Net Neutrality Fans rally in 25 Cities

NET NEUTRALITY FANS RALLY IN 25 CITIES
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Anne Broache]
With Congress still dispersed for its August recess, advocates of Net neutrality laws this week took to knocking on office doors of U.S. senators in 25 cities across the nation. From Seattle to Denver to Montpelier, Vt., small groups of citizens, small businesses, nonprofits and individuals allied with the "Save the Internet" coalition staged rallies on Wednesday and Thursday. Hoisting orange signs touting their cause, they presented senators' offices with petitions signed by thousands who support legislation mandating the divisive concept, defined as a broad prohibition against prioritizing Internet content and services. The activities were designed to ramp up momentum for the Internet Freedom Preservation Act, sponsored by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine). The proposal was narrowly defeated by an 11-11 vote in the Senate Commerce Committee earlier this summer when it was proposed as an amendment to a mammoth communications bill. The House of Representatives in June rejected a similar measure by a wider margin. The Snowe-Dorgan plan is expected to surface again when the sweeping Senate communications bill, chiefly sponsored by Sen Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), goes to a vote in the full Senate, although it's unclear how soon that formal debate will resume. The politicians, who return on Sept. 5, already have a heavy agenda and are expected to recess again by early October so some can return to campaigning on their home turf for the upcoming elections. According to a running tally taken by the Save the Internet coalition, 26 senators have publicly voiced their support for the Snowe-Dorgan approach. Only one of them, Sen Snowe herself, is a Republican. Sen. Jeffords, an Independent from Vermont, emerged in favor this week as well. Four of the senators siding with the Net neutrality lobby publicly declared their stance just this week, in the midst of the coast-to-coast rallies. (Four more are still waffling; 14 are opposed; and 56 have not yet made their positions public, by the coalition's count.)
http://news.com.com/Net+neutrality+fans+rally+in+25+cities/2100-1028_3-6...

* National Outpouring of Support for Net Neutrality
http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/2006/08/31/national-outpouring-of-su...