Stop AT&T! AT&T is trying to control the Net!

AT&T and other telecom carriers want to control the Internet, by controlling the flow of information using a technique called "paid prioritization".

"Ensuring that operators do not engage in paid prioritization is fundamental to ensuring that the Internet continues to operate as an open, interconnected platform for commerce, speech, and innovation."

"Paid prioritization is a financial arrangement where a third-party content owner can pay an ISP to 'cut to the front of the line' at congested nodes, or where an ISP engages in 'vertical prioritization' by favoring its own content."

"Paid prioritization is the antithesis to openness, and any regulatory framework that does not presume that such arrangements are harmful to consumers and competition is not real Net Neutrality -- it's fake Net Neutrality trying to pass as protections that will actually preserve the open Internet."

"A level playing field for Internet transport. It refers to the absence of restrictions or priorities placed on the type of content carried over the Internet by the carriers and ISPs that run the major backbones. It states that all traffic be treated equally; that packets are delivered on a first-come, first-served basis regardless from where they originated or to where they are destined."

A more detailed explanation:

"Network neutrality (also net neutrality, Internet neutrality) is a principle proposed for user access networks participating in the Internet that advocates no restrictions by Internet service providers and governments on content, sites, platforms, the kinds of equipment that may be attached, and the modes of communication allowed."

"The principle states that if a given user pays for a certain level of Internet access, and another user pays for the same level of access, then the two users should be able to connect to each other at the subscribed level of access."

"Though the term did not enter popular use until several years later, since the early 2000s advocates of net neutrality and associated rules have raised concerns about the ability of broadband providers to use their last mile infrastructure to block Internet applications and content (e.g., websites, services, protocols), particularly those of competitors."

"Neutrality proponents claim that telecom companies seek to impose a tiered service model in order to control the pipeline and thereby remove competition, create artificial scarcity, and oblige subscribers to buy their otherwise uncompetitive services. Many believe net neutrality to be primarily important as a preservation of current freedoms."

Recent News

1. S.J. Resolution 6 would destroy all existing Net Neutrality protections.

   Corporate hardliners in the Senate are rushing to push through a measure to give phone and cable companies absolute, unrestricted power over the Internet.

   Called a "resolution of disapproval," this measure would destroy all existing Net Neutrality protections and strip the FCC of its authority to protect Internet users -- letting companies block our right to speak freely, connect with one another and share information on the Internet.

   Extremely partisan hardliners are rushing through a "resolution of disapproval" that would nullify all existing Net Neutrality protections and strip the FCC of its authority to protect Internet users -- letting companies block our right to speak freely, connect with one another and share information on the Internet.

   The resolution, S.J. Resolution 6, would enable phone and cable giants like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast to restrict access to competitive video services, mobile applications and other innovative services.

   But American Internet users need an open Internet that lets us view any content, anywhere. The kind of Internet freedom we've enjoyed to date won't exist if we let big phone and cable companies take a wrecking ball to Net Neutrality.

   Source: SaveTheInternet.com - Defend Our Internet Rights

2. AT&T uses non-profit money that is supposed to help the urban poor...to lobby against Net Neutrality?

   A growing scandal involving AT&T and the mayor of the state capital of Florida has further exposed the link between AT&T's pay-for-play public policy agenda and the politicians willing to act as puppets for the phone company's interests.

   Tallahassee Mayor John Marks strongly promoted an Atlanta nonprofit group to participate in a $1.6 million dollar federal broadband grant to expand Internet access to the urban poor and train disadvantaged citizens to navigate the online world, without disclosing he was a paid adviser to the group.

   What the rest of the city never knew is that the Alliance for Digital Equality (ADE) is little more than an AT&T astroturf effort -- a front group almost entirely funded by AT&T that actually did almost nothing to bring Internet access to anyone.

   Source: Stop The Cap! - The Mayor from AT&T: Tallahassee Mayor on Hot Seat for Dollar-A-Holler Work for Telecom Giant

3. A list of those who have filed suit to stop the AT&T/T-mobile merger.

   1. U.S. Department of Justice - Justice Department Moves to Block AT&T, T-Mobile Merger
   2. New York, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington - Seven States Oppose AT&T/T-Mobile Merger
   3. Sprint - Sprint files suit to block AT&T, T-Mobile merger
   4. Cellular South - Cellular South Files Lawsuit Over ATandT, T-Mobile Deal

You can spread the word to your friends and family. You can send an email to your congressman and the FCC. Also, you can help protect the First Amendment by joining the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and help protect your rights online by joining the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

Save The Internet: Frequently Asked Questions @ Save The Internet Save The Internet at MoveOn.org Writers Guild of America East: Tell the FCC to Save the Internet Internet Freedom Coalition Stop the Cap! Further Reading: Lawsuit alleges AT&T overbills for iPhone, iPad data AT&T Misleads FCC about 'Paid Prioritization' on the Internet AT&T Defends Paid Prioritization Of Web Traffic AT&T writes FCC in favor of paid prioritization AT&T: no one can stop our "paid prioritization" AT&T's Masquerade over Paid Discrimination Sorry AT&T, Title II Would Not "Require" Paid Prioritization Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Articles on Net Neutrality ACLU Articles on Free Speech and Net Neutrality The corporate deal to control your Internet How Comcast, AT&T and Big Telecoms Threaten the Reach of Progressive Artists OTI Files Response to AT&T's Mischaracterization of Paid Prioritization on the Internet Just say no to fake Net neutrality Google's Stand on Net Neutrality

• Stop ATT From Taking Your Web - Robert Reich (May 12, 2006) -- Yes, AT&T has been trying to wreck the Web for years!

Frank Herbert (a critically acclaimed and commercially successful, American, science fiction author) said, "He who can destroy a thing, can control a thing". The opposite is also true, "He who can control a thing, can destroy a thing". Do we want companies like AT&T to control the Internet?

Addendum

AT&T offers cloud based services called TopLineISV, Synaptic Hosting, Synaptic Compute, Synaptic Storage and Synaptic Platform. Protesting their policies on TopLineISV.com, SynapticHosting.com, SynapticCompute.com, SynapticStorage.com and Synapticplatform.com is intended to show those looking for AT&T's cloud based services what an awful anti-consumer version of Net Neutrality AT&T believes in and hopefully it will cause some potential customers to choose another company like the alternative cloud based services listed next.

• Amazon.com's S3
• IBM Cloud Computing
• RackSpace Cloud
• SAP Business ByDesign

No. First of all, AT&T never trademarked the terms "TopLineISV", "Synaptic Hosting", "Synaptic Compute", "Synaptic Storage" or "Synaptic Platform". (Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) Second, this website is protected as free speech under the First Amendment, so trademark law does not apply. "What does the First Amendment protect?" is an excellent resource on this topic.

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