Protect the Internet

I know that post title might seem a litle bit of an overstatement at first glance, but trust me--it's not.  You may have noticed a new image over on the right--in my sidebar--"Save the Internet."

Congress is attempting to pass a law that would allow internet service providers (big companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast) to decide which websites load faster and slower for you based on which sites pay them the most.  A public outcry to Congress is desparately needed to prevent these big company lobbyists from affecting how the internet works for regular folks like us.  We are trying to protect Network Neutrality, the first amendment of the internet, which allows everyone to compete on a level playing field.

This is particularly of concern to librarians as one search engine could out-bid another search engine to your internet service provider, thus making one work significantly faster than the other.  Guess which one you'd end up using?  Small independent sites (think non-profits) won't be able to afford the "protection money," and their sites will open more slowly than big corporate sites.  It's all about speed, fairness, and equality of access to all information.  This is what libraries are all about, and this bill would prevent that.

There's a great short web video that explains the concept a bit more.  Go to the Save the Internet website to write your congresspeople today and find other ways you can take action.