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Letters to the Editor
The Fight for Internet Neutrality on the Wire, and Measure 11 Up Close
Want an open and equal Internet ? Are your US reps and senators on the lists? And an example of the injustices under Measure 11
By Carol McBrian and Sharon
Posted on May 24, 2006 |
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Dear Friends and Neighbors all over the US,
Things are happening so rapidly around the issue of Internet Neutrality that it's hard to keep up with them. On Thursday, May 25, the House Judiciary Committee will be looking at the Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2006 (HR5417), which was introduced by Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr (R-Wis) and Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich). This bill seeks to preserve Internet Neutrality by tying it in with the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914. Please ask your Representatives to support this bill, especially if they sit on the Committee (Committee lists are included at the end of this letter).
Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will be revisiting S.2686, a sweeping telecommunications bill which does not protect Internet Neutrality. However, a bill was introduced last week by committee members Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) and Byron L. Dorgan (D-ND), which would preserve Internet Neutrality, the Internet Freedom Preservation Act (S.2917). Ironically, one of the cosponsors of this bill is Daniel K Inouye (D-HI), who was one of the sponsors of S.2686, but who was not satisfied with that bill's lack of protection for Internet Neutrality.
Since it was introduced by members of the Committee, its provisions have a good chance of coming up in the discussion of S.2686. Please ask your Senators to support the Snowe-Dorgan bill S.2917, especially if they are a member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
If all this seems confusing to you, don't feel bad. It took me several days of gathering and studying the available information to figure all of this out. Difficult as this task has been, I feel it is of the utmost importance. Anyone who uses the Internet--and this includes readers of online magazines like this one--would lose an important avenue of getting and sending information if the large corporations were to gain control of the Internet. The Internet is a vitally important arena of public discourse--perhaps the only one left in this country. We need to do all we can to protect it--even if it means stretching our brains out of their comfortable range.
Here is a list of the members of the committees considering these bills on May 25:
House Judiciary Committee:
Chair: Sensenbrenner (R-Wis),
Ranking Member: Conyers, (D-Mich)
Hyde (R-Ill), Coble(R-NC), Smith (R-TX), Gallegly (R-CA), Goodlatte(R-VA), Chabot(R-OH),Lungren (R-CA),Jenkins(R-Ten), Cannon(R-UT), Bachus(R-Ala), Inglis (R-SC), Hostettler(R-Ind), Green(R-Wis), Keller(R-Fla), Issa(R-CA), Flake(R-AZ),Pence(R-Ind), Forbes (-VA), Feeney(R-FL), Franks(R-AZ), Gohmert(R-TX); Berman(D-CA), Boucher(D-VA), Nadler(D-NY), Scott(D-VA), Watt(D-NC), Lofgren(D-CA), Jackson Lee(D-TX), Waters(D-CA), Meehan(D-Mass), Delahunt(D-Mass), Wexler(D-Fla), Weiner (D-NY), Schiff(D-CA), Sanchez(D-CA), Van Hollen(D-Mlnd), Wasserman(D-FL).
Here is a list of the members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation:
Chair:Stevens(R-AK); Co-Chair: Inouye(D-HI)
McCain(R-AZ), Burns (R-MT), Lott, R-MS), Hutchinson(R-TX), Snowe(R-ME), Smith(R-OR), Ensign (R-NV), Allen (R-VA), Sununu(R-NH), DeMint(R-SC), Vitter(R-LA); Rockefeller(D-WV), Kerry(D-MD), Dorgan(D-ND), Boxer(D-CA), Nelson(D-FL), Cantwell (D-WA), Lautenberg(D-NJ), Nelson(D-NE), Pryor(D-AZ)
For more background on the Internet Neutrality crisis, please visit my recent articleWhy We Must Preserve the Neutrality of the Internet Now.
Carol McBrian
Eugene, Oregon
Dear Editor and Oregon Neighbors,
Researching Measure 11 news stories I found two very interesting articles (Measure 11,The Injustice of Mandatory Sentencing and Bill Is Back, Part Two by Norm Maxwell on your site. I would like to see his articles on Measure 11 on the front page of all the newspapers in Oregon. I so agree with him. My grandson, age 16, was arrested for a Measure 11 crime in Clatsop County. His "crime" was teenage sex with his then 13 year old girlfriend ( 3 years, 51 days difference in age). He was forced to take a plea or go to jail for 7 years. We hired an attorney: $17,000 later, just to get a plea! The worst of the "guilty" plea is, he has to register as a sex offender.
My grandson signed a coerced confession. I believe our DA set up the questioning of Daniel by the APD. The victim's Guardians (Grandparents) were on a vendetta. The Guardians are actually neglectful and abusive. Our DA was over-zealous. The DA could and should have tried him as a juvenile. Measure 11 gives the District Attorneys all the power. Thanks, Mr. Maxwell, for writing about this injustice.
Sincerely,
Sharon
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