Net activists focus on Jeffords

By Shay Totten | Vermont Guardian

Posted August 30, 2006

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story posted today included a statement from Sen. Jim Jeffords that was issued earlier this year, not on Monday as reported. We have updated the story with the more current statement issued by the senator's office on Aug. 28. We apologize for any confusion.

MONTPELIER — An array of citizen activists will deliver more than 3,000 signatures to the office of U.S. Sen. Jim Jeffords Thursday in hopes that they can sway his vote on an upcoming telecommunications bill they claim will be bad for consumers.

The activists hope Jeffords will come out in strong support of so-called “net neutrality,” the concept that would keep the Internet from being broken up into different tiers by telecommunication firms and make access to the Internet cumbersome, if not impossible, for some citizens, especially those who live in poor and rural areas.

Vermont’s event is one of more than 20 being held around the country today and tomorrow where petitions will be delivered to key senators. About 1 million people nationally have signed petitions calling on senators to support net neutrality, said Craig Aaron, a spokesman for Savetheinternet.com, a coalition of 800 groups.

A spokesman for Jeffords’ office said the senator is aware of the petitions, and of the issue. On Monday, Jeffords issued a statement about net neutrality.

"I support the concept of network neutrality, as I believe the Internet works best when users can control their access to content. I recognize the benefits of reasonably priced, high-speed Internet access, especially in rural areas," Jeffords said.

An attempt to add a net-neutrality provision into the bill that passed the House failed to pass the Senate Commerce Committee.

Jeffords said he was “disappointed the Commerce Committee was not able to agree on a stronger network-neutrality provision. While I am in support of net neutrality, it is important to remember that we do not yet know what a final telecommunications bill will look like, if and when it reaches the Senate floor."

Lauren-Glenn Davitian, of Channel 17 Town Meeting Television in Burlington, said she and others would like to see Jeffords to be more forceful in his support for neutrality.

“We want him to say that without net neutrality the bill should not go forward,” she said.

“We need to turn him from an undecided to a yes, and the more we get the better the chance is that this bill will die, because the companies do not want net neutrality to remain,” said Davitian.

The recent bill passed by the House (HR 5252), which allows telephone companies to enter the video business, is now under consideration in the Senate (S2686).

The bill is touted as a way to create a competitive “video delivery market,” but Davitian said as written the measure would not promote adequate competition because larger companies could not be forced to allow smaller companies access to their lines.

She said it would allow companies to abandon low-income and rural communities in their service territories, while under current rules they must serve everyone; it would limit public access to video networks; and it would not protect an open Internet for all providers and users.

Under current rules, Internet providers can’t decide to choose which websites open quickly on your computer, whether it’s Google or the website of a company they own versus a small business competitor, backers of net neutrality argue.

However, some providers have said they would like to eliminate net neutrality so they can put tollbooths on the Internet and speed up sites that pay them the most.

According to a Dec. 1, 2005, Washington Post story, “William L. Smith, chief technology officer for Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp., told reporters and analysts that an Internet service provider such as his firm should be able, for example, to charge Yahoo Inc. for the opportunity to have its search site load faster than that of Google Inc.”

The earliest a vote could be taken on the measure would be late September, said Aaron.

There are currently 25 senators in favor of the bill, 14 against, four are “waffling” and 57 are undecided, he said.

“We obviously hope that this bill can die in the Senate, rather than move forward, so a new Congress can take it up next session, if at all,” Aaron said.

Event details

Who: Supporters of net neutrality
What: Delivery of petitions to Sen. Jeffords, speakers
When: Noon, Aug. 31
Where: Sen. Jeffords' office in Montpelier, 435 Stone Cutters Way.

List of potential speakers

• Rob Williams, Action Coalition for Media Education (ACME)
• Trina Magi, American Library Association
• Allen Gilbert, American Civil Liberties Union
• Colleen Thomas, Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG)
• Ann Martin, Project Harmony
• Don Mayer, Small Dog Electronics
• Jess Wilson, CCTV’s Center for Media and Democracy
• Jack Hoffman, Vermont Broadband Council
• John Bloch, Vermont Access Network

For more information, go to www.savetheinternet.com and www.saveaccess.org