Google-Verizon Pact Worse than Feared

In
response to Google and Verizon's "policy framework" unveiled today,
MoveOn.Org Civic Action, Credo Action, the Progressive Change Campaign
Committee, ColorofChange.org and Free Press, all members of the
SavetheInternet.com Coalition, issued the following joint statement:

"The Google-Verizon pact isn't just as bad as we feared -
it's much worse. They are attacking the Internet while claiming to
preserve it. Google users won't be fooled.

"They are promising Net Neutrality only for a certain part
of the Internet, one that they'll likely stop investing in. But they are
also paving the way for a new 'Internet' via fiber and wireless phones
where Net Neutrality will not apply and corporations can pick and choose
which sites people can easily view on their phones or any other
Internet device using these networks.

"It would open the door to outright blocking of
applications, just as Comcast did with BitTorrent, or the blocking of
content, just as Verizon did with text messages from NARAL Pro-choice
America. It would divide the information superhighway, creating new
private fast lanes for the big players while leaving the little guy
stranded on a winding dirt road.

"Worse still, this pact would turn the Federal
Communications Commission into a toothless watchdog, left fruitlessly
chasing complaints and unable to make rules of its own.

"This is not real Net Neutrality. And this pact would harm
the millions of Americans who have pleaded with our leaders in
Washington to defend the free and open Internet. President Obama,
Congress and the FCC should reject this deal, restore the authority of
the agency that's supposed to protect Internet users, and safeguard Net
Neutrality once and for all."