Breaking Victory: Net Neutrality

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<font face="Arial, Verdana, sans-serif" size="2">Dear MoveOn 
member,
<p style="margin:1em 0px">It's time to jump for joy! We just made 
history. <b>Together, we literally just saved the Internet from a 
corporate takeover.</b></p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">The Federal Communications Commission 
just stood up to Comcast and Verizon and voted for real Net 
Neutrality—no fast lanes for the rich and slow lanes for the 
poor.<sup>1</sup></p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">This unlikely victory has been ten years
 in the making, at least.
<b>How did we get here? In a word (okay, in two words)—people 
power.</b></p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">MoveOn members joined a remarkable array
 of allies to do what many considered politically impossible. We took on
 one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington—the cable industry—and 
through organizing, creativity, and persistence,
 we won. <br>
</p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">We made a thank-you card for the FCC 
commissioners who stood with Internet users everywhere and voted for 
real Net Neutrality today.
<br>
</p>
<p style="overflow:hidden; margin:1em 0; margin:1em 
0px"><b><a 
href="redir.aspx?C=cKPhDQslq0y87LAEVfwqnS4jrYFiJtIIEFOZaq8PWT3JT3xgBu4ro-1rJwZLgC2NxGaItCFXmH0.&amp;URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.moveon.org%2fecard%2fnetvictory%2f%3ftoken_hash%3d%26bg_id%3dhpc3%26id%3d109050-1639700-03AIisx%26t%3d1"
 target="_blank">Will
 you add your name to the thank-you card, and then invite your friends 
to add their names too?&nbsp;</a></b></p>
<center><a 
href="redir.aspx?C=cKPhDQslq0y87LAEVfwqnS4jrYFiJtIIEFOZaq8PWT3JT3xgBu4ro-1rJwZLgC2NxGaItCFXmH0.&amp;URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.moveon.org%2fecard%2fnetvictory%2f%3ftoken_hash%3d%26bg_id%3dhpc3%26id%3d109050-1639700-03AIisx%26t%3d2"
 target="_blank"><img 
src="http://s3.moveon.org/images/with_dims/netneutrality_victory_500x333png.png"
 height="333" width="500"></a></center>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">This card is for you, too—the MoveOn 
community that for a decade has fought for common sense and equality on 
the Internet.
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">So here's what just happened: In a 
party-line vote, the FCC voted to use the simplest, clearest, most 
legally sound tool to preserve Net Neutrality. It's called Title II, and
 it allows the FCC to treat the Internet like a public utility,
 protecting it for all users.</p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">Experts have long agreed that Title II 
reclassification is the commonsense way to go, but the extreme 
opposition of the wealthy telecom industry—who hoped to profit from 
charging for fast lanes—made the clear solution seem politically
 impossible to many even a year ago.</p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">But grassroots leaders raised their 
voices for the commonsense solution and built a movement that brought 
together millions of Americans of all political stripes and proved too 
powerful for even the seemingly all-powerful telecom lobby.</p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">It's worth taking a brief look back a 
little farther to appreciate how we got to today.</p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">In 2005, President Bush's FCC 
unsurprisingly sided with the big cable companies to begin unraveling 
one of the founding principles of the Internet—that all content would be
 treated equally. When Congress tried to permanently change
 the rules to favor the telecom industry, the Save the Internet 
Coalition formed, bringing together unlikely allies such as MoveOn.org 
and the Christian Coalition.<sup>2</sup> (For a bit of 
history, check out
<a 
href="redir.aspx?C=cKPhDQslq0y87LAEVfwqnS4jrYFiJtIIEFOZaq8PWT3JT3xgBu4ro-1rJwZLgC2NxGaItCFXmH0.&amp;URL=http%3a%2f%2fcivic.moveon.org%2falerts%2fsaveit.html%3fid%3d109050-1639700-03AIisx%26t%3d3"
 target="_blank">
this 2006 MoveOn petition</a>—MoveOn's first on the issue.) 
Together we stopped Congress from doing permanent damage then.</p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">As a presidential candidate, Barack 
Obama supported net neutrality. After he was elected, the FCC 
commissioners he appointed passed new open Internet rules meant to 
protect Net Neutrality—but they failed to reclassify the Internet
 as a public good, and in 2010, the order was struck down in court (in a
 case called, not surprisingly,
<i>Comcast v. FCC</i>).<sup>3</sup> In January 
2014, an appeals court confirmed that ruling. We were back to square 
one, with Verizon and Comcast on offense.</p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">When President Obama's next FCC chair, 
Tom Wheeler, introduced new rules in April 2014 that would have made 
things even worse, we were ready.
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">Over the past year, Americans like you 
submitted four million comments to the FCC and made tens of thousands of
 phone calls to Congress and to individual phone lines at the FCC. 
Allies occupied the FCC's front lawn and blocked the
 FCC chairman's driveway. Civil rights organizers shaped public opinion 
by telling personal stories, not relying on corporate media.
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">We rallied outside FCC field offices 
that never hear from the public. We shared our
<a 
href="redir.aspx?C=cKPhDQslq0y87LAEVfwqnS4jrYFiJtIIEFOZaq8PWT3JT3xgBu4ro-1rJwZLgC2NxGaItCFXmH0.&amp;URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.moveon.org%2fhub%2fnetneutrality%3fid%3d109050-1639700-03AIisx%26t%3d4"
 target="_blank">
stories</a>—of artists, entrepreneurs, teachers, parents who rely 
on an equal playing field online for our livelihoods and to make a 
difference in the world. We
<a 
href="redir.aspx?C=cKPhDQslq0y87LAEVfwqnS4jrYFiJtIIEFOZaq8PWT3JT3xgBu4ro-1rJwZLgC2NxGaItCFXmH0.&amp;URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.moveon.org%2fr%2f%3fr%3d300145%26id%3d109050-1639700-03AIisx%26t%3d5"
 target="_blank">
called on President Obama</a> to fulfill his promise to protect 
Net Neutrality—and he did.
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">President Obama sided with us for 
reclassification. Now the FCC is siding with us.
<b>We've won.</b></p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">Congress will try to undo this, but 
we'll keep fighting, and we'll keep winning.</p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">Net Neutrality is fundamental to the 
ability of grassroots activists to create their own media when 
mainstream corporate media ignores our stories. When our community wins 
something like this, it's important to take a moment to celebrate.
 And when government agencies and politicians stand with us, it's 
important to thank them.
<br>
</p>
<b><a 
href="redir.aspx?C=cKPhDQslq0y87LAEVfwqnS4jrYFiJtIIEFOZaq8PWT3JT3xgBu4ro-1rJwZLgC2NxGaItCFXmH0.&amp;URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.moveon.org%2fecard%2fnetvictory%2f%3ftoken_hash%3d%26bg_id%3dhpc3%26id%3d109050-1639700-03AIisx%26t%3d6"
 target="_blank">Click here to
 add your name to the thank-you card to the FCC, and share the victory 
with your friends online—on the open Internet.
</a></b><br>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">This victory is ours. Let's savor it, 
and then let's keep defending the Internet.</p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">Thanks for all you do.</p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">–Maria, Victoria, Jadzia, Milan, and the
 rest of the team</p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">Sources:</p>
<p style="margin:1em 0px">1. &quot;In Net Neutrality Victory, 
F.C.C. Classifies Broadband Internet Service as a Public 
Utility,&quot;
<i>The New York Times</i>, February 26, 2015 <br>
<a 
href="redir.aspx?C=cKPhDQslq0y87LAEVfwqnS4jrYFiJtIIEFOZaq8PWT3JT3xgBu4ro-1rJwZLgC2NxGaItCFXmH0.&amp;URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.moveon.org%2fr%2f%3fr%3d303188%26id%3d109050-1639700-03AIisx%26t%3d7"
 
target="_blank">http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=303188&amp;id=109050-1639700-03AIisx&amp;t=7</a>
<br>
</p>
<p
 style="margin:1em 0px">2. &quot;How the Christian Coalition and 
MoveOn Helped Save Net Neutrality: A Buried Story of a Powerful 
Coalition,&quot; The Huffington Post, February 25, 2015
<br>
<a 
href="redir.aspx?C=cKPhDQslq0y87LAEVfwqnS4jrYFiJtIIEFOZaq8PWT3JT3xgBu4ro-1rJwZLgC2NxGaItCFXmH0.&amp;URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.moveon.org%2fr%2f%3fr%3d303182%26id%3d109050-1639700-03AIisx%26t%3d8"
 
target="_blank">http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=303182&amp;id=109050-1639700-03AIisx&amp;t=8</a>
<br>
</p>
<p
 style="margin:1em 0px">3. &quot;The Net Neutrality Battle Has 
Been Lost. But now we can finally win the war,&quot; Slate, January 
14, 2014
<a 
href="redir.aspx?C=cKPhDQslq0y87LAEVfwqnS4jrYFiJtIIEFOZaq8PWT3JT3xgBu4ro-1rJwZLgC2NxGaItCFXmH0.&amp;URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.moveon.org%2fr%2f%3fr%3d303183%26id%3d109050-1639700-03AIisx%26t%3d9"
 target="_blank">
<br>
</a><a 
href="redir.aspx?C=cKPhDQslq0y87LAEVfwqnS4jrYFiJtIIEFOZaq8PWT3JT3xgBu4ro-1rJwZLgC2NxGaItCFXmH0.&amp;URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.moveon.org%2fr%2f%3fr%3d303183%26id%3d109050-1639700-03AIisx%26t%3d10"
 
target="_blank">http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=303183&amp;id=109050-1639700-03AIisx&amp;t=10</a>
<br>
</p>
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