[ale] Important Action for Internet Neutrality

[aaron]

CREDO , an independent Long Distance & Cell Phone service provider, has
set up a convenient link to petition Congress and the FCC in favor of  Internet
Neutrality.  The petition expresses support for The Internet Freedom
Preservation
Act (HR5353) that [TTBOMK] is scheduled for Congressional Committee hearings
next week:

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/net_neutrality/?r_by=11-1327436-MzEu3Z&rc=paste

The bi-partisan HR5353 bill is available for review here:
http://markey.house.gov/docs/telecomm/hr5353.pdf

The Internet Freedom Preservation bill is, in part, an important
response to recent
and ongoing Comcast monopoly abuses where the provider secretly and severely
restricts the flow of data for customers using peer to peer
technologies that allow
cost effective, independent and free exchange of data without relying on single
source servers or private gatekeeper media content police (like Comcast).
Comcast is so desperate to protect their unethical content control schemes that
when the FCC held hearings challenging these practices they actually hired
dozens of mercenary hecklers to stack the gallery and fraudulently harass
supporters of free speech on the internet.

The CREDO petition form above provides a field for additional comments.
As one who understands the importance of net neutrality, and who is also
a data strangulation victim of Comcast,  I decided to gasp for some free
internet air with these points:

=====
It is simple common sense to acknowledge that ALL internet communications
service providers are Common Carriers.  They should clearly be held
accountable to the essential, globally accepted laws that prevent common
carrier corporations  from abusing their monopoly status to unfairly influence,
control or manipulate the market.

Further, as these private common carriers of public communications have
been (and continue to be) granted special privileges and subsidies in order
to grant them access to public technologies, public broadcast bandwidth
and public rights of way for their delivery systems, these corporate entities
should be held accountable to the public need in the same way that
broadcasters have been obligated to meet public service regulations and
employ standardized delivery systems in exchange for their profitable
access to the public air waves.

The cornerstone civil liberty of our great nation, our freedom of speech and
assembly, clearly cannot be entrusted to corporate entities whose very charter
obligates them to behave as sociopaths; entities who must pursue their private
greeds to the detriment of all the needs and rights of every other party in the
common wealth that sustains them.

I believe it is long overdue that the FCC resume and reassert it's chartered
regulatory responsibility to restrain corporate greeds in order to protect our
most essential public needs.  Taking the lead on protecting our freedom of
speech by clearly establishing and enforcing neutrality on all of our public
communications and data networks will be an important first step.

Sincerely,
Aaron Ruscetta
FCC Licensed Radiotelephone Operator,
30 Year Veteran Professional in the fields of
Radio & Television Broadcast, Communications Media
Production and Internet Computer Technology
======