commerce Committee voted against a net neutrality amendment to the COPE telecom reform bill that would have protected the free and open nature of the web. So the COPE bill now moves the House floor -- possibly as early as next week -- without adequate net neutrality provisions. It's important that Congress hears from you. Please call or email today and urge a NO vote on COPE. Let us know what you hear, or what you think about net neutrality, by posting a comment.
On the Senate side, the first draft of a telecom reform bill was circulated yesterday. It looks to be even worse than COPE on net neutrality. Stay tuned.
Update on the COPE telecom bill
By Dawn Holian Iype
Posted on Thu Apr 27, 2006 at 10:08:03 AM EST
Yesterday was the House Commerce Committee vote on the COPE Act - the telecom reform bill packed with special-interest favors to the industry. The bad news is that it was passed by the committee, and will now move the floor of the House. We expect it to come to a vote in the full House sometime in May.
The good news is that your activism made a difference. After receiving thousands of phone calls from citizens like you who are concerned about Internet freedom, several members of Congress changed their position on net neutrality and voted yesterday to protect the Internet from the greedy telecoms who want to privatize it.
Let's keep the pressure on. We still have another chance to stop this bad bill when it comes to the floor of the House in the next few weeks. Educate your friends and family about this issue. If you have a blog, write about net neutrality. We need a major grassroots uprising to counter the millions of dollars the telecom giants are spending on lobbying.
Tell Congress to vote NO on COPE.
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