You have just one day left to help prevent discrimination and redlining on the Internet!

After more than a year of waffling on Net Neutrality, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced plans to issue weak regulations that give phone and cable companies just about everything they wanted, and leave Internet users with almost nothing.

Genachowski calls his plan Net Neutrality. But it’s fake. It doesn’t live up to President Obama’s pledge to create lasting and enforceable Net Neutrality protections or to Genachowski’s own promises to deliver for the president.

This is a huge betrayal. But we still have time to fix Genachowski’s toothless compromise rule before it goes to a vote on Dec. 21.

FCC Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Michael Copps have been unwavering champions for Net Neutrality. They now hold the power of their majority votes to fix the chairman’s bad rule. Under the FCC’s sunshine rules, the public has until 5 p.m. Eastern, Tuesday, December 14 to send letters, emails, make phone calls or initiate any contact with FCC commissioners.

They need to hear from you that Genachowski’s fake Net Neutrality plan fails on so many fronts:

1) It fails to protect Net Neutrality for people who access the Internet using wireless devices. There is only one Internet: Users must be free to access any legal website, service or application whether they’re at home or using a mobile phone. This protection becomes even more important for many Latinos, whose only access to the Internet is through their mobile phones.

2) It fails to prevent new “paid prioritization” schemes planned by industry. We can’t let telecom companies charge steep tolls to speed up the sites and services of a few media giants, putting them on Internet express lanes, while slowing down everyone else onto the proverbial “dirt road”.

3) It fails to close massive loopholes. The FCC can’t let internet service providers build a new “private Internet” under the guise of “specialized services” that would stifle competition and innovation.

4) It fails to restore the FCC’s authority, which was stripped away during a Bush-era frenzy of deregulation. If the FCC doesn’t “reclassify” its broadband authority under Title II of the Communications Act, it risks making Net Neutrality rules that will be tossed out in court right away.

You can call or email their Copps’ and Clyburn’s offices at the following contact info. You can use the letter below as a draft template that you can email to the commissioners.

Commissioner Clyburn
Phone: 202 418-2100
Mignon.Clyburn@fcc.gov

Commisioner Copps
Phone: 202 418-2000
Michael.Copps@fcc.gov

NAHJ and UNITY: Journalists of Color and more than 100 other organizations demand strong net neutrality rules to protect a free and open internet and prevent discrimination against those who can’t pay gatekeepers for preferential treatment. We want to keep a more even playing field for our communities to tell our stories, create and develop businesses, and seize opportunities through education.

Letter signed by NAHJ and more than 80 groups demanding changes in current proposal
For column from Free Press calling proposal fake net neutrality, click here
For recent New York Times story on Genachowski’s proposal, click here

Aside from the phone calls and emails you make, NAHJ has joined the Can-You-Hear-Us-Now-A-Thon in which representatives of dozens of groups are delivering 50,000 signatures to a petition to the FCC every hour Monday and Tuesday, a petition delivery marathon of 2 million people who want stronger net neutrality rules. Signatures are still coming in and they are trying to reach 3 million signatures. We will be delivering signatures Tuesday at 1 p.m. and you can click on checking in on the page to see videos of the marathon and what the groups are saying about it.

So please remember to send a quick email or make a quick phone call, join the chorus, and urge the commissioners to stay strong. You have until 5pm est. Tuesday, December 14 to do it. We demand REAL net neutrality now!

Sincerely,
Iván Román
NAHJ Executive Director
iroman@nahj.org

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Draft of template letter:

Dear Commissioners Copps and Clyburn (CC Chairman Julius Genachowski),  

As one of the thousands of journalists and people who believe a free and open internet is essential to the free flow of news and information, I urge you to stay strong and push for changes in the proposed rules before you to ensure real net neutrality.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s proposed open Internet rules don’t meet any acceptable standard of real net neutrality, including President Barack Obama’s. As the President has stated before, “Because most Americans only have a choice of only one or two broadband carriers, carriers are tempted to impose a toll charge on content and services, discriminating against websites that are unwilling to pay for equal treatment. This could create a two-tier Internet in which websites with the best relationships with network providers can get the fastest access to consumers, while all competing websites remain in a slower lane.”

We know that is exactly what will happen. The carriers have stated their true intentions. We should not allow gatekeepers to discriminate in this manner and institute the redlining of our communities on the Internet, as has happened with virtually every medium in the past. Unless the proposed rules are changed significantly, I urge you not to support them when you vote on Dec. 21.

First, the rules need to extend full Net Neutrality protections to both wired and wireless Internet users.

Second, they must have stronger language to prohibit “paid prioritization” schemes, which give phone and cable companies the power to pick winners and losers on the Internet.

Third, they must close massive loopholes for “specialized services” that allow industry to discriminate unfairly online.

Finally, they must ensure that Net Neutrality rests on a secure legal foundation that can withstand a court challenge.

Please continue to stand with me for real Net Neutrality protections and fix these rules before you vote.