Save The Clocktower Internet!

"Net Neutrality", the basic principle that all Internet users have equal access to all internet destinations, has been under attack for some time now. Net Neutrality, a founding principle of the Internet, ensures that all websites-- from Google to MySpace, from DemocracyNow.org to FOXNews.com, from The Daily Kos to Surf The Gerf Turf-- are treated equally.

Imagine one day opening your browser to log onto your favorite website only to encounter a frozen progress bar or a "Server not found" notice. Checking your internet connection, you find everything to be in order. You click 'refresh' and wait... but, alas, still nothing.

You then navigate to a different site. Say, for example, a popular search engine like Yahoo or Google. The page loads immediately. Ok, you think, my connection is fine. You then attempt yet again to view your favorite website, but to no avail.

This imagined scenario is likely what many internet users will experience if Net Neutrality were to go the way of the dinosaurs. For a more familiar example of what Internet access may look like in the absence of Net Neutrality, think of your Cable Television access, which is 'tiered'. Access to certain channels is only available at higher price points.

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Look familiar?

As the world moves away from the local and isolated model of the past to the global and increasingly-connected paradigm of the future (whether this is to our collective benefit or not is the subject of another conversation), the explosion of the Internet has increasingly become a tool for democratic movements and an instrument of grassroots activism, communication, and progress.

Without Net Neutrality, the Internet will lose its value as a vehicle for democracy, and that is simply not something that we can allow to happen.



Visit SaveTheInternet.com for more information.