GOP should get serious about cyberspace

[Commentary] It's time for Republicans to get serious about the online revolution before it's too late. While the Democrats keep extending their political reach into cyberspace, too many in the GOP keep pretending the Internet will go away. Like a predator approaching an ostrich with its head in the sand, the Internet will not disappear. In fact, the Internet is quickly consuming many aspects of our lives, including how we engage with the political world. To ensure the party's future, Republicans must start to navigate this intersection of technology and politics as deftly as the Democrats have. Republicans need to adopt a lighter approach that will preserve the values of decentralization and freedom — essential conservative values — on the Internet. If we fail to engage in this effort, the Internet service providers, who control the last mile of the tubes into a customer's house or small business, will choke off the affordable tools available to conservative activists. They have already started exercising their market power to block applications that enable Internet users to distribute information across the Net. They will make the Internet look a lot more like cable TV, where citizens lack access to every legal channel available and where, consequently, conservative activists get shut out. Taking away these free tools will come at the major expense of the activists and small-businesspeople who are the core of our party's strength. (David All is the co-founder of Slatecard.com. Saulius "Saul" Anuzis is the chairman of the Michigan Republican Party and serves on the executive committee for the Republican National Committee.)