Net neutrality not going away
September 13, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter
I wondered why there was no grassroots small business movement behind net neutrality. This answers my question.
The leaders of SavetheInternet.com and the It's Our Net Coalition say they will keep building grassroots support for Net neutrality legislation with the intent of making it part of any telecom reform that takes place in 2007. So far, SavetheInternet.com has collected 1.1 million petition signatures. In August, they visited the home offices of 20 U.S. senators with groups of between 20 and 50 citizens to reinforce the nature of the opposition. Four more U.S. senators — Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Sen. Mark Dayton (D-Minn.) and Sen. James Jeffords (Ind.-Vermont) — are now supporting Net neutrality.
Meanwhile, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association is taking its anti-Net neutrality campaign to a bigger stage, showing 30-second TV spots, which dismiss the debate as “mumbo jumbo,” nationally.
Scott claims the cable and telephone companies have spent $50 million in advertising inside the Washington Beltway to sway members of Congress. “I think the momentum is very clearly on our side,” he said. “This is organized money versus organized people. The fact that Congress hasn't recognized the robust support from small businesses is because the big companies are spending millions to keep their voices from being heard.”
Evan Tracey of TNS Media Intelligence/cmag, however, said the $50 million is total ad spending for advocacy issues and not just Net Neutrality ads.